Photo below: Wilson Komen checks his watch shortly after winning the 8K.

Just before the siren blew at the start of the most popular summer race in the area, Wilson Komen stood modestly amid a sea of runners, about 10 rows back of the starting line. He was hardly inconspicuous; a 6-foot Kenyan at the start of any roadrace may as well be wearing a sign reading, "Catch me if you can."

But with encouragement from surrounding runners, and something just short of a push from the elite athlete coordinator, Komen moved to the front line. And once the racing started in earnest, there were nothing but open roads for Komen, who won going away in a quick 23 minutes 55 seconds and took home $350 on a good night for racing in Rockville.

"I don't want to start too fast," he said by way of explanation. "Two guys stayed with me for the first two miles. But after that I was by myself."

One of the two guys, 2:13 marathoner Keith Dowling, 35, from Reston, had a slightly different take on how the race developed, and used a bike racing analogy to make his point: "I went out with him, but I was going about as hard as I could go. I stayed close for one hill, then two. It was like chasing Lance Armstrong, and by two miles, I cracked."

Dowling raced the final three miles with his training partner, 20-year-old Georgetown University runner Rod Koborsi (photo left), who outkicked Dowling (in background) to take second place in 24:24. "I knew he couldn't claim any prize money [under NCAA eligibility guidelines]," Dowling said, "so I said, 'Hey, go for it.' " Dowling took third in 24:25--and claimed $250.

Chris Banks, 26, from Alexandria (photo left), finished fourth in 24:38.

The women's race went to Tatyana Petrova, 21, another of agent Konstantin Selinevich's remarkable stable of top Russian and Eastern European runners based in Gaithersburg. Petrova led from the start and won even more comfortably than did Komen, running 27:47 and finishing 35 seconds ahead of runner-up Sharon Lemberger, 31, from Washington.

"I can't say I ever saw her," said Lemberger, recently Servidio. Lemberger, who runs for Pacers in Alexandria, ran a tactically sound race, working her way forward after being in fifth place through the early going.

"I ran a good even pace," she said. "This was my best ever here." Lemberger has made a full recovery from a hip flexor injury suffered last summer at Grandma's Marathon; she plans on racing the Philadelphia Distance Run and the Army Ten Miler in the fall.

Tim Schuler, 41, from Chambersburg, Pa., won the masters division in 26:20. Schuler ran most of the race with his training partner, Justin Gindlesperger, 25, also from Chambersburg, who finished one second back of Pops. Schuler's daughter, Kylee, 18, finished 14th overall in 30:55, and first in the under-20 age group.

Monica Grillo, finally 40, from Arlington (photo left), won the women's masters race in 31:57. Julie Thienel, 40, from Columbia, was second in 32:39.

Faces, Names in the Crowd: Olympian Meredith Rainey Valmon, 35, ran 31:30 and was third in her age group. Quenton Cassidy, 19, from Potomac, of "Once a Runner" fame, made one of his periodic and mysterious appearances, finishing 40th overall in 27:35. Another youngster with a mellifluous name, Optimus Prime, 19, from Brewster, N.Y., ran 25:17 and finished ninth overall. Nianxiang Xie, 77, from Rockville, was the oldest finisher but in the top half of all finishers, with a time of 42:02.

Award Winners

MALE OPEN
    1     3 Wilson Komen          26 Washington DC      23:57   350 
    2  2031 Rod Koborsi           20 Washington DC      24:24   250 
    3     1 Keith Dowling         35 Reston VA          24:26*  200 
    4  2622 Chris Banks           26 Alexandria VA      24:41   175 
    5     5 John Supsic           25 Baltimore MD       25:00   150 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE OPEN
    1   122 Tatyana Petrova       21 Gaithersburg MD    27:47#  350 
    2   105 Sharon Lemberger      31 Washington DC      28:22   250 
    3   142 Elena Paramonova      42 Gaithersburg MD    28:25*  200 
    4  1435 Victoria Lynch        30 Washington DC      28:52   175 
    5   104 Casey Smith           25 Arlington VA       28:55   150 
# Under USATF OPEN guideline    
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE MASTERS
    1    41 Tim Schuler           41 Chambersburg PA    26:22   150 
    2    46 Jim Hage              46 Kensington MD      26:29*   75 
    3    40 Chris Chattin         40 Columbia MD        26:47    50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE MASTERS
    1   933 Monica Grillo         40 Arlington VA       31:57   150 
    2   944 Julie Thienel         40 Columbia MD        32:39    75 
    3  2008 Debbie Flynn          48 Gaithersgurg MD    33:56*   50 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1  2184 Optimus Prime         19 Brewster NY        25:22* 25:17 
    2  2501 Morten Munkholm       18 Frederick MD       25:31* 25:30 
    3    23 Will Knox             19 Baltimore MD       25:50  25:48 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1  1251 Kylee Schuler         18 Chambersburg PA    31:03* 30:55 
    2   121 Tenke Zoltanti        19 Timonium MD        31:07  31:07 
    3  2248 Laurel Jefferson      19 Wheaton MD         32:31  32:26 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1     4 Michael Wardian       30 Arlington VA       25:09  25:09 
    2    21 Frank Sprtel          31 Takoma Park MD     25:30  25:28 
    3    10 Rob Magin             33 Olney MD           26:29  26:27 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1   107 Susannah Kvasnicka    32 Great Falls VA     29:10  29:08 
    2  1655 Beth Miller           34 Fairfax VA         32:42  32:38 
    3  2062 Laurie Dempsey        34 Alexandria VA      32:59  32:56 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1     2 Edmund Burke          35 Burtonsville MD    25:29* 25:29 
    2    13 Mark Gilmore          36 Columbia MD        26:00  25:58 
    3     6 Darrell General       38 Cheverly MD        26:27  26:24 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1   108 Helen Beven           39 Kensington MD      31:09  31:05 
    2   123 Denise Knickman       36 Baltimore MD       31:26  31:21 
    3   109 Meredith Valmon       35 Rockville MD       31:43  31:43 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    42 Ted Poulos            42 Mclean VA          28:03  28:03 
    2   301 Jean-Christ Arcaz     43 Rockville MD       28:19  28:17 
    3   240 Will Jacobi           41 Kensington MD      28:39  28:35 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1   250 Tracey Dugdale        44 Reston VA          35:09  35:03 
    2  1546 Beverly Black         44 Frederick MD       35:30  35:24 
    3   993 Linda Foley           42 Oak Hill VA        36:06  35:26 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1    48 Dan Lawson            48 Gaithersburg MD    27:27* 27:25 
    2  2093 Peter Rushford        47 Potomac MD         30:29  30:26 
    3    45 George Buckheit       47 Reston VA          30:37  30:34 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1  1928 Liza Recto            48 Lexington Park MD  38:45  38:35 
    2  2000 Jean Betz             45 Cabin John MD      39:13  39:03 
    3  1833 Wendy Everett         47 Sterling VA        39:36  39:25 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1    52 Chuck Moeser          52 Sterling VA        27:16* 27:15 
    2  1170 Timothy Morgan        53 Damascus MD        31:12  31:11 
    3  2173 Larry Washington      53 Rockville MD       32:01  31:57 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1   151 Betty Blank           51 Falls Church VA    34:18* 34:15 
    2  1150 Peggy Davis           52 Falls Church VA    39:08  38:57 
    3  1138 Lainey Bernstein      51 Potomac MD         40:16  40:10 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    59 Patrick Griffith      59 Alexandria VA      31:04  31:02 
    2  1195 John Major            55 Huntingtown MD     35:30  35:27 
    3   327 Eric Melby            56 Bethesda MD        35:53  35:41 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1   156 Alice Franks          56 Rockville MD       36:51* 36:42 
    2  1587 Freyda Greenberg      55 Falls Church VA    39:09* 38:57 
    3  1207 Catherine Van Brockli 57 Gaithersburg MD    39:48* 39:37 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1  1225 David Jeffrey         62 Semmes AL          32:20* 32:17 
    2  1598 Jim Noone             60 Fairfax VA         33:09  33:02 
    3   293 Lou Shapiro           62 Silver Spring MD   34:17  34:06 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1   162 Janet Newburgh        62 Rockville MD       49:33  48:42 
    2  1219 Miriam (bon Wassin    60 Arlington VA       54:36  53:00 
    3   288 Blair Jones           60 Washington DC      54:49  53:34 


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1  2385 Art Morey             66 Columbia MD        37:20  37:06 
    2  1232 Walter Rockey         65 Jefferson MD       40:01  39:38 
    3  1721 Leo Wyne              67 Falls Church VA    41:25  41:03 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1  2020 Marianne Parakkal     68 Gaithersburg MD    48:14* 47:21 
    2  1231 Anna Berdahl          65 Silver Spring MD   49:49* 49:19 
    3   166 Jamie Wollard         66 Rockville MD       55:07  54:53 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1  2597 Jerry Lewis           70 Reston VA          37:43* 37:43 
    2    73 Jack Mcmahon          73 Rockville MD       39:58* 39:47 
    3   296 Robert Smith          70 Dickerson MD       44:13  44:02 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1  2106 Ling Cheung           70 Rockville MD       74:14  72:31 
    2  1236 Lennie Libes          72 Potomac MD         82:26  80:43 


MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1  1241 Nianxiang Xie         77 Rockville MD       42:07* 42:02 
    2  1240 Burton Squires        76 Rockville MD       53:47  52:49 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
No finishers


MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99
No finishers


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99
No finishers

See complete results of the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K.

Check out our Photo Gallery!