Yes, it was cold, drizzly, and raw at the Shady Grove Metro Station Sunday morning as 860 anxious marathoners prepared to start the 3rd Montgomery County Marathon in the Parks. But 26.2 miles later in downtown Bethesda, there were no complaints from winners David Spiller and Denise Knickman, who aced the sloppy conditions to win handily in 2 hours 33 minutes 11 seconds and 2:59:20, respectively.

Spiller, 23 (photo left), a James Madison University graduate still living in Harrisonburg, Va., ran an evenly paced race to win in only his second marathon. He caught the leaders near 20 miles, shared the lead, fell behind, and finally pulled ahead for good in the final mile to break open a tight race. As Spiller emerged from the Air Rights building tunnel within sight of the finish line, he broke into a huge smile.

"I really didn't expect this," he said, grinning just as broadly many minutes later. "After being hurt most of the summer, I've only been training the past five weeks, and I approached this race conservatively."

Silas Kiplagat, 23, from Kenya finished second in 2:33:40; Retta Feyissa, 28, an Ethiopian living in Washington, took third for the second straight year.

"The weather was very cold," Feyissa said, echoing the sentiments of all who didn't win. "Lots of puddles, very wet."

The nasty conditions may have slowed Knickman, 34, from Baltimore, but like Spiller, she had no complaints. Knickman, who ran the Baltimore Marathon four weeks earlier (finishing fourth in 2:59:12), decided to compete in a second marathon this season only four days before the race. She got up early, drove south on Interstate 95, took the lead a mile into the race and never relented to earn a cool $1,000.

"That was definitely a motivating factor," she said of the cash prize. "The hardest part is going to be driving home."

Patty Fulton, 36, third last year, took second in 3:05:34; Hilary Cairns, 32, from Washington, winner of the first Marathon in the Parks and recently recovering from a stress factor, was fifth in 3:14:08.

"There were parts where the water was nearly up to my knees," Fulton said. "We avoided them for the first few miles. After a while, though, you just gave in, and it was kind of fun. Refreshing, even."

Right. Makes you want to go 50. Editor's Note: Jim Hage won the JFK 50 Miler the following Saturday, November 23, in 6:13:10!

For the Photo Gallery:

TOP FINISHERS

FROM NEAR AND FAR

Award Winners

MALE OPEN
    1     3 David Spiller           23 Harrisonburg VA       2:33:11 2:33:11 
    2    14 Silas Kiplagat          23 Poland OH             2:33:38 2:33:40 
    3     4 Feyissa Retta           28 Washington DC         2:34:02 2:34:05 
    4    11 Michael Wardian         28 Arlington VA          2:35:18 2:35:20 
    5     1 Mark Hoon               38 Kensington MD         2:36:45 2:36:45 
    6    12 John Piggott            37 Williamsburg VA       2:41:46 2:41:48 
    7    50 David Riden             27 Oklahoma City         2:42:13 2:42:23 
    8    13 Tim Knowlton            31 Baltimore MD          2:44:08 2:44:09 
    9    52 Gregory Mullins         28 Randolph              2:44:58 2:45:00 
   10    28 Christopher Bain        25 Rockville MD          2:45:55 2:45:59 
FEMALE OPEN
    1    27 Denise Knickman         34 Baltimore MD          2:59:18 2:59:20 
    2    20 Patty Fulton            36 Silver Spring MD      3:05:32 3:05:34 
    3    80 Vikki McKane            32 Albany                3:08:07 3:08:10 
    4   387 Suzie Hutchins          23 Harrisonburg          3:13:49 3:13:57 
    5     5 Hilary Cairns           32 Washington DC         3:14:07 3:14:08 
    6   325 Linda Boring            38 Frederick             3:17:05 3:17:11 
    7   910 Holly Roberts           26 Silver Spring         3:20:12 3:20:28 
    8   221 Julie Lavoie            33 Kensington            3:22:23 3:22:33 
    9   384 April Lynn Marko        24 Cheshire              3:23:57 3:23:57 
   10   695 Angie Folstad-Holm      32 Alexandria            3:25:07 3:25:27 
MALE AGE GROUP:  18 - 19
    1    69 David Aronovic          19 Silver Spring         3:09:11 3:09:15 
    2   256 Jay Ahn                 18 Silver Spring         3:29:41 3:29:41 
    3  1265 Mark Glatnik            18 Libertyville          3:29:38 3:29:48 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  18 - 19
    1   426 Mary King               19 Worcester             4:04:02 4:04:07 
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1    66 Adam Pegues             21 Warrenton             2:58:06 2:58:09 
    2   370 Cory Evans              24 Arlington             3:14:15 3:14:23 
    3   847 Ian Shinsato            21 Washington            3:33:32 3:33:44 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1  1001 Alissa Parmelee         23 Rockville             3:38:00 3:38:06 
    2   641 Laura Worley            23 Dover                 3:38:01 3:38:22 
    3   672 Sara Matys              24 Arlington             3:58:08 3:58:24 
MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1   436 Kevin Kozlowski         26 Silver Spring MD      2:57:51 2:58:02 
    2    55 Kit Wells               26 Brookline             3:00:30 3:00:32 
    3    36 Eric Anderson           29 Dixon                 3:03:38 3:03:42 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1   269 Carolina Camacho        29 Chicago               3:36:25 3:36:28 
    2   151 K. Liisi Linask         28 Rockville             3:40:24 3:40:33 
    3   552 Marija Cavich           28 Washington            3:41:42 3:41:53 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1     6 Chris Monheim           33 Chambersburg PA       2:49:16 2:49:17 
    2    59 Scott Doying            33 Gaithersburg          2:49:14 2:49:19 
    3    54 Jonathan Sousa          30 Washington            2:50:54 2:50:57 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1   395 Carole Kammel           34 Bethesda              3:29:53 3:30:05 
    2   531 Heather Trainum         31 Arlington             3:37:49 3:38:14 
    3   342 Rebecca Golbert         31 Washington            3:45:26 3:45:34 
MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1    71 Ian Clements            38 Arlington             3:03:29 3:03:33 
    2    34 Sergio Cano             38 Union City            3:04:31 3:04:33 
    3    33 Douglas Kelly           36 Bryans Road           3:05:46 3:05:49 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1   244 Sophie Speidel          39 Charlottesville       3:32:17 3:32:25 
    2   301 Helen Beven             36 Kensington            3:37:37 3:37:52 
    3   635 Karen Fralen            37 Stafford              3:40:19 3:40:34 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    87 David Haaga             41 Rockville             2:53:21 2:53:24 
    2    46 Will Jacobi             40 Kensington            2:53:26 2:53:28 
    3    65 Ronald Hess             41 Takoma Park           2:58:59 2:59:01 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1   238 Renee Butler            41 Bethesda              3:33:17 3:33:26 
    2    37 Liliana Baron           44 Potomac MD            3:37:53 3:37:54 
    3    90 Elizabeth Andrews       40 Norfolk               3:41:42 3:41:46 
MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1    86 Dale Heinen             47 Shoreview             2:56:17 2:56:19 
    2    29 Paul Peterson           48 Bethesda MD           2:56:23 2:56:24 
    3    48 Denis McDonald          48 Woodbine              3:00:38 3:00:40 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1   284 Deirdre Sugrue          46 Mt. Airy              3:44:07 3:44:17 
    2   696 Anne Del Castillo       49 Bethesda              3:51:12 3:51:30 
    3   776 Linda Haldane           49 Burlington            3:55:17 3:55:35 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1    64 Richard Morgan          50 Silver Spring         3:02:57 3:03:01 
    2    79 Terrence Hakkola        52 Plymouth              3:09:13 3:09:14 
    3    56 Spider Rossiter         51 Washington            3:22:27 3:22:31 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1   226 Maggy Zidar             52 Pontiac               3:43:29 3:43:38 
    2   586 Alicia Brawn            52 Ipswich               4:06:34 4:06:54 
    3   646 Mary Duguay             54 Marietta              4:12:27 4:12:36 
MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1   171 Terry Gricher           55 Burke                 3:22:38 3:22:41 
    2   235 Norm Dietrich           55 Hudson                3:23:49 3:24:01 
    3  1606 Ronnie Wong             56 Baltimore County      3:27:47 3:27:55 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1   907 Patricia O'Hanlon       59 Jersey City           4:11:36 4:11:39 
    2   795 Nina Bovio              56 Ann Arbor             4:15:40 4:16:02 
    3   559 Pat McDonnell           58 Oak Hill              4:21:33 4:21:50 
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1   145 Jim Duguay              64 Marietta              3:13:26 3:13:27 
    2   405 Maurice Davidson        60 Fredericksburg        3:30:30 3:30:50 
    3  1263 Kermit Cadrette         64 Rome                  3:49:40 3:49:55 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1   572 Sharon Dolan            60 Gaithersburg          3:49:02 3:49:17 
    2  1563 Kathy Engle             60 Peterborough          4:57:12 4:57:56 
    3  1737 Betty Smith             61 Rockville             6:08:30 6:09:15 
MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1   808 Robert Smith            68 Dickerson             4:33:14 4:33:24 
    2   853 Dick Green              68 East Chatham          4:58:33 4:59:04 
    3  1227 Denis Dirscherl         68 Williamsport          4:57:33 4:59:11 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
No Finishers
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1   590 Bill Engle              71 Peterborough          4:10:27 4:10:44 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
No Finishers
MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 99
No Finishers
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 99
No Finishers

See complete results of the Marathon.

See the Photo Gallery

TOP FINISHERS

FROM NEAR AND FAR