Double your pleasure blows runners away.

Last year Pacers Running Stores got runners ready for the New Year with the first edition of the King Street Mile. Street miles are always lots of fun especially as they are usually point to point, not that silly racing around in circles like a dog chasing its tail. The mile draws out all ages of runners, really young and old alike can manage the mile. Top dogs can hone their skills and bragging rights as well. The race featured many of the fastest road racers in the area. The men's race was a nail biter with three racers finishing less than a step apart in 4:20. Allen Carr was the first victor. For the women, we could expect no less than Alisa Harvey. She always steps up to the big time races and no master runner has ever beaten her best time. Naturally, she wanted to win it all and cruised to a 4:59 win. Her competition may be able to stay with her in the 5K but not in Alisa's territory. She owns the mile.

The road mile is always more challenging than the track. The course is more than uneven and splits are hard to figure. Besides, the road was filled with more than 200 runners last year with a fifty per cent increase this year. It was so cool to see the police chasing cars off the road so we could have the main drag in Alexandria all to ourselves. All the side streets were blocked off and at 5:00 PM King Street was to become a one way street.

The race starts at Alexandria City Hall and finishes just west of King Street Metro Station passing by the Pacers store just past the halfway point. The highest point is a mere 39 feet and the lowest 10 feet. The race starts with what seems to be a mild rise and the second half is perceivably down hill. You can understand why nearly 9% of the runners broke 5:00. Indeed, the race asks for only runners that can break 9:00.

Then came this year and the winds were a fierce 30-35 MPH to cool off runners further from the 30 degrees. It was fun to hide in City Hall like a siege waiting for the race to start. Once we lined up, the chattering of teeth and dancing to keep warm were quite evident. Save the long speeches; let's get going! Hopefully that big tall runner will stay just in front of me. Diminutive Alisa Harvey was hiding a few rows back and the wind was threatening to whirl her away out of Kansas. Away went the runners. Some sprinted quickly into the first quarter mile and flamed out. Others hunkered down and pressed on in the battle against the relentless wind.

The wind should have killed the fast times. Surprisingly, the same number of runners broke 5:00. For the women, ten broke 6:00 versus 13 from last year. Harvey won again in a wind controlled 5:18, which would have been fifth last year. Laura O'Hara of Washington, DC was briefly a factor running a strong 5:26. Erin Swain of Arlington, VA was third in 5:30, while Katherine Allen started a few rows back to finish in 5:33. Her net time would have put her right off Swain's shoulder.

Abiyot Abebe is the top ranked runner in the area so it is fitting that he triumph here. His time of 4:29 would have been fifth as well. Chris Mocko blew into town from Palo Alto, CA to challenge one second behind. Just nineteen, Bradshaw Kenimer of Alexandria, VA was third in 4:34. Scott Anderson was next in 4:36 with fifth place Joseph Devar plastered to his side. Their places were sorted out by a tenth of a second in net time.

As with last year, Harvey (43) was the top master of either sex. Dennis Coleman (50) of Gaithersburg, MD was top master for the men in 5:27. Dan Eddy (57) of Alexandria (5:45) had warned that the grandmasters would be fighting for second with Coleman aboard this year.

The mile is a young man's game. Only five women fifty and older ran and just 24 for the men. Who else but youngsters would be crazy enough to race in that blasted wind? Well, there is Peter Blank (54) of Annandale, VA. Blank ran 71 miles in 2008 as part of the 167 total. He ran 436 more miles in the past ten years.

That brings us to the next step on our journey. Earlier in the day in Fairfax, Robert Wade had won the Red Ribbon 5K in a pedestrian 17:06 just holding off teenager James Komen by two seconds. That race used to be held in Alexandria on Eisenhower Avenue so it might have been a lead into the mile, not much more than a mile away. In this case, Pacers decided to have another race at 7:00 PM right there in Fairfax by another of one of their four stores.

The King Street mile had a nice long sleeve shirt. The Fairfax Four Mile had an excellent hooded sweatshirt with a pouch to hide those soon to be cold hands. Runners determined enough to race both races got a nice racing shirt as well. Runners were warned that the high winds had taken down a tree and some power lines ion the course. "We will have a course but it might not be the one originally planned, somewhere between three and four miles."

That's cool. The lines to the portajohns were empty. Nobody wanted to spend any time outside in Antarctica. More than 1200 runners had signed up for the event. The time was right for another big race. New Year's weekend is the third biggest racing weekend after Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July.

Free parking was plentiful and there were many stores and shops to stay warm in. In fact, your racing bib came with five tickets to get refreshments with. The first was an ice cream store called Piccomolo. Then it was on to Fosters for chicken wings, followed by pizza at Mama Lucia's. Next maybe a taste of wine at the Wine House capped off by a cup of java at the Metro Silver Dinner.

Before we could taste those treats we had a date of destiny with a four mile race. In the dark night, the bright blue lights of the city's finest lit the way. There was more than one horse drawn carriage clopped down the road. Eerie in the leftover Christmas light backdrop, it was cold as could be. An amazing percentage of the runners/would be revelers lined up to start the journey.

The measured course could not be salvaged in time. It was decided to do four 1-mile loops. Runners darted quickly into the roaring winds as the mayor started the race. Fortunately, the first half mile was all down hill. Nobody would have liked to run up hill into the wind. Once we rounded the corner into the hill, the wind followed us and was actually our friend. The first loop of the course gave runners a chance to sort themselves out.

Robert Wade had his fun at Red Ribbon. Now he was in a battle with Steve Crane who had the fastest 4-mile time for all of 2008. The two raced together. Crane at more than six feet drew his share of wind. Crane had won all seven of their head to head battles, though twice it was by a mere second. Tonight the smaller Wade earned the victory 19:25 to 19:30. Aaron Church matched his bib #3 in 20:19 with Michael Wardian, who is known for the long races, in 20:33. Wardian won national titles in two ultras and had more than a few marathons wins while racing 51 races in 2008. Matt Anderson was the masters champ.

Wardian is the 102nd runner to join the 50 Plus Club, its mission is to run 50 or more races in a year. James Scarborough ran his 50th race here tonight, while James Moreland notched 100 and 101 to earn the two race premium. John Winkert approached before the four mile event and asked, "I did not get my chip for the mile. Does it still count?" That was his 49th race and the 4 mile would be his 50th. "If not, I will drive up to York, PA to do the Double Deuce tonight. The club raced 3900 races in 2008.

For the women, Briana Whaley took command from the start and bowled over the competition with 23:00 for 11th runner overall. Erin Swain was third in the mile earlier. Tonight she moved up to second with a swift 24:24. Teenager Erica Howes, at just 16, continues to improve with 24:38. Darlene Gauthier (50) was top master in 27:15.

So as the runners continued round and round the bend there was more and more flotsam or lap traffic to negotiate. Nobody really wanted to run wide but in the dark with heads down from the wind and disparate speeds it was clear that the faster runners would take the outer loop. Indeed the course marshals announced, "Faster runners to the left." It sure must have been tempting to run just three loops. After all, it is easy to lose count in the mind numbing cold. Technocrats with GPS told us the course may have been closer to 3.9, though some say 4. At the track, 16 loops is four miles in lane one. In lane six, it is only 15 laps. Thus, if you were passing people in the last three laps, you were probably running at least four miles. Next year the weather will be perfect as it was the day before this year's inaugural event. Missing theses races next year would be a mistake.

Full Race Day Results