Five New Records Set!

This mid-size race has been a winner since 2003. The event is tucked between Montgomery County's major arteries--Route 355 and Interstate 270. The course starts just west of Milestone Plaza a half mile west of Route 355. After the long pause, Race Announcer Lyman Jordan hollered the word "GO!" Runners streamed across the ChampionChip mats led by last year's winner and course record holder Steven Crane (26) of Silver Spring, MD.

Crane (in photo) had run 24:29 just a stride ahead of Beruk Deberework. Today he warned running pal Bert Rodriguez to "run an even pace." Six weeks earlier Rodriguez had made a bid to catch him running the Scope It Out 5K in 15:08 as runner-up to Crane's 15:00. Rodriguez, a 4:20 miler, would like to crack the 15:00 plateau for a new PR. It was Rodriguez's first time on the course and he had a tough first ride, settling for fifth overall in 26:15. He marveled at the prolific Michael Wardian in fourth with 25:26. Wardian, who holds the 30-34 record of 25:14, has run seven sub 2:30 marathons as well as winning a 50K and a 100K race already this year.

By mile two, Crane had already started pulling away from last year's fourth place finisher, Dave Berdan (27) of Baltimore, MD. Berdan added some giddy-up to become the seventh runner in the race's history to crack 25:00 with 24:51. Abiyot Abebe was still on Crane's shoulder for a while longer. In the end, Crane's long legs pulled him away to a 24:34 to 24:45 victory. With pressure all the way, the back-to-back winner now has the first and third fastest course times.

Jean Christophe Arcaz of Rockville, MD handily won the masters with a solid 28:39 for tenth overall. The next runner, Matthew Kim (14) of Bethesda, MD, was the fastest of the new record setters, blazing a 29:32 that was more than five minutes ahead of the old standard. Having run the race before, Paul Peterson had an edge that took him to the finish as the fastest grandmaster in 30:24. Though well off Mike Hart's 29:17, Peterson, who will be 55 next year, nipped 56-year-old Ken Umbarger (in photo) by a place (31:14)and showed again how tough Jim Wright's 29:49 record would be to try for next year.

John Way ran his tenth 5 miler of the year and his fastest in an age group win of 32:02. He will point out that he has run much faster for the 8K, which is only 50 meters shorter. Roland Rust (56) of Bethesda, MD hurried out to a 6:00 opening mile to try to stay with Umbarger. Umbarger had bested him at DARCARS Pike's Peek last month but Rust was not conceding defeat. By the third mile, which is all sharp turns and hills, Umbarger, with his eyes on Peterson, started to pull away. Rust finished a step behind Way in 32:03.

The 60-64 course record holder, Jason Page of Hamilton, VA (in photo, behind Russ Daley, 14), with a 30:49 last year looked smooth but still is not back to full speed though he won easily in 32:06. Lou Shapiro (66) of Silver Spring, MD was an even more certain bet than Big Brown was at the Preakness. He crushed the course record by a mile, literally, in a swift 34:10. In the 70-74 division Chan Robbins was the favorite but did not finish. A somewhat surprised Robert Smith of Comus, MD did the honors in 45:19. He has a huge bear in front of him when he turns 75 next year. Jack McMahon (77) of Rockville, MD set the record in 43:10 this year.

For the women, Kristen Henehan (in photo) lined up as one of the favorites having won the GW Birthday 10K in 36:02, which was her lead in to winning the Shamnrock HM in March in 1:17:12. Hirut Mandefro of Silver Spring, MD had equally impressive statistics. She started May with her own win at Apple Blossom in 36:06. In April, she maneuvered down Rockville's main street at the DARCARS Pike's Peek as runner-up in a 34:24 to match exactly Henehan's half marathon. Henehan was the last runner to get her ChampionChip on before the start of the race. Both women took off with the lead pack. Mandefro won in 29:04 with Henehan not far behind in 29:39. With $100 at stake for third place, Heidi Swarts of Rosedale, MD hit the afterburners in the final mile to put away fourth place and master champion Monica Grillo (43) of Arlington, VA 31:34 to 32:47.

Monica Grillo (in photo) still holds the masters record set in 2006 with 31:45. Last year Deborah Flynn of Gaithersburg, MD had put away Betty Blank's grandmaster record with a swift 34:21. This year Blank has moved to the 55-59 age group and Flynn has gotten faster. She duked it out with third place 55-59 finisher James Moreland as he tried to stay ahead of the ever present Lou Shapiro. By three miles, she had traded leads with Moreland several times. Halfway through the fourth mile, Shapiro made his move, crushing the record, but Flynn held fast, setting another record in 34:01. Moreland was just about to make a move on fifth place Brianna Cash (23) of Washington, DC (33:28) when he thought he heard grandmaster footsteps in the final half mile, but it was Andrea Cobham (33) of Toronto, Canada gliding by to snatch the fifth women's spot in 33:40. He fell in her slipstream enough to hold off Flynn's final surge and finished in 33:46. John and Jeanette Chambers (73) of Arnold, MD ran together, finishing in 58:52. She set the final course record for the day.

The 5-mile event was preceded by a kids' fun run and followed by a 2-mile fun run. It was clear everyone was having fun. After all the rain, runners were ready for blue skies with a light wind to help cool them off. After the race, there were enough snacks, pastries, doughnuts, brownies, bagels, and bananas to refuel a marathon. During the awards ceremony, runners feasted, while ducking from the random shirt prizes that zoomed overhead courtesy of race director Danny Talmage. Awards were $300-200-100 cash for the top finishers and a generous three deep in five year age groups. Colorful race T-shirts were a plus. This race has a lot of repeat runners. When the word gets out more, it could be a thousand runner event.

Jen Hamilton sang the National Anthem.

Men's Awards

                   Awards Listing - No Duplicate Prizes
                    Age Group Awards Based on Net Times
MALE
Place Num   Name                    Ag City                  Time  
===== ===== ======================= == ===================== ===== 
    1     1 Steven Crane            26 Silver Spring MD      24:34 
    2    15 Abiyot Abebe            21 Silver Spring MD      24:45 
    3     5 David Berdan            27 Baltimore MD          24:51 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 01 - 14
    1   307 Matthew Kim             14 Bethesda MD           29:31 
    2   289 Russ Daley              14 Clarksburg MD         32:10 
    3   127 Bradley Hyde            13 Germantown MD         36:05 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
    1   276 Robert Allaway          18 Darnestown MD         31:59 
    2   163 James Scott             17 Germantown MD         33:22 
    3   161 David Blankenship Jr    16 Boyds MD              42:51 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
    1   221 Vitaly Montau           21 Germantown MD         34:00 
    2   296 David Everly            24 Damascus MD           35:44 
    3   312 Charles Scott           21 Germantown MD         36:20 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
    1     6 Bert Rodriguez          28 Arlington VA          26:13 
    2   317 David Ayala             25 Rockville MD          26:44 
    3   279 Benjamin Koch           28 Germantown MD         26:53 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
    1     7 Michael Wardian         34 Arlington VA          25:25 
    2    10 Terry Birts             32 Clinton MD            26:43 
    3     2 Tim Fahey               34 Alexandria VA         27:07 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
    1    39 Ken Trombatore          35 Germantown MD         29:48 
    2   187 Scott McCrimmon         36 Urbana MD             36:09 
    3   288 Sean Eastman            39 Montgomery Village MD 36:45 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
    1    31 John Way                42 Montgomery Village MD 32:00 
    2   247 John Keenan             44 Germantown MD         36:07 
    3   315 Eric Wendler            43 Mt Airy MD            36:40 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
    1    75 Jean-Christophe Arcaz   47 Rockville MD          28:38 
    2   311 Stephen Wills           47 Washington DC         32:11 
    3   264 Dan Difonzo             45 Rockville MD          33:00 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
    1   108 Paul Peterson           54 Bethesda MD           30:22 
    2   175 Jeff Gitlin             51 Damascus MD           35:41 
    3   179 Mark Rawlings           51 Gaithersburg MD       41:47 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
    1   223 Ken Umbarger            56 Montgomery Village MD 31:12 
    2   182 Roland Rust             56 Bethesda MD           32:02 
    3    12 James Moreland          55 Gaithersburg MD       33:46 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
    1    45 Jason Page              63 Hamilton VA           32:04 
    2   301 Richard Jefferson       62 Germantown MD         36:18 
    3    37 Walter Brown            64 Montgomery Village MD 36:50 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
    1    76 Lou Shapiro             66 Silver Spring MD      34:07 
    2   144 Matthew Hutmaker        65 Gaithersburg MD       38:30 
    3   149 Kenneth Kelley          69 Barnesville MD        46:50 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 74
    1   246 Robert Smith            74 Dickerson MD          45:11 
    2    50 John Chambers           72 Arnold MD             58:38 
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 75 - 99
    1   210 Jack McMahon            77 Rockville MD          43:06 
    2   230 Bob Archibald           75 Fayetteville PA       47:06 
MALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
    1    43 Richard Riva            33 M Saint Boniface PA   35:11
MALE GERMANTOWN RESIDENT
    1   279 Benjamin Koch           28 Germantown MD         26:53 

Brianna Cash (23) of Washington, DC exalts in her fifth place overall finish in 33:28.

Women's Awards

                   Awards Listing - No Duplicate Prizes
                    Age Group Awards Based on Net Times
FEMALE
Place Num   Name                    Ag City                  Time  
===== ===== ======================= == ===================== ===== 
    1    13 Hirut Manderfro         22 Silver Spring MD      29:04 
    2    16 Kristen Henehan         28 Silver Spring MD      29:39 
    3   235 Heidi Swarts            34 Rosedale MD           31:34 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 01 - 14
    1   234 Abigail Sarikas         13 Gaithersburg MD       43:30 
    2   216 Nicole Dawson           13 Jessup MD             45:57 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
    1    14 Brianna Cash            23 Washington DC         33:27 
    2   178 Amanda Sweeney          22 Montgomery Village MD 37:05 
    3   130 Lesley Lane             23 Germantown MD         38:27 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
    1   195 Melissa Mong            27 Bethesda MD           36:52 
    2   327 Holly Moden             27 Clarksburg MD         37:26 
    3   237 Suzanne Kinsky          29 Silver Spring MD      38:51 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
    1   271 Andrea Cobham           33 Toronto On            33:35 
    2   146 Tammy Carr              33 Boyds MD              35:06 
    3   291 Mari Hornyak            30 Poolesville MD        36:16 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
    1   249 Peggy Cole              37 Germantown MD         35:07 
    2   150 Sylvia George           36 Germantown MD         43:14 
    3   239 Michelle Bailen         37 Boyds MD              44:32 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
    1   287 Monica Grillo           43 Arlington VA          32:44 
    2   318 Andrea Neal             41 Clinton VA            37:03 
    3   290 Julie Donovan           44 Bethesda MD           37:48 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
    1   240 Jeanne Grillo           46 Potomac MD            35:17 
    2   286 Paula Galliani          48 Gaithersburg MD       37:58 
    3   188 Beth Leasure            45 Saint James MD        40:25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
    1   295 Deborah Flynn           51 Gaithersburg MD       33:59 
    2   115 Carol English           53 Germantown MD         39:13 
    3   112 Iris Madison            51 Gaithersburg MD       43:44 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
    1   192 Loretta Fahy            59 Frederick MD          49:00 
    2   109 Paula Jenkins           55 Germantown MD         51:33 
    3   320 Katherine Crapo         55 Clarksburg MD         53:59 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
    1   303 Joan Tapocik            60 Germantown MD         44:18 
    2    44 Felicity Hawes          64 Gaithersburg MD       45:18 
    3   157 Anne Longanecker        62 College Park MD       51:20 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 74
    1    51 Jeanette Chambers       73 Arnold MD             58:38 
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 75 - 99
FEMALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
    1   211 Susanna Olen            40 F Gaithersburg MD     48:48
FEMALE GERMANTOWN RESIDENT
    1   249 Peggy Cole              37 Germantown MD         35:07 

Full Race Day Results
Race Day Report for 2008
Photo Gallery 2008
Page 2
Page 3
Event Records