Inaugural race draws 1305 finishers!

Twenty-eight degrees. Ice on the Reflecting Pool and snow on the ground. A winter sun barely creeping over the horizon just before race time. Registration looked like a scene from the penguin movie, with slow-moving masses huddled together conserving heat and energy.

This constitutes fun for people in Washington, DC.

But 6.2 brisk miles later, it is unlikely that one of the 1,305 finishers (753 women and 552 men) would have traded places with any of their more sedentary friends and neighbors because, truth be told, once the race got going, the elements were not that bad.

For the winner, Scott Wietechs (24, photo), from Falling Water, WV, getting to the race was the hard part. He drove for more than an hour only to find himself, "on K Avenue, I think," before calling his girlfriend in Arkansas for directions to Hains Point.

"I was probably a little snippy with her," he said "but she knows the area more than I do." After a slow start--the leaders went through halfway at about 5 minutes 20 seconds per mile pace--Wietecha, Raymond Weeden (29), from Washington, out-of- towners Zeruegmadhi Kelele (24), and Abrahh Hadush (24) picked up the pace considerably.

"I was a little bit worried so many guys were sticking with me," Wietechs said. "But the Ethiopians made a little move that didn't shake anyone, so then I pushed things, which worked, I guess."

Only Weeden, a seventh-grade math teacher at the DC's Seed School, the race's charitable beneficiary, stayed with Wietechs, and that was not for long.

"You could tell that when Scott made his move he wasn't joking around," Weeden said. "I had to make a decision to let him go and try to hold my place."

Weitechs, running 5:00 per mile for the second half, broke the tape in 31:56. Weeden, a Virginia graduate who has run 4:00.5 for the mile, finished second in 32:41, and Kelele and Hadush ran 32:52 and 32:55, respectively.

Christina Wells (30, photo), from Woodbridge, had no such competition, running alone the entire way and winning the women's race in 36:15. Not unlike Wietechs, the biggest challenge was getting to the course with her 8-month-old daughter, dog, and husband in tow.

"I'm just happy to be out here competing," Wells said after notching another win. "This time of year, this is really the only way for me to get in any speedwork at all."

Hilary Cairns (35) was second in 37:45; she held off Johanna Allen (24), who finished six seconds back. Meghan Ridgely (26) took fourth in 38:03, and Cathy Pugsley (36), owner of race sponsor Potomac River Running, was fifth in 39:09.

Aside from donating many of the awards, Potomac River Running helped supply the title sponsor, Acumen Solutions, through the store's connection with Acumen CEO David Joubran (35), who ran 51:51. After a one-year hiatus, Acumen helped revive the Jingle Bell run in Washington when the Arthritis Foundation pulled out after 20 years due to skyrocketing organizational costs. And so the tradition is back, from jingle bells on runners' shoes to Santa caps, antlers, and even a menorah on one runner's head.

Note: Robyn Humphrey (41) and Dave Berardi (45), both from the Howard County Striders, came south to win the masters titles in 40:30 and 34:08, respectively.

Men's Awards

OVERALL MALE 
    1 Scott Wietechs       24 M FALLING WATERS WV  00:31:56 
    2 Raymond Weeden       29 M WASHINGTON DC      00:32:41 
    3 Zeruegmadhi Kelele   24 M WASHINGTON DC      00:32:52 
    4 Abrahh Hadush        24 M WASHINGTON DC      00:32:55 
    5 Bert Rodriguez       26 M ARLINGTON VA       00:33:00 
    6 Matt Lowe            25 M ARLINGTON VA       00:33:53 
    7 Max Lockwood         35 M WASHINGTON DC      00:33:57 
    8 Dave Berardi         45 M BALTIMORE MD       00:34:08 
    9 Jim Hage             47 M KENSINGTON MD      00:34:51 
   10 Carey Smith          31 M ROCKVILLE MD       00:35:32 
MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1 Andrew Alesbury      14 M POTOMAC MD         44:45 44:43  7:12 
    2 Andrew Roshwalb      19 M SILVER SPRING MD   45:18 45:07  7:16 
    3 Trevor Willett       19 M WASHINGTON DC      48:41 48:25  7:48 
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Christopher Warp     24 M HAMMOND WI         39:22 39:20  6:20 
    2 Chris Mckallagat     23 M WASHINGTON DC      44:06 43:59  7:05 
    3 Justin Tong          24 M ARLINGTON VA       44:58 44:53  7:14 
MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Eddie Valentine      25 M ALEXANDRIA VA      36:11 36:10  5:50 
    2 Erik Olson           27 M ALEXANDRIA VA      36:51 36:48  5:56 
    3 Ronald Nelson        26 M WASHINGTON DC      37:16 37:15  6:00 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Jeffrey Hiott        32 M WASHINGTON DC      36:42 36:41  5:55 
    2 Michael Sheehy       33 M WASHINGTON DC      37:53 37:51  6:06 
    3 Jonathan Horsford    33 M WASHINGTON DC      39:17 39:15  6:19 
MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Alex Grant           37 M WASHINGTON DC      37:34 37:32  6:03 
    2 Michael Glikes       38 M ALEXANDRIA VA      38:31 38:29  6:12 
    3 Mark Hand            39 M ARLINGTON VA       38:56 38:54  6:16 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Chris Chattin        41 M COLUMBIA MD        35:40 35:39  5:45 
    2 Kevin D'amanda       43 M BETHESDA MD        37:37 37:35  6:03 
    3 Patrick Hendry       40 M ARLINGTON VA       40:42 40:38  6:33 
MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Robert Lee           48 M FALLS CHURCH VA    38:50 38:47  6:15 
    2 Don Cline            45 M BRISTOW VA         38:58 38:56  6:16 
    3 Jeff Green           46 M ROCKVILLE MD       40:31 40:25  6:31 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 Mike Hart            50 M WASHINGTON DC      36:35 36:34  5:53 
    2 David Webster        52 M STEVENSVILLE MD    39:28 39:27  6:21 
    3 Paul Bousel          52 M ALEXANDRIA VA      41:48 41:47  6:44 
MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 William Scott        58 M GLENARDEN MD       44:22 44:15  7:08 
    2 Gary Chidester       58 M WOODBRIDGE VA      46:40 46:37  7:31 
    3 Charles Divan        55 M WASHINGTON DC      48:43 48:38  7:50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 Dale Bosworth        61 M ARLINGTON VA       55:46 55:22  8:55 
    2 Thomas Fox           64 M MCLEAN VA          57:58 57:36  9:17 
    3 Steven Kahn          63 M CHEVY CHASE MD     59:35 59:09  9:32 
MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1 Malcolm O'hagan      65 M CHEVY CHASE MD     43:50 43:38  7:02 
    2 Stephen Forman       65 M MCLEAN VA          46:09 46:06  7:26 
    3 Philip Hager         68 M FALLS CHURCH VA    49:38 49:30  7:58 
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1 Skip Grant           70 M SILVER SPRING MD   47:18 47:10  7:36 
    2 Richard Williams     70 M ALEXANDRIA VA      48:41 48:38  7:50 
    3 Keith Olson          74 M SILVER SPRING MD   53:37 53:35  8:38 
MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1 Marcel Bitoun        78 M WASHINGTON DC      82:41 81:52 13:11 
MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99

Women's Awards

OVERALL FEMALE 
    1 Christina Wells      30 F WOODBRIDGE VA      00:36:15 
    2 Hilary Cairns        35 F WASHINGTON DC      00:37:45 
    3 Johanna Allen        24 F WOODBRIDGE VA      00:37:51 
    4 Meghan Ridgley       26 F RESTON VA          00:38:03 
    5 Cathy Pugsley        36 F STERLING VA        00:39:08 
    6 Robyn Humphrey       41 F ELLICOTT CITY MD   00:40:30 
    7 Sarah Mouton         28 F ARLINGTON VA       00:40:38 
    8 Jenny Mlinarcik      26 F ALEXANDRIA VA      00:40:51 
    9 Debbie Flynn         49 F GAITHERSBURG MD    00:40:53 
   10 Win Persina          45 F WASHINGTON DC      00:41:14 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1 Marissa Smith        19 F WASHINGTON DC      47:28 47:23  7:38 
    2 Alexis Zink          16 F BETHESDA MD        83:55 47:55  7:43 
    3 Christie Walker      16 F FREDERICK MD       48:38 48:28  7:48 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Megan Nechanicky     23 F MONTGOMERY VILL MD 45:06 44:50  7:13 
    2 Megan Selmon         24 F NORMAN OK          47:43 47:36  7:40 
    3 Katie Kneas          24 F ARLINGTON VA       48:01 47:45  7:42 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Laurie Roberts       28 F WASHINGTON DC      41:34 41:28  6:41 
    2 Elizabeth Jones      28 F FAIRFAX VA         41:43 41:41  6:43 
    3 Kelly Green          29 F WASHINGTON DC      42:45 42:40  6:52 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Michelle Wills-Jiron 34 F FALLS CHURCH VA    43:15 42:45  6:53 
    2 Tara Mcdade          34 F ARLINGTON VA       43:10 43:07  6:57 
    3 Amy Beer             30 F WASHINGTON DC      43:55 43:39  7:02 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Karen Young          37 F BOYDS MD           45:29 45:23  7:19 
    2 Diane Barrett        36 F VIENNA VA          46:27 46:17  7:27 
    3 Janet Braunstein     39 F WASHINGTON DC      46:50 46:41  7:31 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Caroline Merena      40 F ARLINGTON VA       43:59 43:48  7:03 
    2 Kimberley Kruse      41 F ARLINGTON VA       44:32 44:26  7:09 
    3 Teresa Lent          43 F ARLINGTON VA       45:30 45:23  7:19 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Eleanor Kerr         46 F UNIVERSITY PARK MD 43:34 43:29  7:00 
    2 Rita Cognion         45 F CLEVELAND OH       46:32 46:16  7:27 
    3 Alex Beltran         46 F FALLS CHURCH VA    48:27 47:35  7:40 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 Marjorie Marque      54 F ALEXANDRIA VA      51:35 51:27  8:17 
    2 Merrilee Seidman     51 F ALEXANDRIA VA      52:00 51:58  8:22 
    3 Sharon Seeley        50 F WASHINGTON DC      52:22 52:05  8:23 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 Alice Franks         57 F ROCKVILLE MD       45:47 45:43  7:22 
    2 Lynn Salvo           56 F MCLEAN VA          52:05 51:58  8:22 
    3 Jane Poole           58 F FALLS CHURCH VA    52:53 52:49  8:30 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 Nancy Linck          64 F ALEXANDRIA VA      57:16 57:05  9:12 
    2 Nancy Malan          60 F WASHINGTON DC      63:45 63:30 10:14 
    3 Connie Moy           61 F FAIRFAX VA         77:44 76:47 12:22 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99

Race Results
Photo Gallery 2005
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