Photos by Kathy Freedman (above in red waiting for the racers) and Lainey Bernstein.

A beautiful spring day, not for racing, but for simply living greeted the throng of runners assembled at the Shady Grove Metro station for the start of the 12th DARCARS Pike's Peek 10K in Rockville.

Okay, the tailing breeze that fostered fast times and personal bests along the unique point-to-point course made it a spectacular day for racing, too. And many in the field of 2,757 finishers took full advantage.

Foremost among them was Ethiopia's Gurmessa Kumsa (photo), who during his year in the Washington area has won most of the races he entered and nearly every race of consequence. Kumsa finished fourth at Pike's Peek last year, and was thus particularly pleased to add the title to his already bejeweled crown. Kumsa (27) broke from the pack two miles in and crossed the finish line in 29 minutes 27 seconds.

Tatyana Chulakh (24, photo), a Russian training in Germantown, likewise broke from the women's field early and won in 33:19, beating her fellow Russian and training partner, Olga Romanova (26), who took second in 33:47.

And while Kumsa and Chulakh both won by comfortable margins, they owed at least a bit of their success to serendipity and the poor navigational skills of the van driver charged with bringing some of the East Coast's top Kenyan runners, including 2006 women's winner Florence Jepkosgei, from West Chester, PA, to the race.

The driver got hopelessly lost and arrived in Rockville only after the top runners had finished the race, which was difficult for the Kenyan athletes, but of little moment to those who ran.

This was particularly so for men's runner-up Edmund Burke (37, photo) who turned in a personal best time 30:05 at an age when most competitive runners are beginning to slow down.

"I didn't expect to get second," said Burke, who finished third in 2003 in 30:11. "I was trying to break 30 minutes, but I'm pleased with my effort. I'm moving up and maybe that means next time I'll win."

Burke is an assistant distance coach at American University, to which he attributes his own youthful attitude. "I don't feel 37," Burke said. "I can't, not hanging around with college students all week long." Burke plans to run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN in June and hopes to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials marathon.

Doug Mock (40) from Bowie, MD was the top masters runner and 19th overall in 32:44, edging Andres Wright (40) from Frederick, MD who stayed close until the final mile and finished in 32:58.

Alisa Harvey (41) from Manassas, VA won the women's masters race and finished eighth overall in 36:31. Martha Merz (44) from Annandale, VA was second in 37:23.

Former area racing stalwart Pat Griffith (62, photo), now living in Ocala, FL, returned to his former stomping grounds and ran 38:59 to finish second to Mike Hazilla (60) who won the 60-64 age group with a time of 37:00.

Chuck Moeser (55) from Sterling, VA was the first grandmaster (50 and over) and won the 55-59 age group in 33:48.

Editor's note: Here author Jim Hage (49) of Kensington, MD rumbles to the finish line. Thirty meters behind him are the second place woman, Olga Romanova (33:46), and Chuck Moeser, first grandmaster (33:47). The grandmaster course record is 33:42 set in 2006.

Jim Hage holds the 45-49 course record with 31:34 and he will be 50 next February.

Hage's history at DARCARS Pike's Pike 10K

Year	Time	Place
1996	31:06	6th
1997	30:59	2nd
2003	31:34	6th (course age group record)
2004	33:59	15th
2005	32:39	14th
2007	33:40	28th

Men's Awards
Open & Masters By Gun Time, Age Groups By Net Time
No Duplicate Prizes

MALE OPEN Gun Time
    1     8 Gurmessa Kumsa        28 Washington DC      29:27#  600 
    2    11 Edmund Burke          37 Burtonsville MD    30:05*  400 
    3    30 John K. Bitok         27 Baltimore MD       30:12   300 
    4     9 Steve Crane           25 Alexandria VA      30:15   150 
    5    93 Birhanu Wakuw         24 Washington DC      30:16   150 
    6    19 Beruk Deberework      23 Washington DC      30:50   100 
    7    95 Ezyras Deba           24 Washington DC      31:14   100 
    8  2419 Jason Weber           30 Arlington VA       31:22   100 
    9    78 Kyle Smits            28 Baltimore MD       31:29   100 
   10    26 Jake Klim             26 North Bethesda MD  31:31   100 
   11    15 Michael Wardian       33 Arlington VA       31:46   100 
   12    29 Jason Dwyer           27 Bethesda MD        31:52   100 
# Under USATF OPEN guideline    
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE MASTERS Gun Time
    1    67 Doug Mock             40 Bowie MD           32:44   100 
    2  3401 Andres Wright         40 Frederick MD       32:58       
    3    69 Greg Cauller          47 York PA            33:23*      
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19 Net Time
    1  2749 Hammer Rexford        19 Darnestown MD      31:51*   75 
    2    38 Neal Darmody          17 Gaithersburg MD    32:20*   50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24 Net Time
    1    79 Allen Carr            24 Herndan VA         31:55    75 
    2    47 David Miller          23 Herndon VA         32:53    50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29 Net Time
    1    34 Bert Rodriguez        27 Arlington VA       32:02    75 
    2  1842 Matias Palavecino     25 Washington DC      32:39    50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34 Net Time
    1    31 Troy Harrison         31 .                  32:47    75 
    2  2346 Jason Tripp           34 Ellicott City MD   33:52    50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39 Net Time
    1    36 Rob Magin             36 Olney MD           32:40    75 
    2   125 Mike Colaiacovo       37 .                  32:58    50 
    3  2512 Kevin Yates           35 Olney MD           34:12    25 
    4    76 Max Lockwood          37 Washington DC      35:09    25 
    5  2818 Remus Medley          37 .                  36:01    25 
    6    60 Stephen Hays          39 University Park MD 36:25    25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44 Net Time
    1    42 Mark Hoon             42 Kensington MD      33:49    75 
    2    41 Darrell General       41 Cheverly MD        33:49    50 
    3    75 Rodney Timpson        42 Baltimore MD       34:10    25 
    4    59 Chris Chattin         43 Columbia MD        34:11    25 
    5    43 Steven Menzies        43 Langley Afb VA     34:26    25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49 Net Time
    1    35 David Haaga           45 Rockville MD       33:32*   75 
    2    50 Jim Hage              49 Kensington MD      33:40*   50 
    3    48 George Buckheit       49 Reston VA          34:41    25 
    4   343 Christian Falmagne    46 Bethesda MD        34:56    25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54 Net Time
    1    52 Stephen Chantry       52 Williamsburg VA    34:24*   75 
    2    54 James Bates           51 Hampton VA         34:57*   50 
    3    57 Maurice Pointer       51 Baltimore MD       35:21*   25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59 Net Time
    1    55 Chuck Moeser          55 Sterling VA        33:47*   75 
    2    56 Rick Platt            56 Williamsburg VA    35:20*   50 
    3  2500 Jim Wright            57 Gaithersburg MD    36:55*   25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64 Net Time
    1  1189 Michael Hazilla       60 Germantown MD      36:57*   75 
    2   128 Patrick Griffith      62 Ocala FL           38:58*   50 
    3   321 Herb Tolbert          60 Montgomery Vlg. MD 40:36*   25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69 Net Time
    1   306 Lou Shapiro           65 Silver Spring MD   41:44*   75 
    2  3281 Warren Prunella       65 Rockville MD       43:33*   50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74 Net Time
    1   298 Alan Rider            71 Reston VA          52:55    75 
    2   312 Robert Smith          73 Comus MD           53:56    50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79 Net Time
    1  2698 Jack McMahon          76 Rockville MD       53:00*   75 
    2  2502 Nianxiang Xie         79 Rockville MD       54:28*   50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99 Net Time

Women's Awards
Open & Masters By Gun Time, Age Groups By Net Time
No Duplicate Prizes

FEMALE OPEN Gun Time
    1     6 Tatyana Chulakh       24 Germantown MD      33:19#  600 
    2     4 Olga Romanova         26 Germantown MD      33:47#  400 
    3    91 Hirut Mengistu        21 Washington DC      34:29#  300 
    4    24 Alemgena Desta        25 Washington DC      35:02   150 
    5    27 Melissa Tanner        26 Bethesda MD        35:32   150 
    6    90 Teyba Nasir           20 Washington DC      35:41   100 
    7    94 Belaynesh Zemedukin   19 Washington DC      35:44*  100 
    8    20 Alisa Harvey          41 Manassas VA        36:31*  100 
    9  3526 Annya Oleynik         18 Gaithersburg MD    37:05*  100 
   10    44 Martha Merz           44 Annandale VA       37:23*  100 
   11    58 Alicia Pease          24 Silver Spring MD   37:46   100 
   12    45 Rebecca Nathan        41 Arlington VA       38:18*  100 
# Under USATF OPEN guideline    
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline

FEMALE MASTERS Gun Time
    1  2263 Patti Stewart-Garb.   45 Orange Park FL     38:29*  100 
    2  2654 Robyn Humphrey        43 Ellicott City MD   39:07       
    3  2589 Vanessa Cox           45 Laurel MD          39:23*      
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19 Net Time
    1  3353 Masha Berge           18                    41:12    75 
    2  3081 Mary Larson           19 College Park MD    43:37    50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24 Net Time
    1    77 Kelly Behan           24 Washington DC      39:37    75 
    2  3007 Kelly Baker           24 Beltsville MD      40:16    50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29 Net Time
    1    33 Erica Marrari         25 College Park MD    38:20    75 
    2  2877 Toni Diegoli          28 Arlington VA       38:36    50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34 Net Time
    1  1345 Andrea Kaltenbaugh    33 Springfield VA     40:24    75 
    2   374 Erica Morton          30 Washington DC      41:41    50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39 Net Time
    1    37 Hilary Cairns         36 Washington DC      38:13    75 
    2  1478 Vicki Lang            38 Columbia MD        38:47    50 
    3   130 Paula Pels            39 Bethesda MD        40:47    25 
    4  3300 Ulrike Robinson       35 Germantown MD      40:57    25 
    5   365 Kathleen McFarlane    37 Ashburn VA         42:30    25 
    6  3386 Jennifer Hughes       36 Rockville MD       42:33    25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44 Net Time
    1  2808 Monica Grillo         42 Arlington VA       39:47    75 
    2  1414 Sheryl Kline          44 Arnold MD          39:49    50 
    3   134 Laura Nelson          41 .                  40:58    25 
    4   495 Sarah Barpoulis       41 Potomac MD         42:13    25 
    5  2950 Lyly Pham             42 Alexandria VA      43:32    25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49 Net Time
    1    46 Cindy Conant          46 Kensington MD      40:27*   75 
    2  3299 Carol Kasunic         45 Germantown MD      41:22*   50 
    3  2897 Jeanne Grillo         45 Potomac MD         41:42    25 
    4   131 Liliana Baron         48 Potomac MD         43:49    25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54 Net Time
    1  3130 Gretchen Triantos     50 Rockville MD       41:09*   75 
    2    70 Alison Suckling       51 Arnold MD          41:27*   50 
    3  1711 Aileen Moffatt        50 Washington DC      43:20*   25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59 Net Time
    1   127 Alice Franks          58 Rockville MD       44:52*   75 
    2   821 Magaret Davis         55 Vienna VA          47:33*   50 
    3   215 Valerie Campbell      56 Wheaton MD         48:09*   25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64 Net Time
    1   788 Chris Craun           61 Bethesda MD        46:23*   75 
    2   360 Pat Welch             62 Vienna VA          53:13    50 
    3  1241 Michiyo Horai         61 Rockville MD       55:37    25 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69 Net Time
    1   132 Betty Smith           65 Rockville MD       57:51*   75 
    2   346 Setsu Rosen           66 Washington DC      60:06    50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74 Net Time
    1  2605 Margery Elliott       74 Bethesda MD        57:04*   75 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79 Net Time
    1  2944 Jacquelin O'Neil      75 Washington DC      71:29*   75 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99 Net Time

Full Race Day Results

Handicapping the Runners at the DARCARS Pike's Peek 10K
Photo Gallery I for 2007
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Photo Gallery II
Page 2
Page 3