Navigation
Welcome to the Washington Running Report
Leesburg 10K: The 15th Annual Race
Leesburg 10K
The 15th Annual Race, Organized by the Loudoun County YMCA
By James Moreland
August 10, 2003
Leesburg, VA
For the Washington Running Report
After fifteen years, one thing is certain abut this race. It always feels hot! Often it is the scorching August sun. This year it was the 110% humidity. No, it did not actually rain. It was just a warm spray like off the ocean at the beach. The temperature was only slightly warm at seventy degrees. Still, no one who "warmed up" before the race started dry.
This is a local, hometown type race. Regulars come back and run it year after year. We know it is going be warm and humid. One novice asked why people run races when the weather is so difficult. Maybe Mad Cow disease?
The Winners
So why is it that the fast runners do not seem to be affected by the weather? Last year Peter Sherry ran away with the race in 31:27 while Ray Pugsley was runner-up and his wife Cathy won the women's division in 36:16. This year top-ranked Glen Mays of Washington, DC (photo left) forged a comfortable half-minute victory in 32:02. David Silver of Vienna, VA outlasted last year's third place finisher, Aaron Church of Fairfax, VA, 32:28 to 32:36. Cathy Pugsley again had an easy time besting third place Susannah Kvasnicka of Great Falls, VA by nearly a minute. Unfortunately for Pugsley, racing legend Alisa Harvey was on hand and held her off for a ten-second victory in 36:42.
In past years, Harvey's time would have been in the top ten overall but this year it was twentieth. (In the photo at left, Alisa Harvey shows the effort but still has good form as she approaches the finish line.)
This year nearly fifty runners broke forty minutes. This is amazing considering the weather puts most runners back a couple minutes. Fourth place woman Marjan Huizing had some healthy respect for the course after running sixth overall at Pike's Peek in 36:15. Today she ran 38:47. The sixth place woman, Leslie Minnix-Wolfe of Herndon, VA, was the runaway masters division champion by three minutes in an impressive 40:55.
Dustin Sweeney (20) of Berryville, VA (photo left) cut his running teeth at Leesburg, often winning the teen division. Last year a slew of seven teen speedsters, led by Leesburg's David Bolton, crashed the top fifteen. Sweeney moved on to the even tougher open division (20-34) finishing second in 34:44. Bolton was first Leesburg resident but got bumped a notch in his division by Charles Moran of Sterling, VA, 34:39 to 35:12.
Hometown masters hero Paul Okerberg cruised to an easy four- minute victory in the masters division in 35:25. Top rated masters runner from the Frederick Steeplechasers, Frank Kurtz, running his first race this year after an injury, was pleasantly surprised that his effort was good enough for second.
Last year the Morgan boys, Rick and Tim, followed Sterling's Chuck Moeser to the grandmasters award stand. This year they both repeated with Tim Doescher stepping between them to push Tim back to third. Thankfully, in the past two years the race has moved to five-year age groups. Otherwise, standout Patrick Griffith (58) would have split the group further, finishing just thirteen seconds behind Rick, earning both of them a first place age group cow bell. The women had the same scenario. Top-ranked Sandra Adams of Winchester, VA easily won the 50-54 division in 43:58. Alice Franks (55) would have won second place in a ten- year division. Instead, her time of 45:36 won the 55-59 division.
In the men's 60-64 division, John Elliot again dominated, racing home in 41:59. Still, he was not so very far ahead of John Churchman (43:26) or Francisco Sanches (43:56). Not to worry for them; next year he will be 65 and gunning for Chan Robbins. Mere lads these runners, Walt Washburn of Vienna, VA is soon to be 81. He was heard fussing about sweating sunscreen into his eye as he received another cowbell age group prize. Washburn this year set both the 30K and 20 mile American age group records.
The Leesburg 10K has been scored with the ChampionChip for years, so the results were swift and accurate. The course was well-manned with lots of water and well-marked with red, white, and blue tape and signs for each mile, making the course very accurate, if not swift. Timers yelled out splits at each mile, which worked even better than clocks for sweated-clogged eyes.
Every runner was treated to lots of food and ice cold drinks (soda, juice, and bottled water). There were huge oversized muffins (cinnamon, banana nut, and chocolate chip). There were crackers, cookies, apples, and granola bars. Sadly, the Good Humor Man did not make an appearance this year, as his vintage truck broke down on the way to the race. He was missed.
With five-year age groups, the line for award pickup was longer and happier this year. Awards and random prizes included generous dinners at fine restaurants, as well as overnight stays and free 18-hole rounds of golf. Cowbells, embroidered shirts, and bottles of wine went to the age group winners. This year's shirt is again a sought-after collector's item.
Award Winners
FEMALE
Place Num Name Age City Time
===== ===== ==================== == ================== ========
1 1 Alisa Harvey 37 Manassas VA 00:36:42
2 8 Cathy Pugsley 34 Annandale VA 00:36:52
3 6 Susannah Kvasnicka 31 Great Falls VA 00:37:43
MALE
Place Num Name Age City Time
===== ===== ==================== == ================== ========
1 1053 Glen Mays 33 Washington DC 00:32:02
2 905 David Silver 21 Vienna VA 00:32:29
3 5 Aaron Church 27 Fairfax VA 00:32:37
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 19
1 Jaime Lockhart 18 F Winchester VA 00:46:34 00:46:45
2 Megan Sowa 19 F Westminster MD 00:46:51 00:47:06
3 Katie Endres 16 F Potomac Falls VA 00:47:13 00:47:35
MALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 19
1 Charles Moran 18 M Sterling VA 00:34:39 00:34:40
2 David Bolton 19 M Leesburg VA 00:35:12 00:35:13
3 Brandon Miles 19 M Richmond VA 00:35:26 00:35:27
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 34
1 Jessica Goveia 26 F Reston VA 00:40:29 00:40:31
2 Johanna Biola 24 F Harpers Ferry WV 00:42:23 00:42:25
3 Laurie Bickart 33 F Sterling VA 00:42:36 00:42:40
MALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 34
1 Ryan Donahue 25 M Centreville VA 00:33:51 00:33:51
2 Dustin Sweeney 20 M Berryville VA 00:34:44 00:34:45
3 Max Lockwood 33 M Washington DC 00:35:05 00:35:05
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 35 - 39
1 Marjan Huizing 35 F Rockville MD 00:38:47 00:38:49
2 Barbara Hed 38 F Chantilly VA 00:45:22 00:45:24
3 Barbara Koop 38 F Arlington VA 00:45:33 00:45:49
MALE AGE GROUP: 35 - 39
1 Tom Purcell 37 M Norfolk VA 00:34:29 00:34:30
2 Ray Mcclanahan 36 M 00:34:35 00:34:35
3 Gary Grilliot 39 M Herndon VA 00:35:24 00:35:25
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44
1 Leslie Minnix-Wolfe 42 F Herndon VA 00:40:50 00:40:55
2 Laeticia Warring 40 F Reston VA 00:43:49 00:43:53
3 Beverly Black 43 F Frederick MD 00:47:16 00:47:21
MALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44
1 Paul Okerberg 44 M Leesburg VA 00:35:25 00:35:26
2 Frank Kurtz 42 M Graceham MD 00:39:10 00:39:14
3 Will Trevillian 41 M Vienna VA 00:39:32 00:39:34
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49
1 Carole Roeder 46 F Ashburn VA 00:47:44 00:47:56
2 Anna Vandyke 46 F Great Falls VA 00:57:46 00:57:51
3 Harriet Taylor 47 F Fort Washington MD 00:58:21 00:58:29
MALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49
1 Stephen Comber 45 M Clifton VA 00:37:18 00:37:21
2 Bruce Halpin 47 M Ashburn VA 00:38:38 00:38:44
3 Robert Costanza 46 M Sterling VA 00:39:25 00:39:26
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54
1 Sandra Adams 53 F Winchester VA 00:43:58 00:44:01
2 Karen Erb 52 F Alexandria VA 00:47:31 00:47:34
3 Nancy Specht 50 F Bunker Hill WV 00:51:05 00:51:13
MALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54
1 Richard Morgan 51 M Silver Spring MD 00:38:54 00:38:56
2 Tim Doescher 53 M Herndon VA 00:39:35 00:39:39
3 Timothy Morgan 52 M Damascus MD 00:39:41 00:39:43
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59
1 Alice Franks 55 F Rockville MD 00:45:36 00:45:41
2 Pat Welch 58 F Vienna VA 00:53:54 00:53:57
3 Claudia Crawford 56 F Reb 00:54:01 00:54:13
MALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59
1 Patrick Griffith 58 M Alexandria VA 00:39:07 00:39:08
2 Craig Tufts 56 M Middleburg VA 00:42:25 00:42:31
3 Robert Starkey 56 M Leesburg VA 00:42:57 00:43:01
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64
1 Paula Compton 60 F Ashburn VA 01:03:42 01:04:27
2 Beverly Franklin 62 F Springfield VA 01:12:00 01:12:25
MALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64
1 John Elliott 64 M Columbia MD 00:41:59 00:42:00
2 John Churchman 60 M Arlington VA 00:43:26 00:43:29
3 Francisco Sanches 61 M Arlington VA 00:43:56 00:43:57
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69
1 Betty Lou Wolfe 66 F Manassas VA 01:14:54 01:15:04
MALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69
1 Chan Robbins 66 M Arlington VA 00:48:22 00:48:24
2 Ken Quincy 65 M Vienna VA 00:49:30 00:49:34
3 Philip Hager 66 M Falls Church VA 00:51:01 00:51:11
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74
1 Marjorie Lane 70 F Herndon VA 01:12:55 01:13:18
MALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74
1 Larry Dickerson 72 M Burke VA 00:53:29 00:53:34
2 Dick Coogan 71 M Mclean VA 01:02:07 01:02:24
3 Lowell Owsley 73 M Jeffersonton VA 01:19:02 01:19:29
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 99
No finishers
MALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 99
1 Walt Washburn 80 M Vienna VA 01:03:33 01:04:06
2 William Daniels 75 M Gardners PA 01:13:53 01:14:41
FEMALE LEESBURG RESIDENT
1 423 Julie Hertel 36 Leesburg VA 46:23
MALE LEESBURG RESIDENT
1 72 David Bolton 19 Leesburg VA 35:12
See complete results of the Leesburg 10K.
See our Photo Gallery!