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Fairfax Four Miler
By James Moreland
December 31, 2009
Fairfax, VA
For the Washington Running Report
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It is abundantly clear that runners love to race. The numbers continue to climb. Generally the second biggest racing day after Thanksgiving is New Year's Day. There is only a hand full of races taking on New Year's Eve. Pacers Running Stores are now leading the way with a classic race that seems to bring out the best part of racing - the joy of coming out to race regardless of the weather.
Last year the winds were so high the knocked down power lines and the course had to be rerouted and still had a thousand finishers. This year we got a wet snow pie in our face the morning of the race and it seemed as if it might even be canceled. The early evening rain washed away most of the snow and the roads really were pretty easy to run on. The course was well marshaled and the police presence made a night time race a breeze.
There was a great big empty store front to hold all of the runners out of the rain and cold before the race and free parking was plentiful and close by. The announcer insisted that the weather was perfect for running.
At the start, moved up to 6:30, there were four men with single digits numbers. It was clear that they were going to take the top spots. Last year's course was a four loop roller coaster with Robert Wade upsetting Steve Crane 19:25 to 19:30. The course loop was a mite short of a mile. Aaron Church was third before returning the next morning to set the record at the Leesburg Rotary Resolution 10K the next morning. For 2010, that race was canceled due to course conditions, which probably surprised the 1100 finishers at the race in Fairfax. Michael Wardian wearing number four repeated at the fourth spot.
Wardian had run more than a mile from his parking space so he was plenty warmed up when the race got underway. The race flashes to police strobe lights up a tough hill in the opening quarter mile before careening down for the rest of the mile. Many of the runners were cautious at first, thinking ice, pot holes, and darkness. Robert Wade was thinking title defense and pressed through the first mile well under 5:00. Will Viviani was coming of a 15:18 at the Clarendon 5K and 31:47 at the Veterans Day 10K in November so he was not letting go. Edmund Burke (40) was coming in with nearly identical credentials. He had finished one place back at Clarendon in 15:22 and his Army 10M in 52:49 matched the 10K to the second. Fifth place was not even in their race.
For some reason the course ran in the opposite direction from the map. That mattered little as the two-mile sign was the same spot on the stadium-lit high school track. Maybe it would have a little faster to go counter clockwise for the race as the last mile allowed runners to race mostly uphill in the final mile. Wade triumphed in 20:03 with Viviani two seconds behind. Burke had an excellent 20:49, though it was not the fastest masters four mile of the year. That went to Ray Pugsley in the spring with a 19:56. Wardian was the only runner to have the best four mile of the year at the race, arriving in 21 minutes and 10 seconds.
For the women, last year's winner Brianna Whaley had an easy time finishing 11th overall in 23:00. Erin Swain was next nearly a minute and half behind. Hometown racer Erica Howes, just 16, was third. Fourth place Sari Stenholm traveled south from Columbia, MD with her husband Pekka who was sixth overall.
This year two of the top four were from way out of town. Mindy Sullivan from Mobile, AL won it all in 23:19. Jessica Pickana from Twinsburg, OH trailed Kristin Andrews by just four seconds in 25:37 for the third place. Erica Howes returned to take fourth place in 26:22 illustrating again that the course was short last year and even more weather challenged this year. Fifth place Laura Greeson was the top master.
A number of the runners in the event race virtually every weekend. Four of them had run a 5K earlier in the day. John Winkert of South Riding, VA had been injured for a good part of the year but had finished fifty races a year for the last ten years, 100 in five of the years. The Fairfax Four miler was number 50.
The Mayor of The Plains, VA is Bob Gurtler. Gurtler will soon be seventy-five but he always races more that in a year. This day he had run his 64th 5K and the four mile capped off 122 races for the year. Also from The Plains, Bill Stahr prefers the 10K. He had 78 for the year out of his 151 races. December 31st he made do with a 5K and 4M. He thought the weather was not too bad but he had to take off his glasses that kept fogging up. Jon Palks also ran the two races. He had 68 5Ks in 2009 to go along with his 26 four-mile races.
After the event there was pizza, bottled water, and apple cider back inside the staging area. Though it was cold outside, the weather was definitely rain. Most runners had little trouble returning home. The race premium was again a very nice hooded sweatshirt, always a treasure for a winter post race.
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AGE GROUP AWARDS
********** MALE OVERALL RESULTS ***********
1 1 Robbie Wade 26 M Arlington VA 20:03
2 3 Will Viviani 27 M Washington DC 20:05
3 2 Edmund Burke 40 M Burtonsville MD 20:49
********** FEMALE OVERALL RESULTS ***********
1 1270 Mindy Sullivan 26 F Mobile AL 23:19
2 1258 Kristin Andrews 28 F Bethesda MD 25:33
3 1489 Jessica Pickana 29 F Twinsburg OH 25:37
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 7 ===============
1 934 1216 Ben Swarbrick 7 M Falls Church VA 46:37
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 7 ===============
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 8 - 10 ===============
1 487 505 Jacob Evans 10 M Warrenton VA 37:05
2 529 718 Ben Robertson 8 M Fairfax VA 37:44
3 652 1285 Owen Walker 10 M Reston VA 40:00
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 8 - 10 ===============
1 340 146 Emily Lichtenberg 10 F South Riding VA 34:13
2 562 753 Camryn Curry 10 F Stafford VA 38:19
3 581 984 Elizabeth Shaw 10 F Reston VA 38:35
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 11 - 14 ===============
1 44 1002 Sebastian Lerner 14 M Oak Hill VA 26:21
2 52 144 Tyler Lichtenberg 13 M South Riding VA 26:37
3 202 1003 Daniel Lerner 14 M Oak Hill VA 31:38
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 11 - 14 ===============
1 117 752 Peyton Curry 13 F Stafford VA 29:32
2 131 204 Sandy Kendall 12 F Annandale VA 30:09
3 272 441 Kersten Gates 14 F Fairfax VA 32:53
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 15 - 18 ===============
1 10 1269 Holden Vanderveer 18 M Fairfax VA 23:30
2 15 145 Thorpe Lichtenberg 15 M South Riding VA 23:55
3 23 253 Kyle Dilling 16 M Port Tobacco MD 24:49
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 15 - 18 ===============
1 40 567 Erica Howes 17 F Fairfax VA 26:12
2 79 551 Nicole Dawson 15 F Jessup MD 27:57
3 82 968 Taylor Reffett 15 F Oak Hill VA 28:05
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 19 - 29 ===============
1 5 1271 Chris Hague 20 M Kensington MD 22:21
2 7 585 Kyle Gutierrez 20 M Woodbridge VA 22:45
3 11 1065 Nicolas Domise 19 M Ruston LA 23:33
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 19 - 29 ===============
1 68 325 Robyn Bernardy 28 F Washington DC 27:22
2 81 997 Melissa Wisner 27 F Washington DC 28:01
3 108 1064 Amanda Shuman 29 F Santa Cruz CA 29:18
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 39 ===============
1 4 4 Michael Wardian 35 M Arlington VA 21:09
2 6 1055 Edi Turco 37 M Arlington VA 22:39
3 8 319 Chris Mulford 33 M Schenectady NY 22:52
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 39 ===============
1 58 1047 Emily Ferguson 33 F Arlington VA 27:04
2 106 120 Lorelei Lash 39 F Fairfax VA 29:17
3 122 616 Angela Stewart 38 F Washington DC 29:45
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 49 ===============
1 12 1046 David Cascio 47 M Reston VA 23:33
2 18 803 Duane Williamson 46 M Warrenton VA 24:15
3 22 1264 Shawn Johns 44 M Alexandria VA 24:41
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 49 ===============
1 39 126 Rebecca Nathan 44 F Arlington VA 26:10
2 59 1282 Laura Greeson 40 F Alexandria VA 27:04
3 96 1118 Theresa White 40 F Annandale VA 28:43
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 59 ===============
1 45 97 Steve Schmitt 50 M Falls Church VA 26:23
2 46 727 Timothy Byram 52 M Brandywine MD 26:25
3 56 883 Jeff Kramer 51 M Fairfax VA 26:57
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 59 ===============
1 145 355 Stephanie Danahy 53 F Fairfax Station VA 30:34
2 177 127 Sharon Griffing 50 F Springfield VA 31:14
3 280 1439 Margaret Madsen 52 F Annandale VA 33:09
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 69 ===============
1 133 1276 Robert Trost 63 M Falls Church VA 30:14
2 152 1100 Michael Kush 64 M Burke VA 30:40
3 250 191 John Churchman 67 M Arlington VA 32:30
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 69 ===============
1 464 285 Sandra May 64 F Alexandria VA 36:46
2 667 471 Carol Morasch 61 F Fairfax VA 40:26
3 918 1481 Kornett Linda 63 F Annandale VA 46:15
=============== MALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 99 ===============
1 572 884 Kenton Pattie 70 M Annandale VA 38:25
2 727 1147 John Finney Jr. 70 M Arlington VA 41:27
3 863 254 Robert Gurtler 74 M The Plains VA 44:42
=============== FEMALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 99 ===============
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