Photos courtesy of Brightroom Event Photography.

There are no rainy days, Tiger Woods said famously in a commercial extolling the benefits of golf and hard work. That sentiment might apply equally well to the more than 844 dedicated runners who ran in the wet, wind, and chill of the 7th Veterans Day 10K in West Potomac Park.

Gurmesa Kumsa (27) from Oxon Hill, MD produced a workmanlike effort and added one more victory to his long list of wins with a time of 30 minutes 14 seconds. Kumsa, who has dominated area races since arriving from Ethiopia last March, blew through the opening mile with a tailwind in 4:30 and was never seriously challenged.

Steve Meinelt (23) from Washington, DC was second in 30:35 and his fellow Georgetown Running Company employee, Wilson Komen (28) from Washington, DC, was third in 30:59.

"I think I was fifth or sixth after a mile," said Meinelt, a 2005 Georgetown University graduate who claimed to be in the area "just hanging around, still running." Meinelt finished sixth in the BAA Half Marathon in Boston on October 8th in 1:06:54 and is training for the Chevron Houston Marathon in January.

Although Meinelt and Komen have never raced against each other, Komen, who finished third in 2:17:05 at last month's Baltimore Marathon, said he was not surprised to see Meinelt finish ahead of him. "I knew he is very fast," Komen said.

Mohammed Awol (24), another Ethiopian living in Silver Spring, MD finished fourth in 31:14 and William Christian (23), a former University of Virginia runner stationed with the Navy in Norfolk, VA and the winner of the Parks Half Marathon in September, took fourth in 31:25.

Elena Orlova (36), who lives among the Russian running contingent in Germantown, MD and won the Detroit Marathon on October 29 (2:41:26), took the lead from Alemgena Desta (25) of Silver Spring, MD in the final mile and kicked to the win. Desta was the winner of the Kentlands 5K in September.

"I was 15 to 20 seconds back the entire race until the end," Orlova said through an interpreter. "I felt pretty good but wasn't too confident because I raced 8K [in York, PA] yesterday. But it worked out okay." Orlova finished second at the Rockville Twilight 8K in July.

Martha Merz (44) from Annandale, VA was 7th overall and the women's master champion in 38:21. Tatyana Maslova (40) from Washington, DC was 9th and second in the competitive masters field in 39:34.

Jean-Christophe Arcaz (45) from Rockville, MD was 22nd overall and first among men's masters in 35:46. Dave Berardi (46) from Catonsville, MD was the second master in 35:55. Andrey Kuznetsov (48), a former national masters standout and 1988 Soviet Olympian, ran his first 10K in three years in 36:40.

"I've just started training again," Kuznetsov said. "But I'll get back in shape."

Wet racing weather notwithstanding, for runners there are no rainy days.

Men's Awards

MALE Open
    1    43 Gurmesa Kunsa        27 Oxon Hill MD       00:30:14 
    2    17 Steve Meinelt        23 Washington DC      00:30:35 
    3     1 Wilson Komen         28 Washington DC      00:30:59 
    4    52 Mohammed Awol        24 Aspen Hill MD      00:31:14 
    5    47 William Christian    23 Norfolk VA         00:31:25 
    6    28 Alexey Khokhlov      35 Germantown MD      00:31:32 
    7    51 Maru Dava            24 MD                 00:31:44 
    8    29 Bert Rodriguez       27 Arlington VA       00:32:43 
    9     3 Ryan Mammen          30 Woodbridge VA      00:32:44 
   10    12 Jake Klim            26 N Bethesda MD      00:32:48 
MALE Masters
    1   208 Jean-Christophe Arca 45 Rockville MD       00:35:46 
    2     7 Dave Berardi         46 Baltimore MD       00:35:55 
    3  1462 Kyle Caudle          41 Annapolis MD       00:35:59 
    4  1170 Carl Clark           42 New Market MD      00:36:01 
    5    27 Dan Lawson           51 Gaithersburg MD    00:36:03 
MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1 David Bernstein      19 M CHEVY CHASE MD     35:16 35:14  5:41 
    2 Cooper Linde         19 M YORK PA            37:17 37:16  6:00 
    3 Terry Wu             18 M COLLEGE PARK MD    37:42 37:40  6:04 
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Beruk Deberwork      23 M WASHINGTON DC      32:51 32:50  5:17 
    2 Patrick Hogan        23 M WASHINGTON DC      33:23 33:21  5:22 
    3 Alvin Yew            21 M SILVER SPRING MD   34:25 34:23  5:32 
MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Jason Dwyer          27 M BETHESDA MD        33:39 33:37  5:25 
    2 Matias Palavecino    25 M WASHINGTON DC      34:03 34:03  5:29 
    3 Joshua Taylor        27 M BLACKSBURG VA      35:11 35:09  5:40 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Philippe Rolly       34 M FAIRFAX VA         34:06 34:05  5:29 
    2 Dave O'Hara          30 M WASHINGTON DC      34:09 34:07  5:30 
    3 Jason Weber          30 M ARLINGTON VA       34:43 34:42  5:35 
MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Ovidg Olteani        36 M BRISTOL VA         33:22 33:21  5:23 
    2 Yancey Hall          37 M ARLINGTON VA       36:31 36:29  5:53 
    3 Alex Grant           38 M WASHINGTON DC      36:58 36:57  5:57 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Sheldon Degenhardt   41 M MARRIOTTSVILLE MD  37:13 37:10  5:59 
    2 Robert Denmark       40 M ARLINGTON VA       39:28 39:21  6:20 
    3 Marcellus Nixon      40 M FALLS CHURCH VA    39:44 39:38  6:23 
MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Andrey Kuznetsov     48 M GERMANTOWN MD      36:40 36:38  5:54 
    2 Robert Johnson       49 M WOODBRIDGE VA      36:56 36:53  5:57 
    3 Jay Sweet            45 M LAUREL MD          36:59 36:57  5:57 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 Mike Hart            51 M WASHINGTON DC      37:23 37:20  6:01 
    2 David Webster        53 M STEVENSVILLE MD    38:44 38:43  6:14 
    3 Tom Clark            52 M BURKE VA           41:28 41:22  6:40 
MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 Bill Taylor          57 M WOODBRIDGE VA      39:03 38:59  6:17 
    2 Allen Vaughan        56 M STAFFORD VA        43:22 43:18  6:58 
    3 Richard Carlisle     55 M SPRINGFIELD VA     43:24 43:19  6:59 
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 Patrick Griffith     62 M ALEXANDRIA VA      40:21 40:20  6:30 
    2 Jim Noone            62 M FAIRFAX VA         45:00 44:55  7:14 
    3 Robert Trost         60 M FALLS CHURCH VA    46:37 46:34  7:30 
MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1 Bob Leaberry         66 M GAMBRILLS MD       47:13 47:07  7:35 
    2 Henry Hamburger      66 M BETHESDA MD        51:52 51:40  8:19 
    3 Richard Boys         67 M FALLS CHURCH VA    55:24 55:15  8:54 
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1 Gene Granof          70 M BETHESDA MD        60:40 59:54  9:39 
    2 Robert Gurtler       71 M THE PLAINS VA      60:16 60:03  9:40 
MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1 George Yannakakis    75 M SPARKS MD          52:06 52:04  8:23 
    2 Marcel Bitoun        79 M WASHINGTON DC      88:14 88:08 14:11 
MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99

Women's Awards

FEMALE Open
    1    32 Elena Orlova         36 Germantown MD      00:35:58 
    2   182 Alemgena Desta       25 Silver Spring MD   00:36:08 
    3    49 Denisa Costescu      30 Bristol VA         00:37:09 
    4    24 Kerry Meagher        23 Washington DC      00:37:14 
    5    42 Laura Turner         26 Washington DC      00:37:20 
    6  1528 Melissa Tanner       25 Bethesda MD        00:37:20 
    7    23 Kathleen Liever      28 Alexandria VA      00:38:56 
    8   769 Amanda Walsh         23 Washington DC      00:40:10 
    9    11 Sarah Spalding       25 Washington DC      00:40:27 
   10    46 Kelly Bohan          25 Washington DC      00:40:29 
FEMALE Masters
    1    26 Martha Merz          44 Annandale VA       00:38:21 
    2    30 Tatyana Maslova      40 Washington DC      00:39:34 
    3   128 Rebecca Nathan       41 Arlington VA       00:39:48 
    4     9 Monica Grillo        42 Arlington VA       00:40:15 
    5    53 Linda Foley          44 Herndon VA         00:40:21 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1 Sarah Eargle         18 F PERRY HALL MD      41:52 41:47  6:44 
    2 Megan Burke          19 F FRANKLIN LAKES NJ  45:07 45:00  7:15 
    3 Mary Larson          19 F COLLEGE PARK MD    46:03 45:57  7:24 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Mary Christopher     22 F ARLINGTON VA       41:22 41:18  6:39 
    2 Linda Johnson        24 F WASHINGTON DC      41:38 41:33  6:42 
    3 Emily Ruppel         21 F NORTHFIELD MN      45:21 45:14  7:17 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Laura Mancini        27 F WASHINGTON DC      41:21 41:17  6:39 
    2 Melissa Waage        27 F WASHINGTON DC      44:33 44:29  7:10 
    3 Leigh Larkin         27 F GOLDSBORO NC       45:15 45:11  7:17 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Nancy Eiring         33 F WASHINGTON DC      45:40 45:26  7:19 
    2 Sarah Tooley         33 F Dover DE           46:48 46:33  7:30 
    3 Karen Ditzler        31 F ALEXANDRIA VA      48:39 48:32  7:49 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Kristin Didomenico   39 F Sterling VA        41:24 41:20  6:40 
    2 Adina Wadsworth      38 F WASHINGTON DC      44:46 44:40  7:12 
    3 Catherine Dale       38 F WASHINGTON DC      45:37 45:23  7:19 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Robyn Humphrey       42 F ELLICOTT CITY MD   41:02 40:58  6:36 
    2 Sheryl Kline         43 F ARNOLD MD          41:30 41:27  6:41 
    3 Anita Freres         41 F reston VA          42:02 41:59  6:46 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Win Persina          46 F WASHINGTON DC      41:20 41:17  6:39 
    2 Eleanor Kerr         46 F WEST HYATTSVILL MD 44:06 44:00  7:05 
    3 Blake Rushin         45 F VIENNA VA          47:19 47:08  7:36 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 Alison Suckling      51 F ARNOLD MD          44:07 44:03  7:06 
    2 Betty Blank          53 F FALLS CHURCH VA    46:18 46:15  7:27 
    3 Liza Recto           50 F LEXINGTON PARK MD  49:32 49:27  7:58 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 Alice Franks         58 F ROCKVILLE MD       47:28 47:22  7:38 
    2 Debby Gebhardt       58 F ADELPHI MD         47:51 47:42  7:41 
    3 Ginny Hughes         56 F WARRENTON VA       50:26 50:17  8:06 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 Chris Craun          60 F BETHESDA MD        47:53 47:43  7:41 
    2 B J King             61 F CROFTON MD         51:50 51:43  8:20 
    3 Muffet Chatterton    62 F CROFTON MD         58:12 58:05  9:21 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1 Betty Smith          65 F ROCKVILLE MD       56:59 56:38  9:07 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1 Tami Graf            70 F LUSBY MD           62:12 62:08 10:00 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1 Jacqueline O'Neil    75 F WASHINGTON DC      77:34 76:56 12:23 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99

Full Race Day Results

The race was a benefit for Helping Our Heroes Foundation