In photo above, overall winner Karsten Brown and Dee Nelson celebrate their victory.

Last year the race more than doubled in size. No one really knew what to expect for the 5th Annual Walnut Hill Ribbon Run 5K. The race prepared for even more runners to taste their mettle on this five loop course through suburban Gaithersburg. The weather that had been so kind all of February suddenly got huffy. The sunny skies and forty-five degrees were perfect but the 40 mph winds quickly chilled and buffeted the runners. Many chose to stay home. Of the thirteen runners to finish, eight were members of the 50 Plus Club.

In photo, third place Stephen Wills of Washington, DC speeds home in 20:01

The 50 Plus Club started ten years ago. Its ninety members ranging in ages from 7 to 85 have run 30,000 races, including a record 3,600 in 2007. That is more than one percent of all the races run in the state of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC combined. Those eight runners have already run a combined total of 97 races as of February 10th.

Race winner Karsten Brown (33) of Front Royal, VA repeats as winner with the fourth fastest time for the course - 18:37. Runner-up Noah Wood (24) of Columbia, MD was next in 19:51. Wood ran a race in every county in Maryland last year. Dee Nelson (64) of Gaithersburg, MD was the overall winner for the woman. Her winning time of 26:20 is the fastest for her division this year in the region. Second place Shirley Sameshima of Mclean, VA (in photo) ran 161 races last year. She is at 23 so far this year. Today, she journeyed north to Bel Air, MD early in the morning for a 15K race. After she finished the 5K, she hurried up to Columbia for a two mile race.

Grandmaster Peter Blank led to the club last year with 163 races just ahead of Sameshima. This year he is just behind her with 19 races. This year there were lots of volunteers, including 85-year-old Walt Washburn of Vienna, VA. Washburn will be featured in the coming issue of the Washington Running Report.

The race features a unique way of distributing the random award. Each of the five times a runner races through the center of the race, they are given a playing card. The runner with the best poker hand gets a free entry into the St. Patrick's Day 8K set for March 9, 2008. This year the winning hand was a full house, kings over jacks. In the photo, Chuck Raper, a former 175 races in a year 50 Plus Club member, hands out a playing card to race winner Karsten Brown

Course Records

Overall	Name	        Age	Hometown	 Time	Year
Men	Paris Cabellero	22	Gaithersburg, MD 15:24	2005
Women	Traci Cope	37	Warrenton, VA	 22:42	2007

One of the joys of this cloverleaf course with five 800-meter loops, is runners get to pass back and forth. In the photo, runners climb the first loop again as the fourth loop while others charge back down the hill towards them. The course had cones and flour marking to aid the course marshals in keeping everyone "in the loop(s)." Thanks to Walt Washburn, Robert Platt, Chuck and Suzanne Raper, and Joyce and Rockie Hockman.

Full Race Day Results