Second place men's finisher George Kirwa Misoi (photo left) and 21-month-old toddler trotter Ryan Iliff had something in common at the Pike's Peek events today: missing shoes. Misoi had somehow ended up with only one race shoe before the start of the 10K. He had to run the race in his training shoes, leading to some foot pain and a slower finish than he might have liked. Little Ryan, led by his dad Chuck, in the 50-meter toddler trot, had a shoe fall off halfway down the course. Ryan was able to make his big comeback in the next heat, while Misoi will have to wait for another race day. His finishing time, though, still comes close to rivaling his personal best.

Overall winner Joshua Kemei owned the race from mile 2, putting 50 yards between himself and Misoi very early on, and keeping it there. Misoi seemed about to break away when Kemei started focusing his attention on the runner sitting closer to his tail, Gurmessa Kumsa. Kumsa won the Stop the Silence 5K last Saturday, but was knocked off the podium today by Jacob Frey, winner of the 8K race at the same event. After a few swerves back and forth that made it look like Kemei was trying to draft the police motorcycle, Kumsa was mentally thrown enough to allow Frey to gain some ground. Frey then surged ahead around mile 5. Frey says he knew he had to make his move then, because the final 600 meters were all downhill, leaving little opportunity to out-muscle anyone. Today's race was a solid tune-up for Frey's run at the USA 25K Championships in three weeks and a relative reprieve after his Olympic trials-qualifying performance at the Austin Marathon in February.

A late addition to the women's field, Florence Jepkosgei of Kenya, was anything but late crossing the finish line. She says she knew by the 3-mile mark that a win would be hers. Her surprising 1st place finish bucked the place expectations of locals Elena Orlova and Susannah Kvasnicka, the latter of whom was 2nd woman overall in last year's Pike's Peek. They placed 3rd and 4th this year, respectively, behind Jepkosgei's 32:59 and this year's 2nd woman, Eunice Chepkirui (photo left), countrywoman of Jepkosgei.

As the clocked ticked past the 34-minute mark, the rest of the top female runners started pouring over the finish line, along with the men coming in beyond 20th place, fewer and fewer seconds separating them. You would have been waiting a long time to see some of the other favorites slated to run today. It remains to be seen where local masters favorite Alisa Harvey and adopted local Wilson Komen were instead of the starting line this morning. If they were smart, they were sipping hot cocoa in front of a fire. (Don't tell the rest of the finishers I said that--they all thought the weather was perfect). We do know that Mary Kate Bailey was busy setting a course record at the GW Parkway 10 Mile.

This was the 11th anniversary for Pike's Peek, and Paul Meloan (38) of Montgomery Village has done eight of them, including the inaugural year. What about those other years? Things such as finishing the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii distracted him. "It's about twice as large," he says of the field this year compared to 11 years ago, "but the organizers have grown to accommodate it." The route has remained identical, with good support, and for people like Meloan who chose their events based on post-race food, a top pick. Plentiful chili, barbeque, and lasagna, among other things that are quite tasty coming from a booth, prepared 3000 servings at a time.

Chevy Chase resident and employee of one of those 3-letter outfits in the area, Hans Martin (41) ran today as an early stepping stone to his next half marathon, Riley's Rumble. With all the hills that are in store for him in July, today's downhill course no doubt evens up his elevation karma.

"This is serious stuff, folks. These runners will go as fast as they can, and knock you down if you're in their way," announced the emcee of the Toddler Trot. Pike's Peek is serious fun for serious and casual runners alike, in the company of the newest generations of runners who are serious about their play. What better way to warm up than by licking cotton candy and sliding face first down an inflatable slide? Maybe cooling down with a plate of hot lasagna in your lap.

Awards Listing:
Open & Masters By Gun Time, Age Groups By Net Time
No Duplicate Prizes

MALE OPEN Gun Time
    1     9 Joshua Kemei          22 Kenya              28:48#  600 
    2    35 George Kirwa Misoi    22 Kenya              29:11#  400 
    3     3 Jacob Frey            24 Oakton VA          29:38#  300 
    4    49 Gurmessa Kumsa        27 Oxon Hill MD       29:46#  150 
    5    31 Mike Baird            24 Ardmore PA         30:31   150 
    6  1662 Jon Lauder            23 Oakton VA          31:14   100 
    7    48 Haile Gelalcha        20 Oxon Hill MD       31:39   100 
    8    11 Paul Rades            33 Wheaton MD         31:40   100 
    9    33 John Bitok            26 Kenya              31:55   100 
   10    50 Dema Woyessa          19 Oxon Hill MD       32:30*  100 
   11   711 Paris Caballero       23 Gaithersburg MD    32:33   100 
   12  3011 Troy Harrison         30 Hustontown PA      32:54   100 
# Under USATF OPEN guideline    
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE OPEN Gun Time
    1    30 Florence Jepkosgei    22 Kenya              32:59#  600 
    2     8 Eunice Chepkirui      21 Kenya              33:14#  400 
    3  3200 Elena Orlova          36 Gaithersburg MD    34:26#  300 
    4     2 Susannah Kvasnicka    34 Great Falls VA     34:43#  150 
    5     6 Casey Smith           26 Arlington VA       35:04   150 
    6    28 Lyubov Kremleva       45 Russia             35:05*  100 
    7  3040 Mary Jo Saunders      31 Harrisonburg VA    36:27   100 
    8    26 Erin Swain            24 Clifton VA         36:51   100 
    9   740 Cheryl Carr           23 Arlington VA       37:38   100 
   10  2062 Anya Oleynik          17 Gaithersburg MD    38:00*  100 
   11  2674 Christy Underdonk     37 Potomac MD         38:18   100 
   12  1816 Erica Marrari         24 College Park MD    38:53   100 
# Under USATF OPEN guideline    
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE MASTERS Gun Time
    1    15 Mark Malander         48 Herndon VA         33:07*  100 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
FEMALE MASTERS Gun Time
    1   834 Cindy Conant          45 Kensington MD      39:36*  100 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19 Net Time
    1   565 Nick Bax              15 Bethesda MD        33:18   75 
    2   416 David Bernstein       19 Chevy Chase MD     34:23   50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19 Net Time
    1  3266 Amanda Robotti        18 College Park MD    39:34   75 
    2   413 Aisling Gardner       19 College Park MD    40:39   50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24 Net Time
    1   405 Alvin Yew             20 Silver Spring MD   33:31   75 
    2   409 Justin Ahn            20 Silver Spring MD   35:28   50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24 Net Time
    1  1060 Kristen Ettensohn     23 Bethesda MD        39:19   75 
    2  1852 Marycolle McAllister  22 Silver Spring MD   42:19   50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29 Net Time
    1  1459 Andrew Jacobson       28 Washington DC      34:27   75 
    2  1791 Stephen Majkrzak      26 Olney MD           35:02   50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29 Net Time
    1    12 Eileen Kickish        26 Washington DC      38:56   75 
    2  1736 Caroline Little       25 Washington DC      40:44   50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34 Net Time
    1    27 Albert Haan           32 Washington DC      32:56   75 
    2  2656 Jason Tripp           33 Ellicott City MD   33:37   50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34 Net Time
    1   790 Connie Chow Dowler    31 Kensington MD      39:51   75 
    2  2037 Elisa Norris          30 Rockville MD       41:50   50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39 Net Time
    1   825 Mike Colaiacovo       36 Baltimore MD       33:00   75 
    2  2299 Stavros Rologas       37 Baltimore MD       33:10   50 
    3  3013 David Mead            37 Washington DC      33:53   25 
    4  1354 Stephen Hays          38 University Park MD 35:46   25 
    5  1845 Tom Matzke            35 Rockville MD       37:34   25 
    6  3255 Kevin Odons           36 Rockville MD       38:17   25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39 Net Time
    1  2127 Paula Pels            38 Bethesda MD        40:24   75 
    2  1441 Jane Inglese          36 Bethesda MD        40:28   50 
    3   163 Stephanie Hammond     38 Springfield VA     41:56   25 
    4   481 Alida Anderson        36 Bethesda MD        42:04   25 
    5  1561 Christina Kichula     35 Silver Spring MD   42:58   25 
    6  3335 Kim Chenen            36 Leesburg VA        43:05   25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44 Net Time
    1     5 Darrell General       40 Bowie MD           34:02   75 
    2  1302 David Haaga           44 Rockville MD       34:10   50 
    3  2628 Derik Thomas          40 Alexandria VA      34:41   25 
    4  1632 Ronald Kulik          42 Herndon VA         35:14   25 
    5   922 Sheldon Degenhardt    41 Marriottsville VA  35:28   25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44 Net Time
    1  2013 Laura Nelson          40 Woodstock VA       39:45   75 
    2  1596 Sheryl Kline          43 Arnold MD          40:05   50 
    3    14 Helen Beven           40 Kensington MD      41:09   25 
    4  1039 Nicola Elliott        40 Vienna VA          41:33   25 
    5  1764 Jeannette Lussi       43 Kensington MD      42:13   25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49 Net Time
    1    41 George Buckheit       48 Reson VA           34:23   75 
    2  1401 Marty Horan           46 Gaithersburg MD    35:46   50 
    3  3242 Dennis Coleman        48 Gaithersburg MD    36:19   25 
    4   127 John Chall            48 Jessup MD          37:06   25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49 Net Time
    1  2940 Liliana Baron         47 Potomac MD         40:43   75 
    2   113 Beverly Black         45 Frederick MD       43:52   50 
    3  1180 Paula Galliani        46 Gaithersbur MD     44:51   25 
    4    16 Sarah Buckheit        45 Reson VA           45:37   25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54 Net Time
    1  2135 Terry Permar          51 Perkasie PA        33:42   75 
    2    17 Dan Lawson            50 Gaithersburg MD    34:29   50 
    3   896 Peter Darmody         50 Gaithersburg MD    36:41   25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54 Net Time
    1  2581 Alison Suckling       50 Arnold MD          40:42   75 
    2  2578 Amy Subar             50 Potomac MD         43:38   50 
    3  1049 Carol English         51 Germantown MD      46:12   25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59 Net Time
    1   442 Richard Adams         55 Herndon VA         37:22   75 
    2  1961 Timothy Morgan        55 Damascus MD        37:30   50 
    3    29 Jim Wright            56 Gaithersburg MD    37:55   25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59 Net Time
    1   152 Alice Franks          57 Rockville MD       45:11   75 
    2   527 Nancy Avitabile       58 Bethesda MD        48:56   50 
    3   846 Ellen Cooper          55 Rockville MD       50:45   25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64 Net Time
    1    19 Patrick Griffith      61 Alexandria VA      37:39   75 
    2  1566 Roger Kilgore         62 Tall Timbers MD    43:53   50 
    3   685 Walter Brown          62 Montgomery Vill MD 44:06   25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64 Net Time
    1  3356 Mitzi Sandiford       61                    42:37   75 
    2   864 Chris Craun           60 Bethesda MD        46:07   50 
    3  1576 B. J. King            61 Crofton MD         47:21   25 
MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69 Net Time
    1    23 John Elliott          67 Columbia MD        41:47   75 
    2  3239 David Osias           66 Chevy Chase MD     49:02   50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69 Net Time
    1  2481 Betty Smith           65 Rockville MD       52:44   75 
    2    24 Tami Graf             69 Lusby MD           55:14   50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74 Net Time
    1  1272 Skip Grant            70 Silver Spring MD   45:16   75 
    2   209 Robert Smith          72 Comus MD           52:24   50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74 Net Time
    1  1038 Margery Elliott       73 Bethesda MD        52:34   75 
    2   890 Betty Dameron         70 Fredericksburg VA  64:13   50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79 Net Time
    1  1892 Jack McMahon          75 Rockville MD       50:54   75 
    2  2894 Thomas Brown          75 Potomac MD         56:16   50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79 Net Time
MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99 Net Time
    1  2092 Raymond Palfrey       81 Springfield VA     72:56   75 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99 Net Time

Race Day Report for 2006
Full Race Day Results
Photo Gallery 2006
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