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Cheering Crowds Propel Marathoners to the Finish Line
35-year-old Peter Sherry fell to his knees after winning the 2003 Marine Corps Marathon, then quickly recovered and greeted fellow MCM title-holder (1988 and 1989) Jim Hage with a smile. Sherry sat down amidst microphones and television cameras, dialed his wife on a cell phone and gave her the good news. "It was worth it. I am glad it worked out," he told her, then faced the media to answer their questions. Sherry's voice was too faint to hear without a microphone amidst the crowd of reporters.

A loud "thank you, dude" came from the finishing area a few yards away. Aaron Church, 28 of South Riding, the early leader of the race finished third and 3:17 minutes behind Sherry. Church animatedly talked to a few friends with glee in his eyes. "Feet on fire" with blisters, he relinquished his lead and stopped to bandage his raw feet. Church refused to quit, this is a hometown race, so he continued on his way of what became a "fast paced training run." He had been knocking out mile splits close to his target pace of a 2:18 marathon, he explained.

Heather Hanscom looked comfortable and in control of the women's race from start to finish. Her frequent early morning training partner, Michael Wardian of Arlington, ran with Hanscom most of the way--she deserves the win, after rising often at 5 am to run an early workout during the past year with him, he remarked after the race. Her winning margin of twenty minutes made for an incredible debut at the distance and is the big story of this year's Marine Corps Marathon. Only Olga Markova of St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) has had a faster wining time at the MCM with a 2:37:00 in 1990. She has unofficially qualified for the 2004 Women's Olympic Trials in the marathon and her time ranks her in the top twenty nationally as a rookie. Her strong 7th place performance in September's Philadelphia Distance Run Half Marathon, 1:14:11, indicated to coach Matt Centrowitz that she was ready for this challenge.

Hanscom made some comments to the media, but complained of dizziness and received medical attention after the race. When asked to comment on her expectations coming into the event, she said her hope was to run sub-2:46 or perhaps as low as 2:40 if she had an outstanding day. Her 2:37:59 marathon under warm autumn conditions on a course that has hills and wind exceeded her ambition and will catch the attention of running observers across the country.

Peter Sherry recovered nicely from the effort out on the course and lingered to chat with Jim Hage, who was inducted into the Marine Corps Marathon Hall of Fame this year for his wins in 1988 and 1989. Sherry is a New York native but stressed his ties to the Washington community, where he has resided and studied since 1986. Dan Steinberg wrote in the Washington Post that Sherry placed second in the 1991 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships 5000 meters for Georgetown University and finished 8th in the 1992 Olympic Trials 10,000 meters. Sherry raced against Andre Williams in the 2002 Georgetown Classic 10K, outkicked to finish four seconds behind current business partner Williams in 30:29 - it's possible to compete and be good friends!

Slower runners are not alone in their feelings of chagrin; Sherry commented that his Olympic Trials race in 2000 was "embarrassing" but that it is an honor to participate in a high level competition to represent the United States. He has qualified in two events - the Men's Marathon (February, 2004 in Birmingham, AL) and 5000 meters (July, 2004 Outdoor Track & Field)- for the 2004 Olympic Trials and want to keep his options open. There is time to train for his next marathon with the possibility that 5000 meters might develop into a better placed bet for a place on the Olympic team. Sherry trains near his home in Reston with Keith Dowling (top American in the 2002 Boston Marathon), who lives a mile away, and 5000 meter specialist Marc Davis.

George Banker quotes Hanscom on running: "If another person comes up, it gets your racing edge back. I try to turn it over and it's discouraging if you can't go with them. The faster my opponent runs, the faster I will run. It's nice to win every once in a while. It's nice to get faster." She ran the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in 2002, her first race at a longer distance, in 58:12 - it was more like a paced run than a race, a shock, she told Banker.

On September 21, Heather Hanscom finished 7th in the Philadelphia Distance Run Half Marathon with a time of 1:14:11. Mike Wardian, another Pacers team member and early morning training partner, noted that she raced 20 miles on October 4th in the Stonewall Jackson Ambulance Run and finished first among women with a 2:03:45 - 26.2 miles has been a small step up in distance from there. Her marathon debut exceeded her own high expectations; she must be ecstatic to have this achievement to fuel her training in the coming months - her emotions are hidden beneath the surface. Coached by Matt Centrowitz of American University, she has access to a first-class strategist; a majority of the area's national caliber runners rely on Centrowitz as a reference source for some of their training.

Heather Hanscom started her career as a runner at Hylton H.S. in Woodbridge, VA where the girls' team won State Championships in cross country her sophomore and junior years. It was also in high school that she was diagnosed and treated for a brain tumor at age 14; she displays the same resiliency as cancer survivor and Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong. "Running for the Pacers/New Balance team is great, they are very supportive," she told Banker. As a biomedical researcher with a degree from James Madison University (2001) for the American Red Cross in Rockville, her life is balanced between intellectual and athletic pursuits.

See George Banker's profile of Heather Hanscom that appeared in the Nov/Dec 2002 Washington Running Report

Top Ten Men

Place	First	Last name Hometown or Country   	Age	time10k	time21m	ChipTime Clock
1	Peter	Sherry	Great Falls	VA		35	0:33:50	1:54:38	2:25:07	2:25:07
2	Eric	Post	Fairfax	VA        		24	0:33:51	1:53:41	2:27:49	2:27:49
3	Aaron	Church	South Riding	VA		28	0:33:20	1:56:02	2:28:24	2:28:24
4	Benjamin Lopez  Mexico                  	30	0:35:04	1:58:17	2:29:58	2:29:58
5	Mark Croasdale  United Kingdom            	38	0:34:43	1:58:36	2:30:20	2:30:20
6	Hipolito Godinez Mexico                    	28	0:35:04	1:59:18	2:31:27	2:31:27
7	Josse	Williams Baltimore	MD		25	0:35:18	2:00:57	2:32:18	2:32:18
8	Brian	Cole	United Kingdom            	32	0:36:02	2:01:00	2:32:26	2:32:26
9	Mark	Goodridge United Kingdom          	33	0:36:12	2:00:57	2:32:37	2:32:37
10	Gerardo	Aliva	Fort Lewis	WA		30	0:35:53	2:00:58	2:32:59	2:33:01

Top Ten Women

Place	First	Last name Hometown or Country   	Age	time10k	time21m	ChipTime Clock
1	Heather	Hanscom Alexandria VA     		25	0:37:26	2:06:13	2:37:59	2:37:59
2	Lindsey	Gannon	United Kingdom           	38	0:40:12	2:20:43	2:58:46	2:58:46
3	Kristin	Van Eron Timonium MD    		31	0:40:58	2:23:33	3:00:14	3:00:14
4	Victoria McParland Washington DC		27	0:43:34	2:25:31	3:02:26	3:02:26
5	Sage Stefiuk	Highlands NJ      		23	0:39:52	2:22:24	3:03:34	3:03:34
6	Janiced	Flynn	Redding	CT        		44	0:41:35	2:23:36	3:04:17	3:04:17
7	Jacqueine Chen	APO	AE        		41	0:42:55	2:25:56	3:07:36	3:07:36
8	Suzanne	Himes	Norfolk	VA        		34	0:42:31	2:28:48	3:07:37	3:07:37
9	Heidi McKenna	Beavercreek OH    		36	0:42:53	2:27:16	3:08:13	3:08:13
10	Beth Moras	Ridgewood NJ      		44	0:41:54	2:28:25	3:08:34	3:08:37

Wheelchair and Hand Crank Finishers (updated 12/1/3)

Wheelchairs: Top 10 Athletes												
Place	Name     	Hometown        	age	M/F	half	time10k	time21m	clockfinal	Pl in Gender
1	David	Lowell	Somerville	NJ	53	M	1:18:02	0:34:10	1:50:18	2:19:53		1
3	Brian	Woodyard Vienna 	WV	31	M	1:40:27	0:44:39	2:21:34	3:00:23		3
4	David	Ford	Washington	DC	33	M	1:35:38	0:47:52	2:28:13	3:10:18		4
5	Holly	Koester	Cleveland	OH	43	F	1:37:15	0:48:38	2:30:56	3:11:16		1
6	Barbara	Bowling	Alexandria	VA	39	F	1:53:40	0:56:25	3:15:30	4:19:31		2




Handcranks: Top 10 Athletes												
Place	Name      	Hometown        	Age	M/F	half	time10k	time21m	Chip    Clock	Pl in Gender
1	Geoff	Hopkins	Alexandria	VA	38	M		0:28:40	1:31:07	1:52:44	1:54:33	1
2	Brandi	Garrett	Laplata 	MD     	24	F	1:13:31	0:32:03	1:42:07	2:10:14	2:12:03	1
3	Thomas	O'Connor Tampa  	FL     	57	M	1:15:05	0:32:47	1:46:29	2:14:32	2:16:21	2
4	Kris	Gulden	Centreville	VA	37	F	1:36:22	0:42:44	2:13:39	2:48:38	2:50:27	2

Mile 8 in Georgetown
Photos below:

Aaron Church, 28, of South Riding, led the way through Georgetown with an expanding lead of 30 to 60 seconds.

Eric Post, 24, of Fairfax, ran relaxed while 35-year-old Peter Sherry of Great Falls dealt with a tight hamstring. They were second and third while passing through Georgetown.

Rolando Ricapac, 32 of Peru, held 4th place during the first half but slowed down to finish 13th.

Mile 16 on Capitol Hill Near the Library of Congress
Photos below:

Seventh place finisher Josse Williams, 25, of Baltimore, flies along on Capitol Hill. He ran 1:15:27 for the half, 2:32:18 for the marathon.

Wayne Dashper (#86), age 29, of the Royal Navy sailed along to finish 34th with a time of 2:49:02. Thirty-four-year-old Ted Leblow (#64), with the Army in Fort Leavenworth, KS, would roll ahead to finish 15th in 2:35:57.

Local Women Take Third and Fourth Places
Photos below:

Kristin Van Eron, 31, of Timonium, MD gave birth in 2002 and returned to running in 2003 finishing with a time of 3:00:14 for third place. She chose to run the Marine Corps Marathon over the Baltimore Marathon because her husband had a golf tournament last weekend.

Victoria McParland, 27, of Washington, DC finished fourth and happy with a time of 3:02:26.

See searchable Results for all finishers of the 2003 MCM.