Photo below: Peter Hemphill (45) of Centreville, VA finished in 19:18, good for 4th in his age group.

Lingering fog hung over the leaf-strewn streets in Potomac, Maryland. The weather was unexpectedly mild for a November race; by the 8am start time, the sun began to cut through the fog and the temperature rose to over 60 degrees. While the weather was more than fine for a 5K, I would not necessarily want to run a marathon today - like those 34,000 folks in New York City. In the peaceful hour before the start, many runners, including those front-runner types, prepared by running part, or even all, of the course. Others did laps of the long parking lot at the Ivymount School.

The course of the Ivymount School 5K Race for Excellence has enough uphills to provide a significant challenge and a few gradual downhills for some relief and extra speed, but it covers very little flat ground. When race organizers bill a race course as traveling through "rolling neighborhood streets," you know to trust them and, perhaps, to check out the course before the race, as Naoko Ishibe (34) did the day before. She knew going in, as she said after the race, that "there was never a real break from the hills."

Almost always present at some weekend race in the DC metropolitan area, Ben Cooke (26) and Kyle Smits (24) took first and third places in the 5K with respective times of 14:47 and 15:13. The two train together and work together at the Georgetown Running Company. Since Cook and Smits often take the top two spots in local races, it was a surprise to see a runner finish between these two swift and competitive guys. Julius Gwako (29) took second place in 15:02. The three finished within 30 seconds of each other. Andrey Kuznetsov (45) and Michael Wardian (29) rounded out the top five men, with respective times of 15:45 and 16:24. Considering the challenging course, the times of the top five were especially impressive.

Ishibe had prepared herself well for the women's competition and finally took first place over her recent rival, Tatyana Maslova (37), with a time of 17:01. In a bunch of local races this year--including the Lawyers Have Heart 10K in June and the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K in July--Ishibe, who often takes first place in local races, has come a close second to Maslova. Today, Maslova took second in 17:59. In third place was Irina Suvorova (32), Maslova's training partner of three years, in 18:07. The top three women are all in the 30 to 39 age group; right behind this traditionally fast age group were the twenty-somethings, Casey Smith (24, photo left) and Katie Dickerson (23), with times of 18:14 and 18:47. These two consistently finish well in local races, often taking first place in women's competitions. The top five women all finished in less than 19 minutes.

The appearance of so many elite runners, and their ensuing fast times, is perhaps due to the fact that this somewhat smaller local race offered unusually significant prize money. The top three men and top three women received $350, $250, and $150, respective to their places. The age group awards were also noteworthy, and included gift certificates to local restaurants and the like.

It is clearly marathon season when many local elite runners have completed one marathon or another in recent weekends. Of the top five men, two ran marathons in the past two weekends. Kuznetsov took second place in the Anthem Bay Bridge Marathon on October 19. And Wardian actually finished two, the Baltimore Marathon on October 19 and the Marine Corps Marathon on October 26. Of the women, Maslova, like Wardian, finished two: the Anthem Bay Bridge Marathon on October 19 and the Mystic Places Marathon on October 26, taking second place in both. These are some tough runners.

The highest number yet of runners and walkers registered for the event this year: 291 for the 5K and 99 for the 1-mile run/walk. All proceeds from the race go to the Ivymount School. Ivymount--an independent, not-for-profit day school--provides education and therapy to children and young adults with a range of disabilities who come from all around the DC metropolitan area. The cause is a deserving and evidently well-respected one, as demonstrated by the two women who appeared at the starting line at least five minutes after the last 5K runners disappeared around the corner onto Gainsborough Road. One asked which way the race course went. After receiving directions and assurances that it was well marked, they took off. One woman called back over her shoulder, "We still need to register. We'll make the donation when we finish." They did indeed pay the registration fee and gather their well-earned T-shirts after the race.

Award Winners

FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                   Ag City                      Net Tim Gun Tim 
===== ===== ====================== == ========================= ======= ======= 
    1   255 Naoko Ishibe           34 Silver Spring MD            17:01   17:01 
    2   257 Tatiana Maslova        37 Rockville MD                17:58   17:59 
    3     2 Irina Suvorova         32 Washington DC               18:06   18:07 


MALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                   Ag City                      Net Tim Gun Tim 
===== ===== ====================== == ========================= ======= ======= 
    1   266 Ben Cooke              26 Silver Spring MD            14:46   14:47 
    2     1 Julius Gwako           29 Petersburg VA               15:00   15:02 
    3   273 Kyle Smits             24 Washington DC               15:13   15:13 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1   139 Chrissy Esposito       14 Centreville VA              22:53   22:57 
    2   156 Amy Greenberg          16 Potomac MD                  26:31   26:40 


MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1   295 Zachary Subar          17 Potomac MD                  18:27   18:29 
    2   226 Adam Perry             16 Rockville MD                18:33   18:35 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1   263 Casey Smith            24 Arlington VA                18:12   18:14 
    2   287 Katie Dickerson        23 Bethesda MD                 18:45   18:47 


MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1   206 Kerry Rickert          20 Annapolis MD                22:55   23:03 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1   276 Nicoletta Hawkins      29 Rockville MD                25:40   25:50 
    2   205 Priya Vaidyanathan     25 N Potomac MD                26:26   26:34 


MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1   279 Michael Wardian        29 Arlington VA                16:23   16:24 
    2   286 Alex Filides           28 Mclean VA                   17:27   17:29 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1    20 Amy Chung              32 Rockville MD                23:43   23:47 
    2   193 Lynn Ricciardella      34 Baltimore MD                24:43   24:49 


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1   161 Brian Tullis           30 Silver Spring MD            16:33   16:34 
    2   218 Pascal Brazey          34 Washington DC               16:58   16:59 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1   325 Samantha Kirby         35 Arlington VA                21:15   21:18 
    2   294 Amanda Bryans          37 Silver Spring MD            23:55   24:04 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1   209 David Soria            35 Manassas VA                 18:36   18:40 
    2   285 Tom Winkert            39 Potomac MD                  18:48   18:49 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    21 Sushila Nanda          42 Arlington VA                21:11   21:13 
    2   289 Verna Van Wert         41 Gaithersburg MD             21:18   21:22 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1   246 Jean-Christ Arcaz      42 Rockville MD                17:06   17:07 
    2   296 RJ Spaulding           40 Rockville MD                18:54   18:56 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1   288 Bernadette Flynn       46 Springfield VA              23:56   23:59 
    2   144 Linda Mutziger         46 Laytonsville MD             24:45   24:54 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1   256 Andrey Kuznetsov       45 Rockville MD                15:44   15:45 
    2   254 James Cooper           48 Potomac MD                  17:53   17:55 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1   240 Betty Blank            50 Baileys Xrds VA             20:46   20:48 
    2   125 Fonda Lowe             50 Gaithersburg MD             37:06   37:18 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1   258 Chuck Moeser           52 Sterling VA                 16:31   16:32 
    2   270 Larry Washington       52 Rockville MD                18:38   18:40 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    67 Kay Tolle              55 Silver Spring MD            29:19   29:29 
    2    87 Linda Kaplan           59 Chevy Chase MD              31:14   31:28 


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    28 Patrick Griffith       58 Alexandria VA               18:47   18:48 
    2   268 Jim Noone              59 Fairfax VA                  20:08   20:11 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1   233 Janet Newburgh         61 Rockville MD                29:37   29:45 
    2   217 Susan Armstrong        61 Gaithersburg MD             44:54   45:17 


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1   204 Ben Dyer               60 Petersburg VA               19:26   19:28 
    2   110 Earle Fingerhut        61 Potomac MD                  24:30   24:36 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1   229 Tony Measham           69 Chevy Chase MD              25:27   25:35 
    2   190 Henry Guyot            69 Washington DC               26:24   26:35 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1    12 Lee Glassco            72 Mclean VA                   36:22   36:34 


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1    86 Larry Dickerson        72 Burke VA                    23:56   23:58 
    2   178 Dixon Hemphill         78 Fairfax VA                  31:34   31:38 

See complete results of the Ivymount 5K Race for Excellence.

Check back for our Photo Gallery.