District Mayor Adrian Fenty added a dash of celebrity to one of the city's most popular downtown races, the 19th St. Patrick's Day 8K.

And you know what? This guy's good.

"Bring on all mayors," Fenty said after crossing the finish line in 33 minutes 52 seconds with his right arm held high. "The course is great but I'd like get that 2K back," he added, referring to the city's decision last year to shorten the distance from 10K.

Fenty finished 126th out of 3,473 finishers, averaging 6:49 per mile in cold and windy conditions. The race marks the beginning of the area's spring racing season, and despite the weather, everyone, including the city's top citizen-runner, was glad to be racing.

"This is my first race of the year," said Fenty (36), who took office in January. "I'm just getting the kinks out."

William & Mary grad and Villanova Law School student Jacob Frey (25) from Oakton, VA rendered a quick decision in the men's race, leading from the start and breaking the tape in 24:13.

"No real problems out there," said Frey, who ran professionally with the Hansons Brooks Project in Michigan before starting law school in the fall. Frey ran 2:17:37 in his marathon debut last year in Austin, and is hoping to be named to the Pan Am Games marathon team this summer.

Despite the rigors of a first-year law curriculum, Frey trains between 140 and 150 miles per week; the iPod he wears while he runs, however, plays and replays lectures rather than music.

On the right in the photo below, Abreha Assef (25) an Ethiopian living in Washington, finished second in 25:25, holding off Eric Lavigne (30) from Leesburg, VA with whom he battled nearly every step of the way.

Another Ethiopian, Misiker Mekonnin, (photo) led the women's race from the start but needed a strong finish to win in 29:10 and hold off master's champ Alisa Harvey, who at 41 is more than twice Mekonnin's age.

"I got close, but at the end, argh," said Harvey, a track specialist, who finished seven seconds back. With a quarter mile to go, Mekonnin "took a good look back," Harvey said, "and really put on the gas."

Mekonnin, who has been training in Washington with her countrymen, including men's runner-up Assef, since arriving in the United States six months ago, admitted to being "a little bit scared" as Harvey made her charge.

Martha Merz (44) from Arlington, VA finished fifth overall in 30:13 and was second among masters women. Jean-Christophe Arcaz (46) from Rockville, MD was the top men's master and 24th overall in 28:32.

Temperatures in the low 30s and a biting wind slowed times and kept some runners and spectators away, but bagpipers performed along the course and Irish step dancers entertained finishers at one of the city's largest and most colorful races.

Photo below: Runners high step it to the finish.

Men's Awards

MALE 
    1  5204 Jacob Frey           25 M Oakton VA            24:13 
    2  5251 Abreha Assef         25 M Washington DC        25:25 
    3    32 Eric Lavigne         30 M Leesburg VA          25:25 
    4    26 Brian Baillie        24 M Washington DC        25:33 
    5    12 Jason Dwyer          27 M Bethesda MD          25:35 
    6     2 Birhanu Wakuw        25 M Washington DC        25:45 
    7    27 Ryan Mammen          30 M Woodbridge VA        25:48 
    8   996 Bert Rodriguez       27 M Arlington VA         25:48 
    9    37 Michael Padilla      22 M Pensacola FL         25:53 
   10    25 Matthew Wagoner      29 M New Cumberland PA    25:56 
MALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1  2293 Chris Walker         17 M Stafford VA        31:40 31:39  6:22 
    2  3956 Joseph Regan         16 M Annandale VA       32:06 32:05  6:28 
    3  5217 Nicholas Belotte     18 M Martinsburg WV     32:51 32:45  6:36 
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1  3517 Patrick Hogan        23 M Washington DC      26:32 26:31  5:20 
    2  3163 Nat Glackin          24 M Washington DC      27:01 26:59  5:26 
    3  3553 Brian Tullock        24 M Arlington VA       27:14 27:14  5:29 
MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1     8 Jake Klim            26 M N Bethesda MD      26:25 26:24  5:19 
    2  4640 Joe Lamonte          26 M Arlington VA       27:34 27:32  5:33 
    3    11 Stephen Money        26 M Washington DC      27:53 27:52  5:37 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1    36 Scott Anderson       33 M Washington DC      26:53 26:52  5:25 
    2     9 Jason Gish           31 M Camp Hill PA       27:06 27:06  5:27 
    3  3237 Robert Schneider     30 M Washington DC      27:10 27:08  5:28 
MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1   790 Ian Blair            35 M Alexandria VA      29:03 29:02  5:51 
    2  3847 Jack Lovett          37 M Newport News VA    30:30 30:28  6:08 
    3  4965 David Kumashiro      36 M Arlington VA       31:54 31:44  6:23 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1   239 Steven Barrett       40 M Vienna VA          29:41 29:39  5:58 
    2  5265 Paul Jacobson        43 M Gaithersburg MD    30:03 30:01  6:03 
    3  1417 Ron Bryan            41 M Herndon VA         31:12 31:08  6:16 
MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1  3054 Jean-Christophe Arca 46 M Rockville MD       28:32 28:31  5:45 
    2     6 Mark Malander        49 M Oak Hill VA        29:08 29:07  5:52 
    3  5009 John Mott            47 M Washington DC      29:35 29:33  5:57 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1   325 Tim Dunlap           50 M Lancaster PA       29:09 29:08  5:52 
    2     5 Dan Lawson           51 M Gaithersburg MD    29:12 29:11  5:53 
    3     4 Mike Hart            51 M Washington DC      29:43 29:41  5:59 
MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1   157 Dan Eddy             55 M Alexandria VA      31:00 30:54  6:13 
    2  3947 Richard Morgan       55 M Silver Spring MD   32:16 32:13  6:29 
    3   303 John McMackin        55 M Washington DC      33:48 33:43  6:47 
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1  2869 John Helm            61 M Washington DC      35:00 34:55  7:02 
    2    40 Michael Golash       63 M Washington DC      36:37 36:29  7:21 
    3  3941 Russell Rosenberger  61 M Clifton VA         41:32 39:10  7:53 
MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1   118 Lou Shapiro          65 M Silver Spring MD   36:58 35:48  7:13 
    2   169 Stephen Forman       66 M McLean VA          36:43 36:39  7:23 
    3  3759 Bob Leaberry         67 M Gambrills MD       38:37 37:36  7:34 
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1    41 Maynard Weyers       70 M Alexandria VA      38:29 38:26  7:44 
    2   366 Alan Rider           71 M Reston VA          43:35 43:15  8:42 
    3    65 Terence McCarthy     71 M Leesburg VA        45:26 45:18  9:07 
MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1  3358 George Yannakakis    75 M Sparks MD          40:22 40:20  8:07 
    2  1174 Jack McMahon         76 M Rockville MD       43:53 43:47  8:49 
    3  2661 Keith Olson          75 M Silver Spring MD   45:30 45:27  9:09 
MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99
    1  3790 Paul Lackey          82 M Arlington VA       57:45 57:35 11:36 
    2  1243 Marcel Bitoun        80 M Washington DC      71:04 68:54 13:52 

Photo below: Jean-Christophe Arcaz (46) from Rockville, MD was seventh master last year and fifth 45-49. This year he won in 28:32.

Women's Awards

FEMALE 
    1    45 Misiker Mekonnin     20 F Washington DC        29:10 
    2     3 Alisa Harvey         41 F Manassas VA          29:17 
    3  4858 Lauren Manero        25 F Fort Belvoir VA      29:29 
    4    28 Alemgena Desta       25 F Silver Spring MD     29:53 
    5  4976 Martha Merz          44 F Arlington VA         30:13 
    6    13 Melissa Tanner       26 F Bethesda MD          30:20 
    7    43 Cathy Pugsley        37 F Sterling VA          31:03 
    8  2651 Alicia Pease         24 F Hyattsville MD       31:27 
    9  4977 Kelly Behan          24 F Washington DC        31:33 
   10  2214 Megan Fogarty        22 F Burke VA             31:47 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1    18 Anya Oleynik         18 F Gaithersburg MD    32:28 32:27  6:32 
    2  4326 Amanda Scheer        19 F Wall NJ            32:45 32:40  6:35 
    3  3425 Jamie Lewin          18 F Washington DC      36:49 36:27  7:20 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1  4565 Jennilee Russell     24 F Woodbridge VA      32:35 32:31  6:33 
    2  3730 Michelle Harburg     24 F Washington DC      33:30 33:14  6:41 
    3  4066 Amanda Parrish       24 F Washington DC      33:28 33:24  6:43 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1  2662 Erica Marrari        25 F College Park MD    31:54 31:50  6:25 
    2   912 Lisa McCabe          29 F Washington DC      33:10 32:05  6:28 
    3   344 Jenae Avallone       28 F Arlington VA       33:09 33:06  6:40 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1  4511 Mindy Leisure        31 F Kettering OH       31:51 31:13  6:17 
    2  1271 Andrea Kaltenbaugh   33 F Springfield VA     33:02 32:58  6:38 
    3   128 Sarah Mouton         30 F Alexandria VA      33:46 33:40  6:47 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1  4166 Christine Mahan      38 F Arlington VA       33:37 33:30  6:45 
    2  4955 Laurie Dempsey       36 F Alexandria VA      34:44 34:40  6:59 
    3  4724 Jean Traub           37 F Alexandria VA      35:04 34:48  7:00 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    17 Sheryl Kline         44 F Arnold MD          32:35 32:34  6:33 
    2  3846 Pamela Lovett        44 F Newport News VA    34:30 34:29  6:57 
    3  4953 Kathleen Goetz       41 F Reston VA          35:02 34:43  6:59 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1  2731 Eleanor Kerr         47 F University Park MD 33:38 33:35  6:46 
    2    15 Jill Hargis          46 F Annapolis MD       34:43 34:38  6:58 
    3  1005 Aileen Moffatt       49 F Washington DC      36:16 36:12  7:17 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1  4112 Alison Suckling      51 F Arnold MD          34:12 34:10  6:53 
    2   722 Carole Roeder        50 F Ashburn VA         37:14 37:09  7:29 
    3  3384 Cherry Kent          50 F Belton SC          37:28 37:28  7:32 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1   313 Alice Franks         58 F Rockville MD       37:16 37:11  7:29 
    2   295 Valerie Campbell     56 F Silver Spring MD   37:52 37:48  7:37 
    3   742 Margaret Davis       55 F Vienna VA          39:33 39:25  7:56 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1  2756 Ellen Volet          60 F Annapolis MD       38:19 36:40  7:23 
    2    68 Sandra May           61 F Alexandria VA      45:54 44:47  9:01 
    3  1074 Concetta Fiorito     60 F Reston VA          46:54 45:53  9:14 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1    76 Beverly Franklin     65 F Springfield VA     54:16 53:22 10:45 
    2    85 Jamie Wollard        68 F N Bethesda MD      59:59 58:53 11:51 
    3   116 Betty Wright-Thomas  65 F Washington DC      63:51 61:04 12:18 

Photo below: Laeticia Warring of Reston, VA races to the finish in 35:55.

Race Day Report for 2007
Full Race Day Results
Photo Gallery 2007
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