Photos by Kathy Freedman

A record field, a men's course record and a bit of intrigue more common to the rough and tumble of international track, all on a bright, spring morning, marked the 27th Capitol Hill Classic.

Gurmessa Kumsa, [in photo] who has been regularly winning area races since moving to Oxon Hill in March, added another victory to his collection, this one a course record of 30 minutes 38 seconds. Kumsa's training partner Urgessa Wayessa (23), who arrived from Ethiopia only a few weeks ago, finished second in 30:43.

Things got interesting with the third-place finisher, Peter Chepkwony (28), from Kenya, who ran 30:59. Chepkwony, who lives in Baltimore, complained after the race that the Ethiopians, speaking in their native language, conspired to work against him during the race.

"There was some pushing and cutting in the first two miles," Chepkwony said. "And if I go, they would attack me [strategically]," Chepkwony said. "That would not happen if I had my teammates."

Two of Chepkwony's fellow Kenyans, Wesley Chebochok (31) and Andrew Cheruiyot (32), both from Silver Spring, finished seventh and 20th in 33:58 and 36:36, respectively. Cheruiyot, however, missed the starting gun; his net time was 1:19 faster than his gun time, which is official for purposes of placing.

After the race, Chepkwony made a point to congratulate the Ethiopian runners and said he was not upset with their tactics. The Ethiopian contingent said the incident was not a big deal and just a part of racing.

Genevieve Kiley (31), from Arlington, one of the area's top competitors, notched her first road racing win in 37:29. Hilary Cairns (35), [in photo with her husband Malcolm Lester] took second in 37:50.

"I love this race," said Kiley, who is planning to run the Chicago Marathon in October. "This was the first race I ran in Washington two years ago, so it's kind of a nice anniversary for me."

Cairns ran the first mile with Kiley and claimed that fast early pace ensured difficult final miles. "Really, though, I can't complain about second place," Cairns said. "I'm getting too old to be winning."

Notes: Two-time defending champion Michael Wardian (31), from Arlington, finished sixth in 32:32.

"I like to win," Wardian said, "but to have [the international field] is good for the race. It's good to have guys out there faster than me, pushing me to better times."

Eric Kean set the course record of 30:43 in 2003 . . .

Michael Sardo, age 34 of Washington, DC, won the wheelchair race in a time of 1:22:17 for the 10K.

More than 3,200 registered for the 10K and 3K, and 2,178 finished the 10K. About 260 participated in the popular kids fun run.

Awards

MALE 
Place Name                    Ag City               Time    
===== ======================= == ================== ======= 
    1 Gurmessa Kumsa          27 Oxon Hill MD         30:38 
    2 Urgessa Wayessa         23 Oxon Hill MD         30:43 
    3 Peter Chepkwony         28 Baltimore MD         30:59 


FEMALE 
Place Name                    Ag City               Time    
===== ======================= == ================== ======= 
    1 Genevieve Kiley         31 Arlington VA         37:29 
    2 Hilary Cairns           35 Washington DC        37:50 
    3 Rebecca Nathan          40 Arlington VA         40:03 


MALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1 Neal Darmody            16 Gaithersburg MD      35:34 
    2 Zach Queen              13 Vienna VA            41:03 
    3 Kyle Hart               19 Springfield VA       42:56 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1 Whitney Rice            18 Burke VA             47:26 
    2 Hayley Panasuik         17 Washington DC        47:27 
    3 Sara Jarman             17 Washington DC        49:52 


MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Haile Gelalcha          20 Oxon Hill MD         31:47 
    2 Kumsa Wadajo            22 Oxon Hill MD         34:00 
    3 Claus Wiesen            23 Arlington VA         35:27 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Emily Turner            24 Washington DC        40:51 
    2 Linda Johnson           24 Washington DC        41:45 
    3 Michelle Harburg        23 Washington DC        43:07 


MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Chris Banks             28 Alexandria VA        32:20 
    2 Joe Lamonte             25 Ann Arbor MI         34:53 
    3 Stephen Money           25 Washington DC        36:19 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Sarah Mouton            29 Arlington VA         40:20 
    2 Kerri Wilson            28 Washington DC        40:45 
    3 Michele Scherer         28 Culpeper VA          42:01 


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Michael Wardian         31 Arlington VA         32:31 
    2 Wesley Chebochok        31 Silver Spring MD     33:58 
    3 Martin Lanz             32 Washington DC        35:08 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Judy Grobstein          33 Washington DC        43:06 
    2 Amy Beer                30 Washington DC        43:55 
    3 Danielle Lloyd          30 Alexandria VA        44:01 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Yancey Hall             37 Arlington VA         34:12 
    2 Kevin Grasmick          35 Washington DC        35:12 
    3 Pavel Frelich           35 Chevy Chase MD       35:45 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Samantha Kirby          37 Arlington VA         42:39 
    2 Stephanie Hammond       38 Springfield VA       43:44 
    3 Debra O'Connell         38 Bethesda MD          44:28 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Christopher Hamley      41 Silver Spring MD     35:20 
    2 Steve Morrell           42 Arlington VA         37:56 
    3 Gene Smith              41 Burke VA             37:57 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Nicola Elliott          40 Vienna VA            42:21 
    2 Caroline Merena         40 Arlington VA         44:26 
    3 Ly Pham                 41 Alexandria VA        46:06 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Ronald Shaiko           46 Arlington VA         34:06 
    2 Peter Searson           48 Baltimore MD         36:54 
    3 Bruce Halpin            49 Ashburn VA           38:08 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Ann Kurzweil            47 Great Falls VA       47:41 
    2 Elizabeth Kendler       47 Washington DC        49:01 
    3 Shelley Smith           45 Washington DC        50:21 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 Peter Darmody           50 Gaithersburg MD      38:32 
    2 Robert Rodriguez        50 Arlington VA         40:32 
    3 Larry Parkinson         51 Alexandria VA        41:43 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 Manuela Carvalho        51 Washington DC        48:37 
    2 Sue Hagedorn            54 Washington DC        51:55 
    3 Jennifer Heppenstall    54 Germantown MD        53:27 


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 Mick Slonaker           56 Columbia MD          39:19 
    2 Tom Clark               55 Burke VA             40:47 
    3 Mark Grummer            55 Washington DC        41:57 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 Naomi Stanford          55 Washington DC        46:49 
    2 Ginny Hughes            55 Warrenton VA         49:56 
    3 Cornelia Neal           55 Silver Spring MD     54:04 


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 John Churchman          63 Arlington VA         44:05 
    2 Lou Shapiro             64 Silver Spring MD     44:08 
    3 Richard Kutzner         62 Alexandria VA        45:15 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 Chris Craun             60 Bethesda MD          47:49 
    2 Helene Price            60 Williamsburg VA      51:35 
    3 Lynne Hays              60 Arlington VA         53:49 


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1 Stephen Forman          65 McLean VA            46:50 
    2 Tom Willging            65 Washington DC        48:24 
    3 Henry Hamburger         65 Bethesda MD          49:32 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1 Carol Loewecke          65 Washington DC      1:20:57 


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1 Jerry Lewis             72 Reston VA            50:09 
    2 Dick Coogan             74 McLean VA          1:02:58 
    3 Philip Zenchoff         78 Silver Spring MD   1:16:06 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
No finishers

Race Day Report for 2006
Full Race Day Results
Photo Gallery 2006
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