The grill was hot but the starting line was hotter with all race records on the line with three defending champions. The 10th Outback Steakhouse Corridor Classic 8K in Hyattsville, MD, was taken to a new level as top runners competed for $5,200 in prize money, including age group money to 80 and over. The conditions were ideal with no wind under a sunny sky. The start and finish were at the Outback Steakhouse at Prince George's Plaza. The race was a benefit for Special Olympics Prince George's County.

Sammy Ng'eno of Kenya (West Chester, PA) had last year's record of 23:34 on the line with a $100 bonus if it was bettered. Naoko Ishibe of Silver Spring, MD, had the 1999 record of 27:20 up for grabs. Ishibe was going for her third win. The female masters record was set last year by Lee DiPietro of Ruxton, MD, at 29:45. There were no race day predictions; it was not going to be easy.

A field was assembled like Prince George's County, Maryland has never seen. It was show time. The front rank broke free for a half-mile tour around the Plaza, a slight downhill. A pack of nine runners formed with Daniel Cheruiyot (Kenya), Sammy Ng'eno (Kenya), Eliya Sidame (Kenya), Andre Williams (Arlington, VA, photo left) and Ben Cooke (Silver Spring). The pack went through the first mile in 4:39. No one was ready to make a move, they were all testing the water. At a turn after the first mile, Cheruiyot made a move to take the lead on a downhill, Sidame made a move to go, and Cooke moved up from the right side.

Going into the second mile (9:25, 4:44 split), the pack dissolved into a string of runners with Cheruiyot trying to break away from Sidame. Williams was in third and Cooke was back in fifth. At the second mile, the youthful Sidame, age 18, made a decisive move to overhaul Cheruiyot for the lead by throwing a 25 meter gap. Cheruiyot made an unsuccessful attempt to cover the move. Williams was 10 meters off Cheruiyot.

Naoko Ishibe made a clear break at the start to take the lead for the women. Her first mile split was 5:16. Ishibe was coming off the Berlin Marathon (2:47) last month. Giving chase were Alisa Harvey of Manassas, VA, Meghan McLaughlin of Alexandria, VA, and Lee DiPietro (first master at the Baltimore Comcast Marathon, 2:53:23, last month).

The rolling course with the short burst of hills kept all runners in balance and honest. At two and one-half miles, Sidame was maintained a 25 meter lead as Williams, from third place, began to reel in Cheruiyot; Cooke was now in third place.

Going into the third mile (14:12, 4:47 split), Sidame held a constant pace to keep the lead as they turned onto Adelphi Road. Williams made a move to take over second. Cheruiyot could not cover the move. Williams started to work on reeling in Sidame. Going into the last mile, Sidame was not falling off the pace. Sidame pulled the grade around the Plaza and, coming down the last 100 meters the seconds were ticking on the clock with a time of 23:34 to beat, it was an all out push, but he fell short and took the 2002 win in 23:43 and collected $500. Williams held in for second place, earning $350. Cheruiyot took third in 23:57 followed by David Kipngetich in 24:11. The defending champion, Ng'eno was fifth in 24:17.

"I was not thinking about the record, I wanted to run my best. The competition was not bad and I will come back to run this again," said Sidame.

"Every time we went downhill they would leave me, I did not have the leg turn over. I was pretty happy with the effort. I figured that I would do well; they were pretty tough. I kept getting close on the leader and he would shoot downhill," said Williams.

"I was having problems with my back and I was hoping to break my record. My record still stands. On the rolling hills you don't relax," said Ng'eno.

Ishibe made all of the right moves to capture her third title in 28:03 and $500. Harvey (on left in photo) was able to hold off the assault being launched by McLaughlin (on right in photo) to take second in 28:59 to 29:05. Lee DiPietro was fourth in 29:27 and was the first master. She broke her record from last year and collected $300 for first and $100 for the bonus.

"My high point was winning for the third time. The record was not on my mind and I was going on how I felt. It was a challenging course and it was hard to get into a rhythm. My first mile was 5:16 and my fourth was 22:20," said Ishibe.

"I was pleased and I feel like I am getting there. I am not able to get my athletic life back as I am having the mother life now. I was able to hold off Meghan and be competitive. This was a winner's race, you had all of those who want to race," said Harvey, who had her second child nine months ago.

Denise Knickman of Team Pacers/New Balance was fifth in 30:02. Knickman was the winner of the Marathon in the Parks last week with a 2:59:19.

John Tuttle of Douglasville, GA, last year missed the masters record by two seconds. He was the first master again this year with 25:22 (10th place) but was still 12 seconds short of a new record. The second master was Dave Berardi of Baltimore, MD, in 26:45 (20th place), collecting $250. The third master was Dan Lawson of Gaithersburg, MD, in 27:10 (24th place) collecting $150.

Laura Freix of Team Pacers/New Balance was the second master in 31:06 followed by Donna Moore of Team Brooks in 31:22. Moore is a two-time winner of the Marine Corps Marathon (1997-2:53:42, 1999-2:51:53). Gloria Santarpia of Odenton, MD was fourth in 32:24.

"We did this race to raise money for a Bucknell alumni family, Dave Grady. His two-year-old daughter, Lauren, has cancer. We have so far raised $27,000 and the prognosis does not look good but miracles do happen," said George Buckheit of Team Bucknell, the second place team with 31 points. They collected $150. The team was composed of Dave Bronfenbrenner, Rick Roundtree, Jonathan Dietrich, Matt Kodak and Chris Nowakowski.

Team Falls Road Running took first place with 28 points and collected $300 (John Tuttle, Mark Gilmore, Dave Berardi, and Chris Chattin).

"The race has grown from last year and the publicity has gotten better. The quality of the field has improved. We want to see this race recognized in the community and on a state level," said Gregory Kithcart, Proprietor of the Hyattsville Outback Steakhouse.

This event was a showing of community support; Lance Billingsly was the first walker to finish and in the event was Hyattsville Mayor Robert Armentrout.

The Outback Steakhouse Corridor Classic 8K and 2 Mile Walk was sponsored by the City of Hyattsville Recreation Department and the official hospitality sponsor, Outback Steakhouse in partnership with Prince George's Plaza and supporting sponsors.

Award Winners

AwardPl     Name              HomeTown                 Age        Time    Place
Overall Male
1    Sidame, Eliya             West Chester, PA           18      23:42.79         1
2    Williams, Andre           Arlington, VA              30      23:49.79         2
3    Cheruiyot, Daniel         West Chester, PA           28      23:56.95         3
4    Kipngetich, David         Chapel Hill, NC            27      24:10.65         4
5    Ng'eno, Sammy             West Chester, PA           28      24:16.74         5
Overall Female
1    Ishibe, Naoko             Silver Spring, MD          33      28:02.18        34
2    Harvey, Alisa             Manassas, VA               37      28:58.42        37
3    McLaughlin, Meghan        Alexandria, VA             23      29:04.30        39
4    Knickman, Denise          Baltimore, MD              34      30:01.62        48
5    Kvasnicka, Susannah       Great Falls, VA            30      30:17.77        50
Masters Male
1    Tuttle, John              Douglasvile, GA            44      25:21.71        10
2    Berardi, Dave             Baltimore, MD              42      26:44.75        20
3    Lawson, Dan               Gaithersburg, MD           47      27:09.34        24
4    Party, Layne              Baltimore, MD              43      27:28.74        27
Masters Female
1    DiPietro, Lee             Baltimore, MD              44      29:26.44        44
2    Freix, Laura              Centreville, VA            41      31:05.84        57
3    Moore, Donna              Silver Spring, MD          42      31:21.73        59
4    Santarpia, Gloria         Odenton, MD                41      32:23.44        67
1-19 Male
1    Sweeney, Dustin           Berryville, VA             19      27:31.67        29
2    Abernethy, Drew           College Park, MD           15      29:13.70        41
3    Sadoff, Johnny            Washington, DC             18      32:48.18        70
1-19 Female
1    Abernethy, Maggie         College Park, MD           11      37:11.78       106
2    Ritter, Sarah             Hollywood, MD              18      42:41.11       167
3    Rhabb, Chavon             Hyattsville, MD            14      44:16.49       194
20-24 Male
1    Raabe, Christopher        Washington, DC             24      24:39.09         7
2    Bronfenbrenner, Dave      West Hazelton, PA          24      24:44.36         8
3    Roundtree, Rick           Herndon, VA                24      26:13.70        16
20-24 Female
1    Ecker, Jennifer           Elkridge, MD               22      32:01.87        64
2    Claney, Karen             College Park, MD           20      38:42.25       127
3    Noll, Adriene             Arlington, VA              21      42:54.60       174
25-29 Male
1    Cooke, Ben                Silver Spring, MD          25      24:22.64         6
2    Wardian, Michael          Arlington, VA              28      25:37.74        11
3    Church, Aaron             Herndon, VA                27      25:51.18        12
25-29 Female
1    Reza, Fanny               College Park, MD           26      34:32.71        81
 2    Gilliatt, Erin            Gaithersburg, MD           27      36:07.21        97
3    Bonney, Anne              Glen Burnie, MD            29      42:33.46       165
30-34 Male
1    Gisemba, Abel             Chapel Hill, NC            31      25:01.54         9
2    Curry, Aaron              Baltimore, MD              30      25:53.40        13
3    Gilmore, Mark             Columbia, MD               34      26:01.73        14
30-34 Female
1    D'Ariano, Jodie           Unknown, NA                32      31:00.64        56
2    Brzezicki, Dena           Clarksville, MD            31      35:26.36        87
3    Lazio, Jennifer           Alexandria, VA             34      36:30.37       100
35-39 Male
1    Chattin, Chris            Columbia, MD               38      26:49.47        21
2    Rojas, Toribio            Adelphi, MD                39      28:22.56        36
3    Lester, Malcolm           Washington, DC             35      29:12.34        40
35-39 Female
1    Waterman, Paige           Deerfield, MD              35      35:35.01        90
2    Richardson, Candice       Baltimore, MD              35      37:58.61       117
3    Arledge, Amy              Hyattsville, MD            36      38:31.70       123
40-44 Male
1    Lynch, James              Arlington, VA              41      27:45.73        30
2    Arcaz, Jean-Christopher   Rockville, MD              41      27:52.87        32
3    Hess, Ronald              Takoma Park, MD            41      29:03.08        38
40-44 Female
1    Goodwin, Robin            Timonium, MD               44      35:46.08        92
2    Williams, Janeth          Columbia, MD               40      36:46.40       103
3    Dickson, Peggy            Bowie, MD                  42      37:27.34       109
45-49 Male
1    Ward, Steven              Reston, VA                 47      27:58.10        33
2    Kirk, Peter               Rockville, MD              46      30:06.38        49
3    Fitzgerald, Andrew        Potomac, MD                45      31:14.04        58
45-49 Female
1    Wack, Linda               Germantown, MD             46      32:28.34        69
2    Blank, Betty              Falls Church, VA           49      34:43.03        83
3    Flynn, Bernadette         Fairfax, VA                45      35:53.21        94
50-59 Male
1    Griffith, Patrick         Alexandria, VA             58      29:59.27        47
50-59 Female
1    Gilbert, Judith           Stevenson, MD              59      38:25.84       122
50-54 Male
1    Wind, Jay Jacob           Arlington, VA              52      31:57.71        63
2    Palks, Jon                Bowie, MD                  53      37:25.76       108
3    Mood, Rick                Silver Spring, MD          54      40:03.71       138
50-54 Female
1    Godfrey, Jane             Takoma Park, MD            53      38:37.21       125
2    Hennes, Kathy             Laurel, MD                 50      42:00.08       156
3    Sadoff, Elizabeth         Washington, DC             53      42:15.14       160
55-59 Male
1    Wong, Ronnie              Catonsville, MD            56      32:15.77        65
2    Noone, Jim                Fairfax, VA                58      33:08.04        73
3    Scott, William            Seabrook, MD               55      33:12.51        76
55-59 Female
1    King, B.J.                Crofton, MD                57      40:30.25       142
2    Hill, Dolores             Crofton, MD                57      48:27.24       230
3    Regier, Janet             University Park, MD        56      50:23.24       243
60-69 Male
1    Haubert, John             Alexandria, VA             60      33:04.39        72
60-69 Female
1    Graf, Tami                Lusby, MD                  66      43:35.94       184
60-64 Male
1    Leaberry, Bob             Gambrills, MD              62      36:12.84        98
2    Sollers, Bill             Silver Spring, MD          63      40:57.47       147
3    Young, Lee                University Park, MD        60      46:21.11       214
60-64 Female
1    Newburgh, Janet           Rockville, MD              60      47:03.85       219
65-69 Male
1    Taylor, Milton            Odenton, MD                69      41:58.37       155
2    Dirscherl, Dennis         Williamsport, MD           68      42:43.97       169
3    Miller, Richard           Bowie, MD                  67      43:21.28       182
70-79 Female
1    Morrison, Kay             Potomac, MD                76      56:21.95       266
70-79 Male
1    Keat, Jim                 Greenbelt, MD              70      46:16.72       213
75-79 Male
1    Morrison, Bill            Potomac, MD                75      48:16.87       226
2    Osburn, Bill              Bethesda, MD               79      53:50.27       262
3    Zenchoff, Philip          Silver Spring, MD          75      58:12.24       271
80-89 Male
1    Washburn, Walt            Vienna, VA                 80      46:10.95       211

See complete results of the Outback Steakhouse Corridor Classic 8K.

See the Photo Gallery.