Students, Friends, Colleagues Race for Slain Professor

Against a cloudless blue sky, red, white and blue balloons arched over a sea of early morning risers stretching their muscles in preparation of what for some would be an act of honor.

"We wanted to do something to remember her," said Dylan Vogt, of Pa., a junior in Amerian University's Kogod School of Business.

Vogt was part of a group of 50 runners and walkers who ventured out on a cold fall morning to honor AU professor Sue Ann Marcum, found dead in her Bethesda home on Oct. 25.

Billed as the "oldest continuing race in Mongomery County," the 35^th annual Rockville 10K/5K on Nov. 7 would have been Marcum's first attempt in a road race.

"Sue was a mentor and good friend of mine," said Casey Evans, an AU alumna and adjunct faculty at AU's Kogod School of Business. "This was going to be [Marcum's] first 5K. She had been training for months and was really excited about it."

Marcum's death, Evans said, has rocked the AU community. She recalled her monthly breakfast meetings with Marcum leading up to the 5K. "She would give me a blow-by-blow account of her training," Evans said.

Evans wasn't planning to run but when she learned of Marcum's death she rallied Marcum's colleagues, students and friends to sign up in an effort to honor her. Evans even enlisted her parents, her husband, an AU alumnus, her brother, an AU graduate student, and his fiancée.

"I thought it would be a nice thing – try to do something positive for everyone during this sad time," Evans said. "Sue was such a wonderful, wonderful woman – an amazing professor. She was all about AU and all about the students."

Frann Albert, of Syracuse, N.Y., has sustained a 45-year friendship with the Marcum family. She said that she watched Sue Marcum grow up and described her as "bubbly, warm, friendly, supportive, and active."

"We're deeply, deeply saddened," said Albert, her voice strained as her eyes filled with tears. "It's a nightmare. We want to honor Sue and her mom and dad."

Evans noted her appreciation for race coordinator Jim Farkas, who helped her confirm which race Marcum had signed up for, and to the Kogod School of Business for posting announcements on Facebook and Twitter.

Evans said the school also created the special bib that participants pinned to their shirts: I'm running in honor of Sue Marcum, beloved professor, colleague, friend, and member of the Kogod community.