Photo above: At the halfway mark of the 4-mile race, racers gear up to do it all over again.

Potomac River Running had a team of running experts all lined up to make sure everything would go off right for this year's race. Last year's inaugural race was blown away by the year's rainiest day, with lightning chasing away even the most daring road racers. Saturday night's weather was as good as it gets for metro summers. The humidity was low and there was a cooling breeze helping to nudge the nearly 1,000 runners across the ChampionChip mats to start the race.

The course was a delicious two-lap circle near the Ashbrook Commons Shopping Center. After the racers charged a slight upgrade past Gold's Gym, the next 3/4 of a mile is downhill. Returning past the back side of the shopping center is a mild poser of a hill. Then runners race around the spacious parking lot back to the start. With plenty of crowd noise and a recorded two-mile split, maintaining pace was a lot easier.

Indeed, seven of the men's divisions and nine of the women's divisions set new Best of 2007 times for the 4 Mile distance. Ted Poulos (45) of McLean (center in photo above) with 22:42 came achingly close to his own best time set two days before at the DCRRC Hugh Jascourt 4 Mile (22:40). That course was even flatter but runners had to contend with the stony C&O Canal Towpath. The only distraction for the runners here was the wonderful smell of barbequed chicken and pulled pork wafting on the breeze. Red, Hot and Blue was fully prepared to serve the hungry runners after the race. They never came close to running out of food.

As the sun sank over the horizon nearly 90 minutes after the race, runners were still enjoying the classic rock band (The Sock Monkeys) and chowing down on sandwiches. There was a roped off area providing beer by Anheuser-Busch for older race patrons. Right after their race finished, runners returned their ChampionChip and headed for the refreshments. There was lots of cooling ice water and Gatorade and more cookies than you could shake a stick at. For the young ones, there were a number of activities such as the moon bounce and the old summertime carnival favorite, the dunk tank.

Speaking of favorites, with many of the elite runners off to Grandma's Marathon and a shot at the Olympic Trials, the field appeared to be wide open. Eric Post (28) of Centreville, VA (in photo) quickly set the tone for the race. He pulled away for a solid lead early and captured the $175 first prize with 20:27. The next spot was more hotly contested. Dustin Whitlow (21) earned runner-up with 21:05 over fellow Ashburn, VA resident Justin Desilets (28) who ran 21:16.

Home Team Heroes
There are three stand out racing legends in this region: Jim Hage, Alisa Harvey, and Darrell General. All three have won the Army 10 Miler outright. All three have been Olympic class racers and/or National record holders. All three runners, while being very confident, are almost embarrassingly humble about their achievements. All three are still a threat to win it all in a race. General (41) of Hyattsville, MD (in photo) is still trying to regain his form that earned him multiple wins at Army and Marine Corps. He easily dominated the masters field at this race with a 21:27 for fourth place overall.

Ted Poulos (45) of McLean, VA, with more than 3500 races in his career, is still lean and hungry. He is still an extremely tough competitor. If you push him, he will just gear up even harder. At the 2-mile mark, he was dead even with Gene Smith (42) of Burke, VA fighting for ninth. From there he surged to a 22:42 to 22:56 win. Both runners won their five year age group.

For the grandmasters, Jason Page (62) of Hamilton, VA upset favorite Richards Adams, Jr. (56) of Herndon, VA 24:22 to 24:28. Norton Compton (52) of Fairfax, VA was next in the youngest of the five year age group wins with 24:58. Richard Williams (71) of Alexandria, VA dominated his division with 32:24. Still together and celebrating their 50th anniversary, John and Jeanette Chambers of Arnold, MD finishing, what else-- together in 47:22.

For the women, the masters division has been severe this year. Forty-five year old Linda Foley of Herndon, VA (in photo) ignored the calendar and took no prisoners, clocking in at 25:23. Jeanette Dumbrell (38) of Falls Church, VA made it interesting for a while, finishing next in 25:40. With her husband watching and critiquing, Anita Freres took third place money with 26:04. He noted with pride that she has not yet reached peak season form and could soon be a threat to win it all. While some more seasoned runners went out too fast in the opening downhill mile, young Ariel Karabinus (15) of Manassas, VA bided her time. She hit the halfway mark tied with sixth place Jessica Marquis (32) of Arlington, VA but gave up only a few seconds to the second half of her race, taking fourth in 26:13 and closing on Freres.

Deedee Loughran (48) of Herndon, VA took masters honors in 26:37, pulling away from grandmaster champion Betty Blank (54) of Falls Church, VA. She was seven seconds ahead at the break, Blank finished in 27:01. Blank, known more for her steady pace than her kick, schooled ninth place Leslie Wolfe (46) of Herndon, VA. In the photo, Wolfe is right on her shoulder. Blank was not looking back but gathering steam to try to catch Loughran in front of her. Wolfe finished in 27:17 for second in her division.

There were many random awards. Race Director Cathy Pugsley belted out the numbers making sure everyone could hear. They awards went top three overall ($175-150-125) top master ($50), and then top three in five year age groups. The age group winners got a pair of running shoes, second place got a running bag, and third place got a gift certificate to Potomac River Running stores.

A one-mile family fun run took off with about 100 participants as soon as the 4-milers cleared the start line.

Great food, great course, and great awards make this race a huge success that will draw even more runners next year. For at least 80 runners, this was their first race ever. With such a good experience for their first time, we are sure to see them at another race soon.

Awards - Men

MALE Open
    1   731 Eric Post            28 Centreville VA       20:28 
    2   461 Dustin Whitlow       21 Ashburn VA           21:06 
    3   719 Justin Desilets      28 Ashburn VA           21:18 
MALE Masters
    1     3 Darrell General      41 Hyattsville MD       21:28 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 01 - 19
    1  1166 Josiah Renton        16 Manassas VA          23:03   23:05 
    2  1169 Tyler Simmons        16 Manassas VA          23:06   23:09 
    3  1032 Jesse Saldana        17 Leesburg VA          23:12   23:13 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
    1  1198 Sean Bennett         20 Leesburg VA          22:15   22:16 
    2   611 Thomas Vigesaa       21 Andrews Afb MD       24:39   24:40 
    3   169 Patrick Cole         21 Ashburn VA           26:45   26:49 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
    1   706 Eric Kweder          29 Old Fields WV        22:06   22:07 
    2   631 Matt Woods           27 Leesburg VA          23:58   24:00 
    3   101 Adam Borbidge        28 Fairfax VA           24:00   24:05 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
    1   815 Chris Farley         31 Arlington VA         22:08   22:09 
    2   109 Nate Spong           34 Reston VA            22:58   23:00 
    3   197 Michael Elabarger    34 Leesburg VA          23:01   23:03 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
    1   684 Rob Jones            37 Ashburn VA           22:16   22:17 
    2   420 Ian Blair            36 Alexandria VA        23:17   23:19 
    3    83 Jonathan Lutke       36 Centreville VA       24:20   24:23 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
    1   695 Gene Smith           42 Burke VA             22:55   22:56 
    2   635 Theo Haast           40 Leesburg VA          23:20   23:22 
    3   503 George Lane          41 Ashburn VA           24:14   24:16 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
    1    39 Ted Poulos           45 McLean VA            22:41   22:42 
    2   593 James Bradford       45 Vienna VA            25:27   25:32 
    3   587 Bill Stahr           46 The Plains VA        25:51   25:55 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 59
    1   208 Norton Compton       52 Fairfax VA           24:58   25:00    
    2     5 James Moreland       54 Gaithersburg MD      26:28   26:29 
    3   737 Steve Robinson       52 Herndon VA           26:56   26:57
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
    1   478 Richard Adams Jr     56 Herndon VA           24:28   24:30 
    2   651 Kevin Frye           55 Ashburn VA           27:36   27:39 
    3   484 Jon Palks            57 Bowie MD             29:53   29:59 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 69
    1    57 Jason Page           62 Hamilton VA          24:22   24:25 
    2    51 Bill Joyce           63 Herndon VA           26:16   26:19 
    3   720 Bob Chase            61 Falls Church VA      27:35   27:40 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
    1   423 Tim Long             66 McLean VA            33:38   34:32 
    2   100 J Tony Del Moral     65 Potomac Falls VA     35:22   35:37 
    3   272 Bob Eldridge         67 Reston VA            35:29   35:53 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 99
    1    50 Richard Williams     71 Alexandria VA        32:20   32:24 
    2   337 Leo Wyne             70 Falls Church VA      34:55   35:24 
    3    38 Robert Gurtler       72 The Plains VA        39:38   40:39 
MALE ASHBURN RESIDENT
    1   684 Rob Jones            37 Ashburn VA           22:16 

Ann Adkinson (37) of Washington, DC finishes in 28:17 for third in her age group.

Awards - Women

FEMALE Open
    1   806 Linda Foley          45 Herndon VA           25:23 
    2   570 Jeanette Dumbrell    38 Falls Church VA      25:40 
    3   735 Anita Freres         42 Reston VA            26:04 
FEMALE Masters
    1   727 Deedee Loughran      48 Herndon VA           26:37 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 01 - 19
    1  1158 Ariel Karabinus      15 Manassas VA          26:08   26:13 
    2  1178 Leslie Lyford        13 Leesburg VA          29:41   29:47 
    3  1140 Stephenie Povinelli  18 Falls Church VA      30:10   30:53 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
    1   694 Megan McMullen       20 Leesburg VA          29:42   30:09 
    2   298 Lauren Christensen   23 Alexandria VA        29:48   30:30 
    3   402 Amy Lang             23 Arlington VA         30:52   31:10 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
    1   505 Gretchen Reschke     25 Stephens City VA     30:01   30:14 
    2    27 Elizabeth Goldman    28 Falls Church VA      31:18   31:29 
    3   603 Stephanie Keninitz   28 Woodbridge VA        31:15   32:17 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
    1   483 Jessica Marquis      32 Arlington VA         26:34   26:36 
    2    36 Elizabeth Jones      30 Midland VA           27:36   27:38 
    3   240 Gillian Kalaris      31 Ashburn VA           27:37   27:42 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
    1   311 Jennifer Van Den Ber 37 Sterling VA          26:19   26:21 
    2    48 Cheryl Young         37 Reston VA            27:53   28:02 
    3   819 Ann Adkinson         37 Washington DC        28:14   28:17 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
    1   608 Katherine McKnight   44 Fairfax VA           27:52   27:54 
    2  1350 Amanda Dion          42 Sterling VA          28:52   29:24 
    3   468 Julie Hertel         40 Leesburg VA          29:30   29:46 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
    1   573 Leslie Wolfe         46 Herndon VA           27:15   27:17 
    2   107 Tracey Dugdale       47 Reston VA            27:27   27:30 
    3   705 Tracy Kelleher       45 Sterling VA          29:45   29:56 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
    1     4 Betty Blank          54 Falls Church VA      27:00   27:01 
    2   104 Joy Saari            53 Centreville VA       36:08   37:08 
    3   642 Luisa Grant          54 Ashburn VA           36:58   37:25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
    1    49 Jane Poole           59 Washington DC        32:05   32:09 
    2   553 Christy Gavitt       55 Falls Church VA      36:57   37:19 
    3   102 Mary Proctor         58 Reston VA            38:45   39:27 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
    1    91 Pat Welch            62 Vienna VA            36:05   36:18 
    2   185 Donna Wuelzer        60 Oak Hill VA          40:58   41:16 
    3   209 Rebecca Compton      61 Fairfax VA         1:07:50 1:09:11 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 99
    1    94 Jeanette Chambers    72 Arnold MD            47:14   47:22 
FEMALE ASHBURN RESIDENT
    1   240 Gillian Kalaris      31 Ashburn VA           27:37 

Full Race Day Results
Race Report
Photo Gallery 2007
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