Mackenzie, 13, of Hagerstown, is the youngest runner ever to complete the local marathon. She ran the race with her mother, Maria Rubeling. The pair finished in a very respectable 4 hours, 37 minutes and 50 seconds.

Mackenzie decided she wanted to run this year's marathon after she ran 15 miles with her parents during last year's JFK 50 Mile Run in Boonsboro. She was happy with her decision to run until she got to Elmer Derr Road where a stiff wind pounded the runners.

"It was the hardest part," she said. "We like it at our back," her mother added.

Mackenzie and her mother trained in the weeks before the marathon, doing two 15-mile runs, two 17-mile runs and one 20-miler. The last six miles of the marathon were the roughest, and to get through it, the two ran-walked.

Mackenzie decided she likes distance running enough to do it again. She's hoping to run the JFK this fall. In the meantime, she'll get back to her other activities. "She has a soccer game tomorrow," Rubeling said.

Erin Pillow, 25, of Myersville , completed the marathon less than three weeks after returning from Iraq. Pillow deployed to Iraq last year with Bravo Company, a Marine Reserve unit based in Frederick .

While there, she met Staff Sgt. Brian Feil, a Frederick resident who ran the Marine Corps Marathon Forward, a version of the Marine Corps Marathon for soldiers in Iraq. "He ran it and inspired me to do it," she said. "I started training in November."

She finished in 4:41:54. She was hoping to run in less than 4:30, but her ankle began bothering her at mile 23, and she walked much of the rest of the course.

Pillow graduated from Gov. Thomas Johnson High School in 1999. She said this was probably her last marathon; now she wants to concentrate on becoming a mother. She was happy with her achievement. "I'm part of that one percent of the population that actually finishes a marathon," she said.

Dane Rauschenberg, 30, of Arlington, Va., has been running marathons for charity since the beginning of last year. Ferris Baker Watts pledged to donate $2.50 for each runner Rauschenberg passed Sunday. He passed all but 25 runners who took part in the marathon, half-marathon and four-person team relay.

Rauschenberg completed another marathon six days before coming to Frederick . He has run many marathons in many states, but said he wants to return to Frederick . "It's very well run," he said. "There were water stops every mile in the last six miles. That's very important. They listen to runners."