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Hot Time in the City at the DARCARS Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K
Rockville, MD
July 17, 2010
For the Washington Running Report
Spirits were soaring high like the mercury on the thermometer as more than 2,300 runners prepared for the midsummer classic here in downtown Rockville. Over the past thirty years the town center has changed many times and it seems they finally got it right. The area is now a cluster of inviting shops and restaurants in easy walking distance with plenty of parking. The 8K race has moved up and down North Washington Street over the years, now settling for the corner of Beall Avenue.
Many of the early arriving participants could be found milling around the center off Gibbs Street right in front of one of the eight Potomac River Running stores (site of the packet pick-up). The store owner, Ray Pugsley (left in photo), pointed to the heat and humidity as one of his three reasons not to race. Pugsley had made his first stab at the race back in 1994 as runner-up in 24:01 to Chris Fox (23:43). Fox looked over his shoulder and glided the final few strides to just miss the course record (23:42) set by Pete Weilenmann in 1992. Weilenmann knew Jim Hage was nearby as he finished, also in 24:01, but he never looked back. Speaking of looking back, before the race Hage noticed my 1992 Fritzbe's 10K t-shirt and said, "Hey, I think I won the race that year."
Last year when Pugsley took the master's crown in 25:14, the heat was so brutal that he promised just to watch this year. Still, another great masters champion, Alisa Harvey, has had her troubles with the heat and she was lining up for more. She did promise friends and family that she would race prudently. She earned the top masters ward in 30:55 but, now 44, she has been moved aside as the top master tonight by a phenomenal Elena Orlova, 40, who captured the third spot overall in 28:19.
Abiyot Endale claims New York is home but he sure races a lot in this area. He dipped below 24 minutes to 23:58 to join a select few to master this challenging course so well. Former top ranked Demesse Tefera was second in 24:06. The race rarely has photo finishes and runners who know the course have a big advantage. First of all, as the race begins, the sun has just finished going down. The first half mile is gradually and then sternly up hill but gives way to a step downhill in the next ¾ mile before the beginning adrenaline rush has burned off. Then there is a steady climb all the way to mile three. The second time up that little hill past the post office is much more of a challenge as this time all the adrenaline has turned to sweat.
Entering the college parking lot, runners go for the lowest point on the course, the duck pond, at the time when they are preparing for the final mile. The next half mile is a steady climb to the highest point on the course. Just like the Tour de France, if you want to hold off the peloton on the final sprint, you had better have earned some extra breathing space on that hilly section. Ninth place Mark Stallings came down from the Lancaster, PA area for his first try and was a little disappointed. Very few runners can be unhappy with 25:37. While he agreed that the course was not real tough terrain, not knowing it and the added climate disadvantage left him short of his goal . . . this time.
Eighth place Neal Damody of Gaithersburg, MD continues to make his dad Peter (6th AG in 30:55) proud. Neal, now 20, continues to improve, blistering a fine 25:30. Karsten Brown, 36, of Front Royal, VA was rooting for Michael Wardian all the way. Wardian had a solid race in 25:28 but with a little more giddy-up he might have made the top five. Instead he took the sub masters division, pushing Brown's new PR of 27:16 to second place. Wardian's time was one of four that made the Best of 2010 list.
Victor Cretella of New Market, MD was looking forward eagerly for a new PR. His 28:48 was certain to be a masters PR as it was his 40th birthday. He was second in his division. Jordan Snyder, 42, of Rockville was the top master in 27:19. David Haaga, 48, also of Rockville, held off Dave Berardi, 49, of Baltimore for perhaps the last time. Berardi turns 50 in September. Berardi was eager to see how the top grandmasters were faring. Early in the race he matched strides with top ranked Mark Malander. Malander, like Pugsley from last year, had a lot of trouble with the heat and fell off the pace. Still, he won the division handily in 29:14, defeating former champion both in the masters and the open, Jim Hage. Hage held off Maurice Pointer for the runner-up spot. Pointer is already gearing up for the next division, also in September, with his nifty 29:55.
In the 55-59 division, Roland Rust had been ranked a spot below Tim Morgan for the spring. Rust did not get mad; he got even, winning 31:58 to 32:23. Morgan, at 59, is looking forward to older pastures but then he will have to go up against top gun Jim Wright. Wright flattened his division by more than five minutes in 30:42 for the top 5 mile race of the year by more than a minute.
Nianxiang Xie won the 80 and older division in 50:20, after a smashing 47:43 last year. Next year things will be different as he will be 84. Jack McMahon (48:03) turns 80 later this year.
About those photo finishes, though rare for the men, this time it was just such a race as Salome Kosgei just edged Malika Mejoub in an identical 27:12. There were four men right there in the tight pack crossing the finish line. About a minute later Elena Orlova crossed as the top masters finisher.
Before the race Win Persina, just turned 50, was planning her pace. She hoped for about 7:15 and that might have been enough to win but she started out with a 7:00 mile and the heat asked her politely to slow down. After the race she pondered whether her 7:30 pace would be enough to steal the race. Nope, there is too much talent here to steal the race. She did finish a mere second in gun time behind runner-up Carole Jones but in the dark she may not have known. The winner, Robin Goodwin of Timonium, finished in a very nice 36:14. Alice Franks won again in the 60-64 division, while Tami Graf, 74, notched a four minute improvement for the best race of 2010.
The band played on after the race as well as leading up to the race, placed near where the old finish line had been. Sure there was plenty of bottled water, though they did not uncap any hydrants this year with the water shortage. After a bit of water, runners followed the music to the cul de sac where the Michelob Ultra was being served. This year we were allowed three free ones.
The streets stayed blocked off and full of runners till 11:00 PM. After that, tired runners made for their cars to drive home and hit the showers. For those going north, there was a sobriety check point at Frederick Road and West Deer Park Road. That was a very rare occurrence but I was not worried. The little bit of lite beer was probably not enough to even smell over the other scents, even if they dared to get close to me.
Open & Masters By Gun Time, Age Groups By Net Time
No Duplicate Prizes
$$$
MALE OPEN Gun Time
1 3 Abiyot Endale 24 Bronx NY 23:58 350
2 35 Demesse Tefera 28 Washington DC 24:06 250
3 31 Rod Koborsi 26 Washington DC 24:35 200
4 5 Gurmessa Megerssa 30 Washington DC 24:54 175
5 10 Ricky Flynn 22 Lynchburg VA 25:02 150
FEMALE OPEN Gun Time
1 4 Salome Kosgei 29 High Falls NY 27:12 350
2 2 Malika Mejdoub 28 Catonsville MD 27:12 250
3 8 Elena Orlova 40 Gaithersburg MD 28:17* 200
4 65 Lucinda Smith 28 Germantown MD 29:22 175
5 34 Lisa Thomas 34 Alexandria VA 29:35 150
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE MASTERS Gun Time
1 42 Jordan Snyder 43 Rockville MD 27:45 150
2 48 David Haaga 48 Rockville MD 28:19 75
3 55 Dave Berardi 49 Baltimore MD 28:24 50
FEMALE MASTERS Gun Time
1 44 Alisa Harvey 44 Manassas VA 30:55 150
2 438 Samantha Cole 41 Arlington VA 31:56 75
3 29 Cindy Conant 49 Kensington MD 32:25 50
MALE WHEELCHAIR
1 102 David Swope 43 New Windsor MD 21:26#
# Under USATF OPEN guideline
MALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 19 Net Time
1 935 Matt Jablonski 17 Cockesyville MD 27:20
2 2622 Alex Dadds 19 Louisville KY 27:34
3 1645 Eric Schuler 17 Laurel MD 28:21
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 19 Net Time
1 2679 Madeline Dulac 17 Baltimore MD 34:54
2 2256 Elena De La Paz 15 Bethesda MD 35:53
3 1147 Amy Levine 18 North Potomac MD 36:09
MALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 24 Net Time
1 20 Neal Darmody 20 Gaithersburg MD 25:29
2 666 Kyle Gaffney 20 Silver Spring MD 25:43
3 105 Mat Abernethy 21 College Park MD 25:44
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 24 Net Time
1 607 Natalie Fenn 21 Evanston IL 32:07
2 704 Brandi Gervais 21 Mt. Washington MD 32:10
3 2711 Rebecca Taylor 23 Washington DC 32:25
MALE AGE GROUP: 25 - 29 Net Time
1 13 Joey Wiegner 28 Rockville MD 25:04
2 2171 Carlos Renjifo 27 Columbia MD 26:15
3 12 Karl Dusen 27 No. Bethesda MD 26:26
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 25 - 29 Net Time
1 2168 Pam Maldeis 28 Towson MD 29:34
2 16 Michelle Miller 29 Damascus MD 29:51
3 2342 Kathryn Neeper 26 Washington DC 29:57
MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 34 Net Time
1 9 Mark Stallings 30 Atglen PA 25:37
2 25 Tim Schaefer 32 Gaithersburg MD 25:43
3 2031 Joey Zins 31 Indiana PA 26:10
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 34 Net Time
1 1284 Megan McNew 31 Baltimore MD 30:59
2 2005 Elizabeth Young 30 Washington DC 31:58
3 2047 Britton Miller 30 Arlington VA 32:19
MALE AGE GROUP: 35 - 39 Net Time
1 11 Michael Wardian 36 Arlington VA 25:28
2 309 Karsten Brown 36 Front Royal VA 27:12
3 1865 Edi Turco 37 Arlington VA 29:14
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 35 - 39 Net Time
1 1534 Lisa Reichmann 36 Gaithersburg MD 32:44
2 1629 Julie Sapper 37 Rockville MD 33:00
3 577 Diana Espinoza 35 Rockville MD 33:29
MALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44 Net Time
1 1755 Steve Speirs 43 Virginia Beach VA 28:38
2 472 Victor Cretella 40 New Market MD 28:45
3 1019 Zimmerman Ken 43 Stevensville MD 29:44
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44 Net Time
1 930 Kimberly Isler 42 Oakton VA 33:11
2 2066 Mijiko Phelps 40 Reston VA 33:53
3 30 Paula Pels 43 Bethesda MD 34:49
MALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49 Net Time
1 1366 Mark Neff 48 Derwood MD 28:54
2 2061 David Cascio 47 Reston VA 29:31
3 2623 Jean-Chris Arcaz 49 Rockville MD 29:37
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49 Net Time
1 1338 Mandana Mortazavi 46 Leesburg VA 34:59
2 1654 Janeth Scott 48 Columbia MD 35:22
3 1180 Pamela Lovett 47 Newport News VA 35:50
MALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54 Net Time
1 51 Mark Malander 52 Oak Hill VA 29:14
2 52 Jim Hage 52 Kensington MD 29:46
3 57 Maurice Pointer 54 Baltimore MD 29:55
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54 Net Time
1 734 Robin Goodwin 51 Timonium MD 36:00
2 977 Carole Jones 53 Ashburn VA 36:55
3 2676 Win Persina 50 Washington DC 37:11
MALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59 Net Time
1 1602 Roland Rust 58 Bethesda MD 31:57
2 1334 Timothy Morgan 59 Damascus MD 32:16
3 1259 Denis McDonald 55 Woodbine MD 33:15
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59 Net Time
1 495 Peggy Davis 58 Vienna VA 41:40
2 1179 Susie Loutoo 57 Gaithersburg MD 41:49
3 1586 Saleema Ross 56 Fort Washington MD 44:14
MALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64 Net Time
1 1987 Jim Wright 61 Gaithersburg MD 30:40
2 2513 Eric Melby 62 Bethesda MD 35:45
3 39 Jay Wind 60 Arlington VA 37:31
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64 Net Time
1 655 Alice Franks 62 Rockville MD 39:47
2 1002 Linda Kearney 63 Oak Hill VA 42:02
3 1420 Diane O'Connell 60 Westminster MD 42:27
MALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69 Net Time
1 836 Donald Hensel 65 Gaithersburg MD 38:26
2 628 Earle Fingerhut 68 Potomac MD 43:59
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69 Net Time
1 722 Bet Glover 65 Bethesda MD 44:16
2 1035 Soon Kim 66 Fairfax Station VA 46:28
MALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74 Net Time
1 2363 Chan Robbins 73 Artlington VA 41:32
2 1569 Walter Rockey 71 Hanover PA 47:27
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74 Net Time
1 2142 Tami Graf 74 Lusby MD 55:32
MALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 79 Net Time
1 1279 Jack McMahon 79 Rockville MD 47:55
2 777 Robert Gurtler 75 The Plains VA 52:50
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 79 Net Time
MALE AGE GROUP: 80 - 99 Net Time
1 1995 Nianxiang Xie 83 Rockville MD 50:08
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 80 - 99 Net Time
For full Race Results