Above runners cruise the final yards to the 10K finish.

Results are all unofficial.

Before the race, runners mill around the center.

King Farm Village Center was again the center of running action, the first day returning to standard time. This time I changed my clock so I did not get there too early. If I had I would have seen scores of worker bees setting up the staging area for the race. Many of the shops in the village came out to provide food for the runners. After the race, Jack McMahon of Rockville, MD complained that it was "all dinner time food." Yes, there were sandwiches, Mexican food, and hot pasta but there was also bananas and bagels and bottled water. They even had the rarest of race drinks, Coca Cola. And of course the ice cream from Maggie Moos can be eaten anytime of day, though I preferred eating with an accompanied brownie and a cookie.

The 33rd running of the Rockville 10K/5K Montgomery County's oldest continuous race, though it is the 10K that was the original race. The course has moved many times in its history. Though the different courses are about the same degree of difficulty, the race Web Site list the 10K event record and then list all the current course records. They do need updating.

Two years ago Alvin Yew set the course record in the 10K with 34:05. Last year that was smoked by Allen Carr in 32:29. In 2007, masters runner Andres Wright had the second fast time of 33:52 to break Mark Malander's masters course record of 2006 in 34:25. The event record for the men was set back in 1985 by Kevin McGarry in a sizzling 30:16. Masters sensation Ric Banning won it all in 1993 for the masters record with 32:19.

This year Alvin Yew was back and was inched out in a photo finish for the title by Gareth Peters in 34:27. David Bernstein (21) of Chevy Chase, MD completed the top three in 34:51. Jean Christophe Arcaz (47) of Rockville, MD just held off top grandmaster Maurice Pointer (53) of Baltimore, MD 35:49 to 35:58.

Last year world champion middle distance runner Alisa Harvey pureed the race taking down the masters record in a swift 36:51. That is for the current course and for any of the former iterations as well. Louise Kelly had held the event record racing 37:13 back in 1991 (officially) but Paula Renzi did set the record with 36:51 in 1994, making Harvey tied for the all time open record as well. This year Elena Orlova (38) of Gaithersburg, MD finished eighth overall in 37:16, three minutes faster than runner-up Laura Ramos (29) of Bethesda, MD. Third place Anya Oleynik of Gaithersburg, MD was just eighteen in 2006 when she missed winning and setting the then course record of 37:48 by one second. Fourth place Debbie Flynn (52) of Gaithersburg, MD was the top masters with a blistering final mile kick in 6:30.

The race announcer anouncer is none other the the godfather of Montgomer County Road Runners John Sissala, though he implored the crowd to remember him as John 'Smith' at today's event.

The 10K race is the final race in the Rockville Triple Race Series. The race series includes the DARCARS Pike's Peek 10K, the Rockville Rotary Twilight Runfest 8K, and the 10K race of the Rockville 10K/5K. The race series has a $1,000 prize pot that is in addition to non-cash prizes given to Rockville 10K and 5K winners. Also new this year - the 10K component of the Rockville 10K/5K serves as the 10K qualifier for the Official Maryland Senior Olympics. To top it off, the 10K is also the seventh race of the Maryland RRCA Grand Prix Series

Both the 5K and 10K started together in the center of the village and followed and labyrinth of streets winding back and forth throughout King Farm. It seemed the journey would take the runners along many hills and valleys, though the hills were not to steep. Fortunately, the breeze blowing the runners on this perfect autumn morning chose to follow them up the hills.

Just before three miles, the 10K headed west and the 5K headed south. Unfortunately, the lead runners in the 5K were taken off course, jumbling the normal pecking order. The open men's course records would have been seriously challenged. (Andres Wright 16:19 and Kristen Ettensohn 18:45).

Joe Abernethy's master course record of 16:36 was truly safe. He often won it all and is listed as the masters record holder, that is for the current course. Abernethy holds the second fastest 10K time, winning the 10K in 1999 in 33:07. Jim Whitnah a three-time 5K overall winner outdueled former state masters record holder Peter Kirk in 1996, winning 16:04 to 16:09. That took down his former record from 1995 in 16:19.

For the masters women, Gretchen Triantos had won it all in 2002 in 19:26 ahead of 36-year-old Helen Beven in 19:50. That was at king Farm but a different course. So Beven's fourth place finish in 20:32 behind three teenagers would best the listed mark of 21:12 set by Lorraine Ross in 2004, the first year for the present course. It is hard to figure sometimes event versus course. The 5K, which started in 1995, was run in King Farm in 2002 but was it the exact same course? The answer for both the 10K and the 5K is NO. There have been new courses starting in 2004.

Triantos had won both the 5K and 10K over the years, usually preferring the 5K. As a young masters runner in 1999, she set the all time event standard with 18:02.

After the race, runners reveled in the sunshine and fed their faces hoping for a random award prize. The race(s) for many years seemed to stay around 500-600 participants. This year with many runners/walkers in the 5K, the numbers totaled nearly a thousand.

Note that the results are all unofficial pending some time and place issues in both of the races.

History:
Since as early as 1987 the course was run from Montgomery College. The 5K started in 1995. The 10K was at least three different courses, first circling the campus, and then later darting down past the Rockville Metro station. The 5K started in 1995. In 1997 the course moved to the Georgetown Medical Center off Piccard Drive. It looped up and back Gude Drive for the 5K while the 10K continued past the finish and out to the Gaither Road and back. In 2002, the course was run back and forth east to west from King Farm with the finish the same as this year but a much different course. In 2004, the current courses were adapted, though some of the 5K runners 2009 will be closer to 3.1 versus the 3.75 they ended up with.

Update:
Ken Trombatore took more than 2,000 shots of the race. Here at the start, Matt Straughn (#352) with Tim Schaeffer (#467) are already moving ahead of the field.

As the runners split - 10K right and 5K straight at Redland Boulevard (2.85 Miles in to the race) things went wrong for the race leaders. Three runners were well ahead of the pack, having hit the first two miles at near 5:00 per mile. Kyle Gaffney (19) of Silver Spring, MD was looking golden after having raced a nifty runner-up 16:32 at the College Park Cares 5K. Matt Straughn (31) of Glenn Dale, MD was about ten seconds back and still hoping for a kick like the one that one home the Run for Kathy 5K in 16:12 last month. Just off his shoulder Tim Schaeffer (30) of Gaithersburg, MD was coming off a third place finish at the Goblin Gallop last week in 16:21.

At the next intersection, the penultimate one before turning onto Pleasant Drive for the final fifty meters, the runners were directed south again onto Thompson Dairy Drive. That would have been fine if they were running in the 10K as it was 5.5 miles into that race. The runners knew something was wrong, though they saw arrows and later a water stop and course marshals at the bottom of the hill were the road turns into Crooked Creek Drive. A short time later they saw the 6 Mile marker as they finished up their "5K" race. This extra distance took a lot of steam out of their potential kick. Still they were the third, ninth, and tenth runners to reach the real finish line. They all probaly would have dipped under sixtenn minutes had they stayed on course.

Race winner Dan Lawson was heard to say that he started wrong and realized his mistake quick enough to get back on track by reversing his course. He figured he probably lost about thirty seconds and he knew for sure something was wrong when he broke the tape. Second place Jim Whitnah rarely races anymore, maybe once or twice since last year's 5K. Still, he knew the course and arrived at the wrong turn junction about ten seconds after Lawson and returned back on course.

Full Race Day Results