Together with George Ranville, I help organize the start/finish area and have been on staff since 2011. Working the marathon is great fun and as George says, “Our goal is to be standing around calmly, well before the singing of the national anthem.” A laudable goal but unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen when trying to herd 5,000 runners into one place at one time.

I am a long time runner (20 years or so). Two years ago, I completed my first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. I followed that with the 2012 Bayshore Marathon. I see running as a great way to keep me fit enough to do all of the other things that I enjoy. That includes all things outdoors, from cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, Jeeping, mountain biking, and camping, to just sipping wine on my mobile raft at the cottage. If it is outdoors and can be turned it into fun or adventure I’ll do it. My wife, Lisa, and I both love to travel and neither of us plan to settle into a sedentary lifestyle any time soon.

I am also the owner and primary practitioner at LandMark Strategies, a community planning and zoning consulting firm. As a certified community planner, I assist a number of West Michigan townships, cities and villages with the creation development plans and policies and with making zoning decisions.

We are always looking at ways to improve the start/ finish area, so if you have any good ideas about the flow of runners leading up to the start and after the finish, or the locations of tents, porta-johns and spectator areas, George and I would love to hear from you.