See the Cure Autism Now website for information on this charity.

Experience
Photo above: Ray DeFrees, 61, of Fairfax, VA carried the American flag while completing the run in 37:39. This is his contribution to the war on terrorism - keep morale high. Jill Sommer(left in photo), 23, of Washington, DC ran 28:29 and Robin McFerren(right), 41, of Palm Harbor, FL finished in 35:38. Bethesda resident Kevin Walsh (left), 20, ran 34:18 and McKay Elliott(center), 18, of Potomac ran 34:14.

Chuck Moeser of Sterling noted that he was just a hair slower than Jim Hage, Kensington, in the Cure Autism Now 5K: 16:24 for Hage, 16:47 for Moeser. Former nordic skier Moeser is happy to see former Olympic Trials marathoner Hage at a race because it gives him a target, the overthrow of the younger man's dominance. Last year, Hage nipped ahead of Moeser by 16 seconds. They both make frequent appearances at local road races and always put on a fine show for spectators. Moeser and Hage are easy to recognize because they have been doing this for many years at a top level.

Lean Scout
Alisa Harvey, 37, mother of two young girls and former competitor on the international scene, has a goal to place amongst the top five female finishers at the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K on July 19th. In 2002, she finished 16th with a time of 31:13 and the 5th place woman ran 29:04. Harvey's time of 17:42 for this 5K race (5:42/mile pace) makes 29:00 (5:50/mile pace) a reasonable target. Motherhood and coaching duties at George Mason University have limited her spring racing - she ran 37:44 (6:04/mile pace) at the Cascades Fire Chase 10K in Ashburn on May 24th.

Harvey said she ran on Emily Enstice's shoulder going into mile two, then moved up ahead and never looked back - her margin of victory was a comfortable 19 seconds. Harvey took the rolling hills on the course in stride; as a former track athlete, she feels comfortable with speed work and high knee lift. The humid conditions were the biggest obstacle to comfort among the runners; Saturday nights in Rockville during July are usually humid - Harvey valued this opportunity to acclimate to the hot weather.

Randy Mayes wrote a profile of Alisa Harvey in the May/June 1999 Washington Running Report.

Photo below: Alisa Harvey, 37, of Manassas, VA started the race among a group of men and won the women's division in 17:42. Mike Piazza (left, blue Bears tshirt), 25, of Washington finished in 18:48. Welch Suggs (black shorts), 30, of Washington ran the 5K in 17:58.

Dedication
Photo above: Corey Smith, 23, of Washington, DC heads downhill with a 20 second lead towards the finish line.

Frank Sprtel, 30, of Takoma Park is a graduate of Lawrence University in Wisconsin and works as a government lawyer. Sprtel, Benjamin Koch and Corey Smith stayed in the top three during the entire race; Smith photo above, 23 of Washington came in with the winning time of 15:27 this year. In 2001, Smith ran 15:19 to place second to Kyle Smits (15:17). Sprtel and Koch separated in this year's race after 1 3/4 miles (an uphill) as Sprtel took second place in 15:50 and Koch finished 10 seconds later for third.

Sprtel does some training with Mike Wardian, a marathoner in Arlington, and expressed amazement at Aaron Church's recent 2:21:47 performance in Grandma's Marathon (Duluth, MN) that qualified Church for the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials - an eight minute improvement in his personal best. How did he do it, wondered Sprtel after finishing this 5K race. Aaron Church ran the 2002 Cure Autism Now 5K in 16:10, twenty seconds slower than Frank Sprtel ran this year.

Does Sprtel have marathon aspirations? Yes, he would like to break 2:30 in this October's LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon after struggling through the 2002 marathon during the last 10 kilometers to finish in 2:33 (1:13:32 at the half). He had been on pace to run sub-2:28 with 5:37/mile splits through 13.1 miles. This year in Boston, Sprtel again went out "conservative" at 5:45/mile pace until he hit the hills at mile 16 when "the wheels came off" and he finished the Boston Marathon in 2:47:18 (1:15:19 at 13.1 miles).

Photo below: Yolanda Perez, 61, of Silver Spring placed 2nd in her age group with a time of 27:01; Perez ran 27:02 in the 2002 race. Amelia Moorstein(left), 19, of Darnestown placed 17th with 21:35. Samuel Morgante, 16, of Potomac finished with a time of 23:07. Rick Robinson (red cap), 45, of Rockville came across the finish line at 28:28 and Greg Kelly (far right), 44, of Potomac clocked 29:29.

An Expression of Enthusiasm
Brian Blubaugh, 30, a former Bloomsberg University (central Pennsylvania) runner and current coach of girls and boys cross country at Potomac Falls (VA) High School, has instilled enthusiasm for running in a young school. He brought three girls and three boys to Potomac to race for fun - coaches are allowed to do unofficial conditioning during the summer months. Blubaugh awards a "500 Mile Club" t-shirt to any student who logs 500 miles during summer vacation; 15 - 20 teenagers are well on their way to joining the club this year, he happily reported. Blubaugh attracted 70 girls and boys to last years harrier squad; his love of running invites widespread participation. Brian Blubaugh finished the 5K in 21:23.

Overall, there was a high turnout of young people at this Independence Day celebration: 66 finishers in the 19 & under age categories. For the boys, Matthew Hard (19) of Potomac finished eighth in 17:20 (he ran 18:53 in 2001) and Lee Moeser (16) of Sterling placed 15th in 17:51 (in 2002, his time was 18:36). Among the top girls, Katie Endres (16) of Sterling placed 14th with a time of 21:26 (her time last year was 21:11) and Christin Brown (16) came through in 15th place at 21:27 (a big improvement from 23:31 in 2002).

Photo above: Lionel Scatliffe (right, black shorts), 49, of Alexandria finished in 18:43. Nate Reilly (orange and red attire), 32, of Washington came through in 19:27. Thomas Cariota (center, yellow shirt), 46, of Herndon appeared at the finish after 20:10. Martin Begley(rear, far left), 32, of Rockville was timed in 18:57.

Photo below: Jeanne Grillo (far right, legally blonde in pink), 41, of Potomac has completed the race all three years and finished as top masters woman in 2003 with a time of 20:16.

Top Ten Finishers, Men and Women

Place Div/Tot  Name                  Age Hometown          Time   
===== ======== ===================== == ================== =====  
    1   1/44   Corey Smith           23 Wash DC            15:27  
    2   1/87   Frank Sprtel          30 Takoma Park MD     15:50  
    3   2/44   Benjamin Koch         23 Germantown MD      16:00  
    4   1/122  Jim Hage              45 Kensington MD      16:24* 
    5   3/44   Ryan Donahue          24 Centreville VA     16:32  
    6   1/53   Chuck Moeser          51 Sterling VA        16:47* 
    7   2/87   Rob Walker            35 Silver Spring MD   17:11  
    8   1/32   Matthew Hard          19 Potomac MD         17:20  
    9   2/122  Jim Wadsworth         46 Wash DC            17:27  
   10   4/44   Scott Herrick         21 My Airy MD         17:32 




Place Div/Tot  Name                  Ag Hometown           Time   
===== ======== ===================== == ================== =====  
    1   1/99   Alisa Harvey          37 Manassas VA        17:42* 
    2   1/65   Emily Enstice         24 Potomac MD         18:01  
    3   2/99   Helen Beven           37 Kensington MD      18:50  
    4   2/65   Nikki Underwood       22 Spearfish SD       19:03  
    5   3/99   Maria Kozloski        38 Washington DC      19:29  
    6   3/65   Jamie Hagerbaumer     25 Washington DC      20:02  
    7   1/92   Jeanne Grillo         41 Potomac MD         20:16  
    8   4/99   Marie Sandrock        31 Alexandria VA      20:23  
    9   5/99   Ulrike Robinson       31 Germantown MD      20:27  
   10   6/99   Nancy Knight          35 Silver Spring MD   20:32   

Photo above: Benjamin Koch took a year off from running after graduating from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Now he squeezes in training around the Germantown area and works full- time as a physical therapist; this former SJU Hawk athlete placed third in the Cure Autism Now 5K with a time of 16:00.

Searchable results for the Cure Autism Now 5K.