The time is 0: dark hundred. The birds are still asleep. Shortly after 4:00 AM, all over the region, alarm clocks are going off. Loved ones groan as their running counterparts slide unsteadily out from the covers. Coffee is brewing. Oranges are being squeezed. Runners are getting ready to rumble. The Rumble is now a summer race; so light, wicking garments are the order of the day. Perhaps even a yellow singlet in honor of Lance. After being mugged by most of July, runners were wary of the weatherman's promise of low humidity. Hadn't we been tormented by skies so humid that they burst into rain, steam rising from the still scorching streets?

The Rumble was not always run in the summer though it has always been weather challenged. In the late 1980s, the course was run on the towpath from Riley's Lock. It was in a much cooler September. Still, that was not much comfort in 1988 when the skies opened up and rained just as soon as runners had passed the 5K-point of no return. On the way back, the canal had flooded onto the towpath making it impossible to see your shoes. The sucking sound of the mud was your assurance they had not been lost.

The distance was still set at 20 kilometers when the course was moved to December. Can you say snow? Actually in 1990, snow would have been better. Instead, we were treated to thirty-three degrees of precipitation; just enough to make the "bridge freezes before the road" crossings a skating delight. The course was now heading away from the river it was supposed to be rumbling with. Meandering up and down the countryside was a real challenge. Coming down River's Road to Hunter's Lane made the lead runners wish for an orange jersey so the deer hunters would be firing in another direction.

Crossing River Road can be a challenge; running on the shoulder can be deadly. After a few years of roving "slow down cars" blocking the speeders from a reckless pace, the course moved to an out and back with just a simple crossing of River. In 1995, the present distance begins with a March date. Racing just a week after the Shamrock Marathon made it imperative the return trip was downhill. So then the name changed to Riley's Rumble and somebody got the idea that it would be fun to run in the summer sun.

In 1999, the race moved to the first week of August. For some reason the race just took off. After never having more than a couple hundred runners, this low-key race was overflowing the large parking area. With this in mind, the race moved to nearby Poolesville. The new course ran towards the river and covered much of the old course albeit from the other side. It never made it to the river, turning around and returning the Poolesville. This course was ever so slightly less hilly. We cannot have that! After three years, it was back to Riley's Lock and never mind the smaller parking area.

Moving the starting date to 7:00 AM was designed to avoid the heat but it never seemed to avoid the humidity. This year we got a huge break when the humidity was lower. That is low for the metro area, not for racing comfort. Still, when the G-O word was yelled very few of the men and none of the women went topless.

There was very little fanfare and the race started on time. There were plenty of well-managed aid stations with water and Gatorade. The volunteers made sure you knew what you were getting and got it to you pronto. Even with the rolling variety of the hills, most of the runners acknowledged that the mile markers may have dropped off the truck at the wrong spot.

Top flight master runner and former winner of the race Mark Hoon was spotted in fifth place just past the halfway mark. The other four runners were close together and the finish had to be exciting. One of area top over sixty runners, Warren Prunella, took off early. He clearly did not like going up the opening hills but he was soon pulling away from his pack. Lou Shapiro, often his competition, was in full concentration mode, scaling the opening hill in pursuit. At the finish, Warren and Jay Wind (55) had a duel for crossing the finish and dibs on the first bottle of Drinkmore water.

From the south, long time MCRRC member Bill Stahr continues to make his comeback, though he cannot seem to stay with fellow Virginian Karsten Brown. Brown more than a decade younger has been starting to take his racing more seriously. With nearly ninety races and five hundred racing miles, he is on the verge of moving his times to a new level.

Ron and Beverly Black of Frederick, MD are everywhere. Both seem to be getting faster at a demonic rate. Last week they were blazing a 200-meter race. Ron at age fifty ran 28 seconds. Bev just turned forty-five and Ron could not be more proud of her continued improvement. In today's race, Ron backed off after the first ten miles of a tough racing day, that is until Bev caught up. Then he used his sprinter's speed to make sure she did not pass him at the finish.

Liza Recto drove all the way from the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay to defend her title from last year. Even with the improved weather, she had a blah day and settled in for a comfortable run back to the river. Alice Franks modestly noted that she did okay, finishing in around 1:46:00. An eight minute pace is not so bad for a young women of fifty-seven on a triple H day (hot, hilly & humid).

At mile eight, Brian Lesko of Frederick was hanging tough with Ted Poulos a top master runner from McLean. Lesko at thirty- five, is still at the glorious hope-to-improve stage of running. He would dearly have loved to stay with Ted. Ted has more than 3000 races in his portfolio and more than 1000 are overall wins. Not quite ready to let Brian by, Ted finished first.

At the finish, former club president Janet Newburgh looked as if she had just gone for walk. She has run a marathon in every state of the United States. A half marathon must not be that much to get excited about. Not so with Billy Lese. After running more than 100 marathons between 2001-2003, including 50 in 2003, he is enraptured by the idea for setting a record for half marathons in a year. As a member of the Fifty Plus Club, a race where members try for fifty races a year, he appears to have set his sights of the half marathon. "It's only July, I can run fifty half marathons this year."

At the finish, there were large quantities of life giving watermelon. Cookies, bananas, and oranges, vied for the runners' attention. There was a band playing at the finish. They did a decent rendition of the old rocker classic Frankenstein.

Same day Full Results