The Crystal City Twilight 5K is a new event produced and directed by Pacers Events. See the event Web site.

Crystal City on Saturday night was reminiscent of the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. All these charmingly dressed characters were milling around the bright colored lights of the city ready to follow the "road" to a magical end. Along the park by the mall thousands of these strangely costumed creatures prepared for their summer ritual--a race. Al fresco dinners at the many restaurants along the Crystal Drive watched, bemused, as they performed their pre race rituals. Some waved their hands; others bowed to the rain gods who threatened to disrupt the ceremony. Indeed in the not so far off land of Frederick, the rain had already begun.

The leader of the runners was a tall young man by the name of Steven Crane. Crane awed his people by many victories throughout the seasons. After winning top American honors at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom in the springtime, he has decided to the venture to the nearby citadel to win over all the entrants at the largest 10 Miler in the country--the Army 10 Miler in October.

When asked how he felt about the limited time before the possible race disruption from the storm, he declared, "Then I will just have to run fast!"

Indeed he did. His pre-race warm up was to jet down the road faster than anyone could. When the race began at 8:00 PM, he bolted across the timing mats and was like a puff of smoke never to be seen again by the mortals behind him. His time of 14:46 was now the standard for the race that is sure to be an annual rite of passage for the denizens of the land of Northern Virginia.

For the maidens, Alisa the modest would not boldly predict victory, though she had conquered all at the Army 10 Mile some small years past. At 42, she would only promise to race well. She succeeded royally, finishing in the third position among the women with a time of 17:43. The battle for the golden crown was to be between two young ones from the city of Arlington.

Lindsay Wilkins (30) had acquitted herself admirably in 2008 but her times were in the 18s. Spurred on by a fast time at a short first mile, she challenged briefly to go into the 16s. Katie Read (22) prevailed in 17:16 with Wilkins a mere five seconds behind.

For the last year or so Crane has been followed closely by a pack of fast runners who never quite catch him. Normally Robert Wade (26) of Arlington, VA is one of those warriors. This night Andy Biladeau (21) came up from the far southern state of Florida to snatch the runner-up spot in a swift 15:03. Wade was off his usual brilliant race and settled for third in 15:26.

Eleven men broke 16 minutes and 19 were faster than 17:00. Yet with a field of more than 1500 finishers for the inaugural race, that seems few as there are so many fast racers in this region. Only five women broke 19 minutes and that was really a surprise.

The race chose to have ten year age groups, which is no small burden when a runner has spent five or more years in the same age group.

Andres Wright (41) came down south ahead of his hometown showers and easily won the masters. At 17:00 he was the only masters division male ahead of all the women. Be assured he is capable of a much faster time. Harvey was, of course, the masters champion, taking third overall. Belying her age challenge at 46, Patty Stewart was the age group winner in 19:48.

Before the race, Betty Blank (55) of Falls Church, VA claimed she was completely over the food poisoning that had denied her a righteous chance to win the DCRRC Age Handicapped 4M earlier in the month. Then, for some unexplained reason, she had what for her was a dismal race. She was one of five runners in the race who earned the USATF designation as "faster than they are supposed to be able to run." She won her grandmaster division in 21:43.

George Buckheit (50) was seen before the race as a favorite but it turned out he was just there to encourage others to run fast. Steve Anderson (51) of Arlington, VA needed no urging and pulled off a strong win in 17:45.

William Scott (61) of Seabrook, MD was told he was going to have to stop running. His legs were not able to carry him. That is like telling the rest of not to breathe. Scott, mobilized by a strong will, ran a Ranked Runner time of 23:46, albeit two minutes slower than he had been running to finish second in his division.

Chan Robbins (71) of Arlington, VA lives too close to miss this race. Seriously addicted to racing, he was one of the USATF five, earning top honors with a time of 23:36. Maryellen Gonyea (61) of Alexandria, VA topped her company in 29:49 to earn, right on the last second, a Ranked Runner qualification. Jeanette Chambers (73) of Arnold, MD won the top spot in her division with in 35:35. As always, her husband John was right there in step with her.

The other three USATF stars were Alisa Harvey, a national record holder, and two youngsters. Bradshaw Kenimer (18) of Alexandria, VA succeeded in his pre-race vow to break 16 with a spectacular 15:56. Asadbek Shamsier of Vienna, VA, at a mere six years of age, was far too young to know he could not really finish in a swift 24:57. So he did!

The race is mostly a very fast course though it has many twists and turns. The summer humidity was helped a little by the breeze and in truth the temperature was nowhere near the scorchers at the sister Twilight races, the PRR Twilight 4M and the always hottest night of the year at last week's Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K. In the twilight the roadway shadows made the turns an adventure even as the course wound back past the Pentagon to the colored lights of the "city."

After the race there was lots of food and the Bud Light was cold. The park that held the runners was cooled by sprinklers. The music emanating from the center was from a far distant past with tunes such as Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones. Still, the music inspired even the tired runners to dance in the moonlight as they awaited the announcement of the awards.

Pacers knows how to put on a show for runners. Runners who wear the Pacers emblem on their shirt are always a threat to cart away some race hardware. Tonight was no different.

Parking was ample and free. Portajohn lines were nonexistent. Food and drink was abundant. It was a great start for another Twilight tradition.

Overall and Age Group Awards

MALE Open: (GUN TIME)
    1     1 Steve Crane           26 Silver Spring MD   14:46  
    2    44 Andy Biladeau         21 Lutz FL            15:03  
    3     4 Robert Wade           26 Arlington VA       15:23  
FEMALE Open: (GUN TIME)
    1     9 Katie Read            22 Arlington VA       17:16  
    2     2 Lindsay Wilkins       30 Arlington VA       17:21  
    3    17 Alisa Harvey          42 Manassas VA        17:43* 
MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 10 (NET TIME)
    1  1601 Eric Martin           10 Alexandria VA      22:13  
    2  1426 Asadbek Shamsier       6 Vienna VA          24:57* 
    3  1732 Will Nicholson         9                    29:16  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 10 (NET TIME)
    1   541 Katie Keenan           8 Springfield VA     39:04  
MALE AGE GROUP:  11 - 19 (NET TIME)
    1   545 Bradshaw Kenimer      18 Alexandria VA      15:56* 
    2  1399 Paul Devar            18 X VA               17:26  
    3   360 Eric Flanagan         18 Fairfax VA         17:39  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  11 - 19 (NET TIME)
    1  1724 Becky Stewart         19 Manassas VA        19:33  
    2   291 Sarah Dawes           18 Chesapeake Beac MD 21:50  
    3   233 Kelsey Anne Coia      15 Arlington VA       22:26  
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29 (NET TIME)
    1  1706 Nathan Brigham        25 Washington DC      15:29  
    2    23 Frank Devar           20 Alexandria VA      15:34  
    3  1493 Jake Krong            24 Vail CO            15:39  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29 (NET TIME)
    1  1836 Brianna Whaley        29 Culpepper VA       18:11
    2  1821 Ashley Griffith	  25  			18:52  
    3    30 Kylee Schuler         22 Chambersburg PA    19:11 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39 (NET TIME)
    1     6 Tim Fahey             34 Arlington VA       16:15  
    2    14 Frank Sprtel          35 Silver Spring MD   16:23  
    3  1128 Joseph Racine         30 Arlington VA       17:09  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39 (NET TIME)
    1    16 Erica Nemmers         36 Herndon VA         18:37  
    2    12 Tara Farley           31 Washington DC      18:57
    3    18 Mary Davison          35 Bristow VA         19:03  
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49 (NET TIME)
    1  1831 Andres Wright         41 Frederick MD       17:00  
    2    13 Derik Thomas          42 Alexandria VA      17:16  
    3  1537 Joe Cresko            42 Arlington VA       17:33  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49 (NET TIME)
    1    28 Patty Stewart         46 Bethesda MD        19:48  
    2   374 Anita Freres          43 Reston VA          20:04  
    3  1383 Brooke Curran         40 Alexandria VA      20:28  
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59 (NET TIME)
    1    74 Steven Anderson       51 Arlington VA       17:44  
    2   786 Bill Raabe            54 Washington DC      18:11  
    3  1313 Richard Adams Jr.     57 Herndon VA         18:49  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59 (NET TIME)
    1   116 Betty Blank           55 Falls Church VA    21:43* 
    2  1020 Myra Washington       51 Montgomery Vill MD 23:21  
    3   906 Tamara Smith          50 Falls Church VA    25:41  
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69 (NET TIME)
    1   244 Dick Conway           60 Springfield VA     22:19  
    2  1746 William Scott         60 Seabrook MD        23:45  
    3  1208 Phil Galipo           61 Gaithersburg MD    25:25  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69 (NET TIME)
    1  1735 Maryellen Gonyea      61 Alexandria VA      29:49  
    2   677 Bertha McMillen       68 Arlington VA       37:08  
    3   568 Linda Kornett         61 Annandale VA       37:54  
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99 (NET TIME)
    1   821 Chan Robbins          71 Arlington VA       23:36* 
    2  1340 Maynard Weyers        72 Alexandria VA      24:36  
    3  1508 Leo Wyne              71 Falls Church VA    27:57  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99 (NET TIME)
    1   209 Jeanette Chambers     73 Arnold MD          35:21 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline

Kami Fleck (25) of Arlington, VA finished in 29:14 (net).

Full Race Day Results