by Harry Hall

This feature is a continuation of the White Rock Marathon coverage in the January 2004 issue of Runner Triathlete News. To get all the details on White Rock, pick up a copy of the January issue of Runner Triathlete News. Subscribe to RTN today!

Like many former national class marathoners, Larry Barthlow has stayed in the running business.

"A few years ago, I started a company called Global Athletes," says Barthlow, 45, a former 2:13 marathoner, "I wanted to get on the event side of the business."

Barthlow has worked with Joan Benoit and the Beach to Beacon 10K in New England, as well as other national and world class events. When he received a phone call from White Rock Marathon Board member John Baer about bringing in some national-class athletes for this year's marathon, he got on the phone.

"I only had about six weeks to find some people," he says, "and we wanted a good mix of younger guys and established athletes."

He said the hard part was finding someone who wanted to run for not a lot of money, but would support a race trying to upgrade.

"Even guys who couldn't help, tried," he says, "it's all about relationships. You tell them something's happening at a race, and they'll take a chance on it."