Photo: Some of the race sponsors set up in the early morning hours.

What a beautiful day for running! After a record-setting month of May, we collected a Friday evening splash of rain, which cooled us from mid nineties to a pleasant sixty degrees to kick off the Memorial Day Weekend. Ever so slightly off the beaten path (Sterling, VA) for Metro Washington road racing, I was at first surprised that the race had more than five hundred participants. This time of year, race choice is very competitive.

This race had it all! After racing the superb Germantown 5-Miler last week, I was prepared to be let down. Not so. In this area, who could predict that the weather would be near perfect? The course, modified for better runability, was a two-loop romp around a superbly manicured Community Center. The first loop had a little add-on loop to complete the distance. The parking was generous.

Stepping across a little wooden bridge behind the school parking lot, as noted by race announcer Bob Moore, who could possibly miss the start/finish arch created by the ladders of two fire trucks from Sterling Fire department, the race charity and most visible group of volunteers throughout the race. Approaching the packet pick-up area, runners heard the sounds of WMZQ 98.7 Country Radio. There were so many food areas being set up that it took discipline to start warming up for the race.

This course was in the style of many new courses, no flat areas and lots of rolling hills. If it had been hot, maybe the hills would have been bad. With the cool weather, there was only one hill that really slowed the pace and it came after a nice quarter-mile downhill. The race got easier on the second loop because you knew the course and this loop was a bit shorter.

At the start, runners stepped up to the ChampionChip mats, ready for the chirping. Last year's victor, Michael Wardian, was not to be found. He had won the Capital Hill Classic 10K in 32:14 last week and was off running a marathon this weekend. Masters never say die, Chuck Moeser had been third place last year. Runners hoping for an age group win breathe a sigh of relief when he is not there.

Even with the great weather this year, the times were slow. The first mile is mostly downhill and from my vantage point way back in the pack, the lead pack seemed to comprise about five runners. The finish did not. Too young at nineteen to even have a full first name, C.W. Moran was the local dragon killer, crushing the field with a three-minute victory. His time of 32:34 topped last year's champion, an Olympic qualifier, and Wardian had Todd Martin and the indomitable Moeser on his heels pushing him the whole way. Second place Paul Okerberg (45) of Leesburg, VA was alone in second place in a swift 35:20. That left the door open for Bruce Halpin of Ashburn, VA to win the always-tough 45-49 division. Soon to be forty, Tom Crandall of Reston, VA was pushed hard to earn third place in 36:08. That left Martin Calhoun of Herndon, VA an open spot to win the 40-44 division.

Announcer Bob Moore was able to call out the names of most of the runners crossing the finish line. This brought lots of cheering from the crowd and even made the tired road warriors smile. After scores of races managed by Capital Running Company, he was even able to give preliminary age group calls in real time. Interestingly enough, the first non-Virginia runner across the line was women's runner-up Jennifer Baclawski of Ijamsville, MD. She was 13th overall in 38:40. The first man from out of state was the twenty-fifth man and thirtieth runner, David Kemp of La Plata, MD. Delaware struck next with Gregory Smith of Newark in 41:30. Ken Krehbiel of Washington, DC was the next "did I say" state, finishing second place in the 50-54 division in 42:03. Your reporter won his age group, finishing with a rush as the chow bell starting ringing.

California sent us our next state in the form of Seth Lucas of Turlock, CA in a gun time of 43:14. His chip time was 42:57, perhaps from starting farther west of the start. Just ahead of him was the 60-64 age group champion Michael Golash of Washington, DC. He had foiled the plans of last year's boss Stephen Forman. Forman (photo above, #52) had run unchallenged in 44:09. This year he just did gun down Warrenton, VA's Lloyd Blackwell (photo, #551) at the finish 43:29 to 43:30. Dave McSherry, pride of Camp Hill, PA, loves to run the 10K. Last year this 50 Plus Club member eschewed the 5K, running only 37 and went after the 10K. He ran a record 63 10Ks last year with more than 157 raced in the last five years. Rory Meehan of New Bern, NC came up to Virginia to visit brother Mark and they both nipped out West Virginia's first runner, John Rice of Martinsburg. Tennessee is next with Theodore Warren from Gallatin. Moving north, Ron Sieracki of Woodbury, CT was the first New Englander. Our last state was represented by Eric Munro of Overland Park, who was "not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

I guess one could say this was a local race. Only nineteen of the 213 women finishers were from out of state. Fewer, sixteen of the 291 men were non-Virginians. Come on people. Sterling is just a short thirty-minute commute from Maryland, West Virginia, or Washington, DC.

Last year's women's champion, the phenomenal Alisa Harvey, crushed the field by four minutes with, for her, a pedestrian 37:45. Harvey is a past 55:35 Cherry Blossom finisher who ran a 2:03 800-meter race the same year. When the men dashed out at the start only thirty-two year old Caroline Tynan went out with them. She was determined to make Sterling a dual winner today. Her first mile was sub-6:00. From there, she moved her way up in the ranks, picking off hapless males who had started too fast, finally finishing fourth overall in 36:26. Young Baclawski (21) ran 38:40 for second. She passed by me followed by Patti Shull and Milligan Grinstead. Lou Hohnka of Herndon, VA was next and made my running look like moon walking. I passed her back in the second mile. By mile three, she was fading away in the distance in front of me seeking out her competition. Shull (45) of Asburn, VA has been running for many years. Her ambling style is deceptive as she surged towards second place, falling just three seconds back. Grinstead was lurking fifteen meters back in 38:48 making the women's race for second place the most exciting.

Leslie Minnix Wolfe of Herndon, VA is a regular on the winner's stand, finishing in 40:41 for the 40-44 division. Catherine Van Brock (57) of Gaithersburg, MD (photo left, #221, with Mary Mitchell of Ashburn) won her division in a marvelous 48:42. In the 50-54 division, Lainey Bernstein of Potomac, MD easily trumped the field with 50:19. Bernstein ran her first 10K back in November 2003. The worst she placed in her next six 10Ks was her fourth place finish at Pike's Peek in 49:40. She lamented not getting a PR on today's hillier course. Oh, for the days when a PR was even possible.

Today's event included a 911 fun run/walk that is .911 miles. After the race, runners loosened laces, freed chips, and hustled over to the trough. Let's start with some fine Starbucks Coffee. Bagels and ice cream go nicely with that. Many runners queued up for one of the three massage tables. Bolder appetites headed for the Outback, where they speared some steak to go with scrambled eggs. Gorgeous ripe bananas awaited runners. There were many bottled juices and waters, including Turkey Hill Ice Tea. The best of the three flavors of Turkey Hill ice cream that I tried was the butter almond, followed swiftly by chocolate and vanilla. The list of random prizes was extensive, including rounds of golf, movies tickets, pizzas, dinner, hotel stays, and baseball tickets.

Add this race to the list of sure winners. Great prizes, great management, great course!

Award Winners

OVERALL MALE  (GUN TIME)
Place Num   Name                Age City                  Time    
===== ===== =================== === ===================== ======= 
    1   590 C W Moran            19 Sterling VA             32:34 
    2   536 Paul Okerberg        45 Leesburg VA             35:21 
    3   564 Thomas Crandall      39 Reston VA               36:10 


OVERALL FEMALE  (GUN TIME)
Place Num   Name                Age City                  Time    
===== ===== =================== === ===================== ======= 
    1   533 Caroline Tynan       32 Sterling VA             36:26 
    2   383 Jennifer Baclawski   21 Ijamsville MD           38:44 
    3   554 Patti Shull          45 Ashburn VA              38:45 


MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1   598 Benjamin Doore      16 Sterling VA             39:21 
    2   432 Tim Bizal           17 Sterling VA             39:38 
    3   553 Jonathan Alvarado   14 Sterling VA             43:18 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1   489 Christy Dannenberg  19 Sterling VA             42:22 
    2   365 Lara Borg           19 Great Falls VA          50:39 
    3   364 Erica Borg          17 Great Falls VA          50:40 


MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24   (NET TIME)
    1   392 James Bales         24 Alexandria VA           36:38 
    2   318 Will Justice        20 Sterling VA             37:11 
    3   570 Gregory Sandstrom   20 Lessburg VA             39:37 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24   (NET TIME)
    1   532 Milligan Grinstead  24 Alexandria VA           38:48 
    2   492 Sammy Chowdhury     21 Sterling VA             43:39 
    3   488 Katy Dannenberg     20 Sterling VA             44:35 


MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29   (NET TIME)
    1   292 Jeffrey Gilday      28 Arlington VA            37:26 
    2   146 Alexander Lamme     29 Sterling VA             37:47 
    3   456 Adam Borbridgew     25 Centreville VA          41:28 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29   (NET TIME)
    1   433 Lou Hohnka          27 Herndon VA              39:23 
    2   105 Jessica Goveia      27 Reston VA               40:30 
    3    43 Gabriella Uza       27 Germantown MD           45:14 


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34   (NET TIME)
    1   256 Robert Osterried    31 Falls Church VA         37:26 
    2   270 Mark Herndon        34 Sterling VA             38:10 
    3   506 Ned Tobey           32 Sterling VA             39:19 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34   (NET TIME)
    1   205 Diane Cates         33 Chantilly VA            44:39 
    2   562 Tracy Rice          34 Martinsburg WV          46:57 
    3   544 Amy Wolverton       33 Bethesda MD             48:07 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1   234 Tom Steinbach       38 Sterling VA             38:01 
    2   103 Bin Mu              35 Potomac Falls VA        39:17 
    3    37 Michael Marsh       38 Leesburg VA             39:28 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1   470 Kristen Di Domenico 37 Sterling VA             41:00 
    2   558 Kim Chenen          35 Leesburg VA             42:18 
    3   440 Lea Ann Wittrock    37 Vienna VA               45:59 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44   (NET TIME)
    1   212 Martin Calhoun      42 Herndon VA              37:50 
    2   516 Mark Drogalis       41 Ashburn VA              39:23 
    3    28 Douglas Landau      43 Herndon VA              39:29 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44   (NET TIME)
    1   250 Leslie Minnix-Wolfe 42 Herndon VA              40:41 
    2    34 Jean Arthur         41 Silver Spring MD        45:44 
    3   327 Gertrud Brown       42 Sterling VA             48:18 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1   546 Bruce Halpin        47 Ashburn VA              38:37 
    2   550 Roy Castor          45 Sterling VA             42:12 
    3   552 Thomas Jones        46 Ashburn VA              42:46 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1   125 Carole Roeder       47 Ashburn VA              46:24 
    2   155 Wendy Everett       47 Sterling VA             49:11 
    3   185 Anna Vandyke        47 Great Falls VA          56:04 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54   (NET TIME)
    1   384 James Moreland      51 Gaithersburg MD         41:13 
    2    62 Ken Krehbiel        50 Washington DC           42:03 
    3   101 William Hiatt       53 Reston VA               47:38 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54   (NET TIME)
    1   385 Lainey Bernstein    51 Potomac MD              50:19 
    2   123 Jacqueline Unitis   54 Potomac Falls VA        56:23 
    3   273 Luisa Grant         51 Ashburn VA              56:53 


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1   323 Howard Campbell     56 Catalpa VA              45:13 
    2   247 Bill Koetter        55 Ashburn VA              46:49 
    3   515 Theodore Warren     57 Gallatin TN             47:00 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1   221 Catherine Van Brock 57 Gaithersburg MD         48:42 
    2   124 Sony Rosegrant      56 Herndon VA            1:08:47 
    3   336 Betty Kelava        56 Leesburg VA           1:24:34 


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64   (NET TIME)
    1   322 Michael Golash      61 Washington DC           43:07 
    2    52 Stephen Forman      63 Mclean VA               43:25 
    3   551 Lloyd Blackwell     63 Warrenton VA            43:26 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64   (NET TIME)
    1   595 Patricia Patrick    60 Falls Church VA         57:26 
    2    66 Blair Jones         60 Washington DC         1:05:40 
    3   527 Bunny Runyan        63 Sterling VA           1:10:15 


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69   (NET TIME)
    1   486 Leo Wyne            67 Falls Church VA         51:23 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69   (NET TIME)
    No Finishers


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99   (NET TIME)
    1   453 Richard May         70 Williamsburg VA         57:18 
    2   341 Dick Coogan         72 Mclean VA             1:00:43 
    3   991 Bill Day            73 Sterling VA           1:05:17 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99   (NET TIME)
    1   480 Emmy Bonnell        70 Sterling VA           1:28:12 

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