In photo above, James Blum (#394) of Potomac, MD hustles home in a fine 20:59.

Saturday morning was cold (Brrrr!) and raining and looked to scare away weekend runners. Big, bad Army 10 Miler took another 24,000 runners away. When Sunday dawned into a gorgeous fall day, this second year race, held at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, MD blossomed into a nearly five hundred person race.

The course was another of those "rolling hills" races. After a deceptively fast first half minute, racers climbed for nearly a mile circling the high school. The last mile was mostly down hill and finished with 300 meters on the track.

The race had student and teacher divisions, allowing that age-old battle to continue outside the classroom. For the men, fast improving young racer Neal Darmody (16) of Gaithersburg, MD [in photo with dad] roared down the hill onto the track with no one yet in sight. He ran a very solid 16:53 that promises to be a slow time for him in the very near future. Peter Darmody (51) added some panache to his father and son awards collection with a sub 6:00 pace 18:37. Robby Linnoila (17) of Bethesda, MD held off a fast moving Danny Bennet (36) of Dunkirk, MD about 60 meters back of Darmody.

Always competitive Ted Poulos (44, right in photo) of McLean, VA won the masters division in 18:09 for his third such win of the weekend. He would drive to Columbia, MD for a fourth race and an overall win later in the afternoon. At the awards ceremony, the audience was asked to vote for the fastest teacher. They correctly chose sixth place Paul Jacobson (43) of Gaithersburg, MD. His charge to the finish in 18:14 made Poulos work hard for his award. Trey Kinkead (#449) of Rockville is the third 40-44 finisher, pictured here with Poulos.

Sixty percent of the top 25 men were teens. That last spot went to Bill Stahr (45) of the Plains, VA who raced the Stonewall Jackson 20 Mile race on Saturday. Lou Shapiro of Silver Spring, MD just turned 65 and gave himself a second place age group win in the 60-69 division as a present. Robert Smith (72) of Comus, MD [photo], a regular "Ranked Runner," was tops in the 70 & over division.

Anya Oleynik (18) of Gaithersburg, MD was no stranger to the winner's circle, beating all but the top seven men as well, running 18:34. Nearly eighty percent of the women were teens, including the top seven. Louise Hananallah (16) of Potomac, MD was the only woman close enough to see Oleynik finish. She ran 18:52. Hasha Berge (17) of Potomac, MD was third in 19:49. In the photo, they are pictured left to right in order of finish.

Michelle Pinko (41) of Potomac, MD was the top woman in the masters division in 22:45. It was close for second with Kelly Scharer (40) of Potomac, MD nearby in 23:08. Nearly all the runners came from nearby Potomac and Rockville. The top grandmaster was an out of town gunslinger, Ann Sims (54) of Asheville, NC,[in photo] racing a swift 23:25 to win to oust the locals by close to three minutes. Elizabeth Sadoff (57) of Washington, DC ran 26:00.

After the race, there were bodacious quantities of overstuffed subs and lots of cooling drinks. Bagels and bananas helped ordain the many refreshment tables. The awards lasted a long time with many random prizes and yet the crowd was still large and eager throughout the whole ceremony. Throughout the morning the track was coiffed by cheerleaders helping the happy runners to the ChampionChip mats at the finish line.

Men's Awards

MALE
Place Num   Name                Age City               Time    Cat 
===== ===== =================== === ================== ======= === 
    1   529 Neal Darmody         16 Gaithersburg MD      16:53     
    2   387 Robby Linnoila       17 Bethesda MD          17:13 S   
    3   515 Danny Bennett        36 Dunkirk MD           17:15     
MALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 14
    1   381 Shervin Sepehri     14 Potomac MD           19:07 S 
    2   114 Sei Masuoka         14 Potomac MD           19:51 S 
    3   443 Jorge Pacheo        14 Potomac MD           20:13   
MALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19
    1   119 Sean King           16 Potomac MD           17:55 S 
    2    76 James Hard          17 Potomac MD           18:51 S 
    3   509 Steven Hwang        15 Potomac MD           19:00   
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1   125 Marc Schron         21 Potomac MD           18:33   
    2   650 Geraldo Serafinoff  28 Alexandria VA        20:59   
    3   208 Brian Dunlop        20 Potomac MD           23:43   
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1   545 Sam Shipp           35 Round Hill VA        19:05 T 
    2   526 Joel Carrier        37 Germantown MD        19:45   
    3   342 Doug Vojik          39 Baltimore MD         20:20   
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1   448 Ted Poulos          44 Mc Lean VA           18:08   
    2    89 Paul Jacobson       43 Gaithersburg MD      18:14 T 
    3   449 Trey Kinkead        42 Rockville MD         19:37   
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1   531 Peter Darmody       51 Gaithersburg MD      18:36   
    2   496 Larry Washington    55 Rockville MD         18:55   
    3   530 Douglas Dunlop      52 Potomac MD           23:45   
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
    1   524 Clifford Gaddy      60 Kensington MD        21:18   
    2   536 Lou Shapiro         65 Silver Spring MD     21:27   
    3   583 Gary Marino         60 Laytonsville MD      23:21   
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1    18 Robert Smith        72 Comus MD             26:47   
    2   344 Joseph Jaffa        70 Potomac MD           41:31   
    3   508 Frank Whitis        75 Potomac MD           46:19  
S = Student  T = Teacher  

Women's Awards

FEMALE
Place Num   Name                Age City               Time    Cat 
===== ===== =================== === ================== ======= === 
    1   389 Anya Oleynik         18 Gaithersburg MD      18:34     
    2   284 Louise Hannallah     16 Potomac MD           18:52 S   
    3   527 Hasha Berge          17 Potomac MD           19:49     
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 14
    1   231 Maryam Fikri        14 Potomac MD           20:54 S 
    2   587 Britt Eckerstron    13 Boyds MD             21:01   
    3   435 Alexandra Giedd     14 Potomac MD           21:59   
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19
    1    79 Erin McManus        16 Potomac MD           21:57 S 
    2   271 Maryana Heilman     15 Potomac MD           22:46 S 
    3   594 Megan Donnelly      19 Mc Lean VA           22:51   
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1   653 Kathleen Brooks     29 Potomac MD           24:51   
    2   300 Kathryn McCarthy    28 Chicago IL           26:12   
    3   592 Mary Ellen Pascoe   20 Vienna VA            26:49   
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1   286 Carole Kammel       38 Rockville MD         22:13   
    2   604 Beth Muehl          33 Germantown MD        23:38 T 
    3   292 Kortney Ringel      33 Gaithersburg MD      25:02   
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1   424 Michelle Pinko      41 Potomac MD           22:29   
    2   538 Kelly Scharer       40 Potomac MD           22:59   
    3   204 Stacy Kincaid       40 Bethesda MD          24:33   
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1   238 Ann Sims            54 Asheville NC         23:12   
    2    16 Elizabeth Sadoff    57 Washington DC        25:56   
    3   460 Betsy Hirschel      54 Rockville MD         26:52   
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
    1   476 Linda Swartz        64 Potomac MD           33:54   
    2   546 Deanette Novak      62 Damascus MD          38:14   
    3   217 Linda Silverstein   63 Silver Spring MD     53:18   
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1   188 Betsy Montgomery    81 Asheville NC       1:00:48   
S = Student  T = Teacher  

Race Day Report for 2006
Full Race Day Results
Photo Gallery 2006
Page 2