The March winds have eased to welcome spring to Washington. In a week, the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom. After hearing threats of snow for most of the last week, many runners overdressed for the sprint down Ohio Drive. Nay-sayers feared the traditional winds off the Potomac for the return from Hains Point. It was not to be.

On the way back we were treated to a duel between Brian Godsey of Baltimore, MD (photo by Stephanie Harry) and Bert Rodriguez of Arlington, VA. At mile two, both were still well below 5:00 pace with Godsey starting to move away. Third place Demesse Tefera of Washington, DC was alone on a shrinking island about forty meters back. He held off hard charging Chris Pruitt of Oakton, VA and Frenchman Philippe Rolly, now of Fairfax, VA. Both finished in 15:57 with Pruitt pulling out the win by a whisper.

Shortly afterward the top women came flying through. Susannah Kvasnicka was centered between her coach, Ron Kulik, and Christina Wells, hitting 2 miles on pace to break that magic 17:00 mark. Kvasnicka was coming off a solid 28:27 (11th woman in a deep world-class field) at the Shamrock 8K last week, where the winds off the beach definitely slowed the runners. Wells crept away and just missed going under with a ChampionChip net time of 16:59, officially 17:00. Jill Laurendeau of Arlington, VA (photo by Stephanie Harry) was overmatched today, racing against two top-five women for the whole area. Still, her time of 18:19 would be a winner at many other races.

The youth movement is alive and well as the top three teens were under 17:20, with Neal Darmody snatching another age group win in a spiffy 17:00. For the women, 16-year-old Sarah Weber threatened for the three spot, cruising home in 18:25. Lisa Thomas (30) struggled a little, for her, easily winning the division in 18:55.

For the older folks, Ron Kulik (41) had a narrow victory but seemed as if he were just on a training run. Grandmaster Peter Darmody (50) ran 18:00 to make him a threat for top area honors. Ken Shipp (57) has awakened and is moving steadily up the ranks with a 19:23 finish. Patrick Griffith (61) won his division by 14 minutes in 18:46. His lament was that he did not hold off an inspired charge by Dan Eddy (54), who galloped home in 18:36. Sonny Barber (65) made another statement with a flashy 21:54 age group win.

Richard Williams (70) is loving life as he steers his way to the top. Last weekend at the Shamrock Sportsfest he ran the 8K in a winning 39:51. The next day he took on top dogs Tom Ray (1:44:57) and Jerry Lewis (1:46:57), in the half marathon, racing 1:48:06. Lewis told him that he might have won had he slept in rather than run the 8K on Saturday. Then he comes back here to finish the race in 22:54.

The 45-49 women are getting hot. Win Persina continues her almost weekly lowering of her 5K time. She did not have an easy time even with a fine 19:47. Debbie Flynn (20:06) and Ofelia Perotti (21:27) were pushing her the whole way. Perotti is eager to move to grandmasters but "Debbie is going to be there too," she said with a sardonic smile.

Speaking of top grandmasters, Ginny Hughes (55) of Vint Hill Farms, VA was not sure her 23:42 was going to be worth an award. We told her to stick around. With a 26:10 qualifying time for her age group in the Runner Rankings and only twenty women making it there last year, she seemed a lock. Indeed, she bumped off 11th ranked Cathy van Brocklin (24:02) and 16th ranked Jane Poole (24:03). Competition seems to improve times! After taking the winter off, Jacqueline O'Neil (74) is back with a 34:29 finish.

The line of runners went on and on as the race more than doubled in size to more than 1100 finishers. The spread of food was abundant, with apples, bananas, bagels, and snacks, though the much larger crowd of runners may have surprised the race. There was a good number of random prizes and the age group awards were gifts valued at up to $75. The race raised more than $45,000 for colon cancer awareness. And it has to be considered a huge success, as this second-year race makes its mark on the area racing calendar.

Award Winners

MALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                   Ag City                      Gun T Net T Pace  
===== ===== ====================== == ========================= ===== ===== ===== 
    1  1429 Brian Godsey           25 Baltimore MD              15:15 15:14  4:55 
    2  1632 Bert Rodriguez         26 Arlington VA              15:31 15:29  4:59 
    3  1737 Demesse Tefera         23 Washington DC             15:51 15:50  5:06 


FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                   Ag City                      Gun T Net T Pace  
===== ===== ====================== == ========================= ===== ===== ===== 
    1     9 Christina Wells        31 Woodbridge VA             17:00 16:59  5:28 
    2     1 Susannah Kvasnicka     33 Great Falls VA            17:10 17:10  5:32 
    3  1151 Jill Laurendeau        25 Arlington VA              18:19 18:17  5:54 


MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1  1729 Neal Darmody           16 Gaithersburg MD           17:01 17:00  5:29 
    2  1031 John McGrail           16 Arlington VA              17:19 17:18  5:34 
    3  1715 Chris Tyson            17 Arlington VA              17:21 17:19  5:35 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1   836 Sarah Weber            16 Arlington VA              18:26 18:25  5:56 
    2   627 Lane Wollerton         16 Arlington VA              21:55 21:53  7:03 
    3   879 Pamela Evans           17 Nokesville VA             25:24 24:52  8:00 


MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24   (NET TIME)
    1  1077 Chris Pruitt           23 Oakton VA                 15:57 15:57  5:08 
    2  1433 Andy Dana              23 Arlington VA              16:59 16:59  5:28 
    3  1044 Carlos Rojas           23 Vienna VA                 18:08 18:05  5:50 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24   (NET TIME)
    1  1625 Trina Bolton           23 Washington DC             19:46 19:43  6:21 
    2  1724 Kelly Behan            23 Washington DC             19:49 19:46  6:22 
    3   806 Emily Ruppel           20 Washington DC             21:43 21:37  6:58 


MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29   (NET TIME)
    1  1736 Zereu Keitle           25 Washington DC             16:08 16:07  5:11 
    2  1166 Eric Egenolf           27 Silver Spring MD          16:26 16:25  5:17 
    3   625 Erik Kluznik           27 Alexandria VA             16:36 16:34  5:20 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29   (NET TIME)
    1   163 Margaret Polcawich     29 Derwood MD                19:13 19:10  6:10 
    2    12 Elizabeth Jones        28 Fairfax VA                20:45 20:42  6:40 
    3  1449 Meg Pagonis            28 Arlington VA              22:09 21:58  7:05 


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34   (NET TIME)
    1  1721 Philippe Rolly         33 Fairfax VA                15:58 15:57  5:08 
    2   164 Ronald Polcawich       30 Derwood MD                17:53 17:50  5:45 
    3  1327 Ben Geman              33 Washington DC             18:32 18:28  5:57 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34   (NET TIME)
    1  1374 Lisa Thomas            30 Alexandria VA             18:58 18:55  6:06 
    2  1676 Sarah Hellenbeck       30                           19:57 19:52  6:24 
    3   333 Dana Howard            30 Washington DC             22:44 22:33  7:16 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1  1669 Mark Hand              39 Arlington VA              18:16 18:14  5:52 
    2  1565 Anthony Kreindler      36 Bethesda MD               18:18 18:16  5:53 
    3   945 Daniel Jackson         37 Washington DC             20:42 20:35  6:38 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1  1394 Tara Magner            36 Washington DC             21:08 21:07  6:48 
    2  1579 Rebecca Allen          36                           21:48 21:46  7:01 
    3  1692 Caroline Caine         38 Alexandria VA             24:29 24:20  7:50 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44   (NET TIME)
    1  1586 Ronald Kulik           41 Herndon VA                17:10 17:09  5:32 
    2   369 Stuart Pineo           44 Columbia MD               17:22 17:20  5:35 
    3  1375 Derik Thomas           40 Alexandria VA             17:23 17:21  5:35 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44   (NET TIME)
    1   557 Tammy Huck             42 Arlington VA              23:07 23:04  7:26 
    2   507 Brenda Hymas           41 Downingtown PA            26:50 26:35  8:34 
    3   739 Mary Golway            42 Owings MD                 27:30 27:09  8:45 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1  1713 Marc P. Embler         48                           17:57 17:56  5:47 
    2   895 Curtis Davis           48 Gaithersburg MD           18:37 18:36  5:59 
    3   804 Mark Drosky            45 Alexandria VA             19:01 18:58  6:07 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1   476 Win Persina            45 Washington DC             19:49 19:47  6:22 
    2  1444 Deborah Flynn          49 Gaithersburg MD           20:09 20:06  6:28 
    3  1034 Ofelia Perotti         49 Alexandria VA             21:30 21:27  6:55 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54   (NET TIME)
    1  1728 Peter Darmody          50 Gaithersburg MD           18:02 18:00  5:48 
    2  1507 Dan Eddy               54 Alexandria VA             18:39 18:36  5:59 
    3  1595 Frank Helmick          52 Arlington VA              19:05 19:03  6:08 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54   (NET TIME)
    1   354 Patricia Reynolds      52 Silver Spring MD          25:51 25:22  8:10 
    2  1335 Christine Reid         51 Arlington VA              25:52 25:34  8:14 
    3   820 Janice Brannon         51 Lorton VA                 27:32 27:24  8:49 


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1  1164 Ken Shipp              57 Great Falls VA            19:25 19:23  6:15 
    2  1526 Richard Carlisle       55 Springfield VA            20:45 20:40  6:39 
    3   154 Timothy Moriarty       56 Falls Church VA           22:17 22:11  7:09 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1  1552 Ginny Hughes           55 Vint Hill Farms VA        23:54 23:42  7:38 
    2   771 Cathy Van Brocklin     59 Gaithersburg MD           24:06 24:02  7:44 
    3    32 Jane Poole             58 Washington DC             24:06 24:03  7:45 


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64   (NET TIME)
    1    23 Patrick Griffith       61 Alexandria VA             18:47 18:46  6:03 
    2   822 Cole Mallard           63 Mclean VA                 32:54 32:54 10:36 
    3    27 William Anton          64 Henderson NV              33:07 32:55 10:36 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64   (NET TIME)
    1   987 Anna Cook              62 New Liberty KY            28:06 27:38  8:54 
    2    22 Martha McJunkin        63 Bethesda MD               34:18 33:40 10:51 
    3   564 Mickey Stam            61 Alexandria VA             40:03 38:42 12:28 


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69   (NET TIME)
    1    33 Sonny Barber           65 Falls Church VA           21:58 21:54  7:03 
    2  1704 Jim McFadden           66                           22:39 22:37  7:17 
    3  1101 Jerry Cherrington      68 Hudson OH                 29:19 29:00  9:20 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69   (NET TIME)
    1   886 Fran Estacio           66 Folsom CA                 29:35 29:31  9:30 
    2   859 Terrie Johnston        65 Lusby MD                  41:00 40:14 12:57 
    3  1234 Teri Ruddy             65 Alexandria VA             41:51 41:02 13:13 


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99   (NET TIME)
    1    31 Richard Williams       70 Alexandria VA             22:57 22:54  7:22 
    2  1719 Tony Measham           71 Chevy Chase MD            26:29 26:21  8:29 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99   (NET TIME)
    1  1144 Jacqueline O'Neil      74 Washington DC             35:12 34:29 11:06

See complete results of the Scope It Out 5K.

Visit the race Web site for more details on the event and cause.