Sign-up, refreshments, and awards are all done right here.

The Belle Haven 25K is the sixth race of the famed Snow Ball Series of the DC Road Runners. The course is run north 1 kilometer and then back. After that, runners race towards Mount Vernon on the bike path alongside the river. The course was marked every kilometer.

"In the fourteen years that I have been race director," says John Haubert in photo, "this is the fastest winning time." Indeed, Stephen Crane (25) of Alexandria, VA exploded away from the field early, winning by more than ten minutes in 1:24:16. On the return trip, he looked relaxed, already a full kilometer ahead at the 15K point. Though he is new to the area, he proved his mettle hanging with Gurmesa Kumsa through 5.5 miles at the GW Birthday 10K last week, He finally succumbed to the Kumsa juggernaut (18 overall wins in 23 races in 2006), by a mere nine seconds in 31:04.

Second place David Haaga (45) of Rockville, MD is relatively new to the 45-49 division. In this area masters are tough. He led them all finishing second overall in 1:34:34. Six of top nine runners were masters.

Back in January, Kevin D'Amanda (44) of Bethesda, MD bested Ted Poulos (45) of McLean, VA at the Al Lewis 10 Mile. Poulos usually a very strategic runner decided to take the lead and just hold it. "I tried to catch him, "said D'Amanda, "I just couldn't." With Crane and Haaga way ahead, Poulos, D'Amanda, as well as Joerg Schroeder and Dan DiFonzo had a tight little grouping. At the 10 mile mark, you could see the determination on the face of Poulos. He had a two-meter lead. Five and half miles with hills are a long way to hold a lead. D'Amanda was the only one to stick close. Poulos triumphed in 1:41:32 to 1:41:35.

Ken Krehbiel (53) of Washington, DC had a strong second half to win the grandmaster in 1:52:46. Jim Noone (62) of Fairfax, VA (in photo) is returning from another series of injuries with a strong showing in 1:57:39 for the Best of 2007 so far this year.

Rebecca Nathan (41) of Arlington, VA already has the fastest masters 5K of the year winning outright in 18:44 on January 1. This week she went long to reprise another victory, finishing ninth overall and winning the women's race in 1:48:19. Jen Oblas (28) of Leesburg finished a kilometer back in 1:52:55. Just as with the men's the two top spots were not close. The third spot was closer. Elizabeth Glidden (27) of Washington, DC outlasted Amanda Dion (41) of Sterling, VA 1:57:41 to 1:58:46. Elma Stuart (54) of Kensington, MD was the only female grandmaster finisher.

Awards go to the top three runners overall as well as the top three runners in ten year age groups.

Photos below

1. The path has more than just racers gathering in this popular spot.


2. A lone runner heads off the path to the finish.


3. The finish line is about thirty meters off the path.

Full Race Day Results