Photos by Lainey Bernstein

To say that there was bad blood at the Sallie Mae 10K between Kenyan David Chepkwony and runner-up Gurmessa Kumsa (in photo) from Ethiopia might be an exaggeration of what were simply aggressive race tactics. After all, Sallie Mae is hardly the All Africa Games. But clearly something was going on between the two Africans as they pushed the pace during the latter stages of the race in West Potomac Park.

"He was obstructing me," Kumsa said through an interpreter. "I tried to pass and he would zig-zag and not let me by. I told him to go straight, and he said, 'Be quiet and run.'"

In the final miles, Chepkwony (33) let his legs do the talking as he pulled away from Kumsa and broke the tape in 29 minutes 56 seconds. Kumsa (28) was second in 30:08, five seconds ahead of Chepkwony's Chapel Hill, NC training partner, Samuel Rotich. Another of the Chapel Hill Kenyan contingent, Joseph Mutiysa (23), finished fourth in 30:38.

"I didn't want him to run so close," said Chepkwony, who one day earlier won the Apple Blossom 10K in Winchester, VA. "I wanted to get away from him."

"Did he bother me?" Chepkwony replied in response to a question. "When I'm running, nobody bothers me."

In photo, Chepkwony refreshes after a successful weekend of racing.

Tatiana Chulakh (24), a Russian training in Germantown, endured no such drama and won the women's race in 34:08. Chulakh, who ran 33:19 to win the Pike's Peek 10K in Rockville one week earlier, broke away from runner-up Atalelech Ketema (24) after halfway, beating her by 31 seconds. Mercy Cheburet (23), the women's representative from Chapel Hill, finished third in 35:58.

"It was bad a little bit, with big wind," Chulakh said. [Ketema] "started out fast, a 5:08 first mile. But then she slow down, [I] average 5:33 with the wind; and I try to keep going."

Chulakh had an easy time of it to the finish: "Not too much with professional runners here, so that was good."

In photo, Jim Hage listens for the secrets of Chulakh's racing success.

The District's running mayor, Adrian Fenty, averaged just over seven minutes per mile and finished in 43:36. "I've been doing a lot of cycling this week, so I'm a bit off my time," said Fenty, who will compete in the Columbia triathlon in two weeks.

Nick Gramsky (29), from Vienna, VA was the top American and seventh in 31:01. Beruk Deberework (24), Kumsa's training partner, was eighth, just ahead of Gramsky's training partner, former American University runner Matt Barresi (24, in photo) who was ninth in 31:12. Gramsky and Barresi are preparing for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, on June 16, when they hope to meet the Olympic trials qualifying standard of 2:22:00.

Zofia Wieciorkowska (44) from Stratford, CT ran 38:33 to place as the first women's master--good for $500--and finished fourth overall. Kathleen Liever (28) from Alexandria, VA was fifth in 38:37 and the top American woman.

Andres Wright (40), recently moved to Frederick from Austin, TX, ran 33:36 to win the men's masters division; Wright was also the second masters runner at the DARCARS Pike's Peek 10K in 32:47.

In all, 2,058 registered and 1,361 finished, most very happy they chose to run in Washington, DC rather than at the Bay Bridge 10K, which was canceled for the fourth time in six years, this time due to high winds.

Philippe Rolly (34) of Fairfax, VA just misses the top ten and cash awards.

Men's Awards

MALE Open
    1    30 David Chepkwony         33 Chapel Hill NC       29:56 $500
    2    37 Gurmessa Kumsa          28 Oxon Hill, MD        30:08 $450
    3    31 Samuel Rotich           24 Chapel Hill NC       30:13 $400
    4    27 Joseph Mutiysa          23 Chapel Hill NC       30:38 $350
    5    29 Abraha Hadush           26 Washington DC        30:57 $300
    6    24 Jacob Chamar            21 Chapel Hill NC       31:01 $250
    7    21 Nick Gramsky            29 Vienna VA            31:05 $200
    8     5 Beruk Deberework        24 Washington DC        31:06 $150
    9    16 Matt Barresi            24 Ashton MD            31:12 $200
   10    32 Hillary Koech           34 Chapel Hill NC       31:28 $50
MALE Masters
    1    23 Andres Wright           40 Frederick MD         33:36 $500
    2    17 Dave Berardi            46 Baltimore MD         34:52 $450
    3    20 Chris Chattin           43 Columbia MD          35:18 $400
    4   957 Sheldon Degenhardt      42 Marriottsville MD    36:01 $350
    5   162 Christian Falmagne      46 Bethesda MD          36:15 $300
    6  1642 Kyle Caudle             41 Annapolis MD         36:40 $250
    7  1691 Bill Taylor             58 Woodbridge VA        38:04 $200
    8  1574 Robert Denmark          41 Arlington VA         38:18 $150
    9  1407 Charles Logan           46 Washington DC        38:18 $100
   10   171 Paul Brough             47 McLean VA            39:12 $50
MALE AGE GROUP:  10 - 13
    1  1256 Wendall Brown Jr        13 District Hts MD      43:35 
    2  1208 Joshua Willis-Jones     11 Vienna VA          1:05:37 
    3  1364 Nathan Ong              13 Fairfax VA         1:06:40 
MALE AGE GROUP:  14 - 19
    1  1780 Joseph Ersinghaus       18 Andrews AFB MD       37:32 
    2   961 Soren Scott             15 Kensington MD        45:26 
    3  1755 Zack Brittingham        14 Clarksville MD       48:19 
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1  1600 Brian Tullock           24 Arlington VA         33:02 
    2    13 David Miller            23 Herndon VA           33:11 
    3    28 Michael Padilla         22 Pensacola FL         33:23 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1    22 Philippe Rolly          34 Fairfax VA           32:52 
    2  1598 Martin Lanz             33 Washington DC        34:24 
    3    25 Max Lockwood            37 Washington DC        35:41 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1  1844 Mark Hand               40 Arlington VA         39:41 
    2  1255 Wendall Brown Sr        41 District Hts MD      40:39 
    3   124 Rembert Pieper          43 Washington DC        40:59 
MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1  1402 Jeff Green              47 Washington DC        40:03 
    2   148 Peter McKeen            48 Vienna VA            40:38 
    3   335 Gustavo Olmedo          49 McLean VA            41:02 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1    98 Lennie Carter           54 Washington DC        40:54 $50
    2  1393 John Wallerstedt        51 Kensington MD        41:06 
    3  1344 Carson Overlook         56 Great Falls VA       42:22 
    4  1873 Miles Harter            51 Washington DC        42:44 
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
    1   130 Lou Shapiro             65 Silver Spring MD     43:52 $50
    2   368 Malcolm O'Hagan         67 Chevy Chase MD       44:05 
    3   175 Krupakar Revanna        63 Falls Church VA      45:18 
    4  1948 Greg Franklin           62 Arlington VA         48:03 
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 79
    1  1692 Charles Day             76 Potomac Falls VA   1:02:27 $50
MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 89

Mercy Cheburet (23) from Chapel Hill, NC is the third woman in 35:58.

Women's Awards

FEMALE Open
    1    12 Tatiana Chulakh         24 Gaithersburg MD      34:08 $500
    2    18 Atalelech Ketema        24 Westchester, NY      34:39 $450
    3    33 Mercy Cheburet          23 Chapel Hill NC       35:58 $400
    4    14 Kathleen Liever         28 Alexandria VA        38:37 $350
    5  1967 Britton Stackhouse      27 Arlington VA         39:09 $300
    6  1034 Anya Oleynik            18 Gaithersburg MD      39:33 $250
    7   861 Samantha Kirby          38 Arlington VA         39:41 $200
    8  1940 Jeanette Dumbrell       38 Baileys Xrds VA      40:11 $150
    9   362 Lauren Muldoon          25 Washington DC        42:33 $100
   10  1640 Jennifer Leehey         21 Tucson AZ            43:20 $50 
FEMALE Masters
    1    36 Zofia Wieciorkowska     44 Stratford CT         38:33 $500
    2    26 Tatiana Maslova         40 Washington DC        38:41 $450
    3     8 Laura Nelson            41 Woodstock VA         42:05 $400
    4    34 Betty Blank             54 Baileys Xrds VA      43:16 $350
    5   887 Ofelia Perotti          50 Alexandria VA        43:46 $300
    6  1618 Laeticia Warring        44 Reston VA            43:56 $250
    7  1973 Blake Rushin            45 Vienna VA            45:42 $200
    8  1643 Deborah Gebhardt        59 Adelphi MD           45:53 $150
    9   131 Alice Franks            59 Rockville MD         46:03 $100
   10  1856 Janet Braunstein        40 Washington DC        46:58 $50
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 13
    1  1499 Gabrielle Esparraguera  13 Montgomery Vill MD   58:34 
    2  1565 Kira Ullman             13 Washington DC        59:05 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  14 - 19
    1   973 Annie Dobberteen        19 Washington DC        50:25 
    2  1866 Erica Minor             15 Upper Marlboro MD    52:47 
    3  1406 Rhonda Crittle          19 Washington DC        53:19 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1   422 Milagros Lazarte        27 McLean VA            45:42 
    2  1836 Colleen McCusker        27 Alexandria VA        45:53 
    3   256 Tracy Kelly             29 Manassas Park VA     46:05 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1  1832 Robin Martz             36 Arlington VA         43:36 
    2  1116 Laura Pavlovic          35 Washington DC        44:10 
    3  1232 Laura Zeilinger         34 Washington DC        44:13 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1   656 Charmaine Davis         44 Silver Spring MD     48:59 
    2   155 Jean Arthur             44 Silver Spring MD     49:15 
    3  1182 Melissa Barcomb         42 Annapolis MD         49:29 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1  1875 Ginny Hughes            56 Warrenton VA         48:14 $50
    2  1019 Ingrid Grinde           51 Casanova VA          51:10 
    3    64 Martha Martin           50 Burke VA             51:20 
    4  1399 Cornelia Neal           56 Silver Spring MD     53:01 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
    1  1796 Chris Craun             61 Bethesda MD          47:01 $50
    2  1449 Helene Price            61 Washington DC        51:32 
    3   137 Claudia Crawford        60 Germantown MD        54:44 
    4    95 Laurie Coady            60 Washington DC        55:47 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 79
    1  1735 Margery Elliott         74 Bethesda MD          55:04 $50
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 89

Full Race Day Results
Race Report
Photo Gallery 2007
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