Alexey Khokhlov, from Russia, and Denisa Costescu, from Romania, lent an Eastern European flair to the Veteran's Day 10K on a cool and crisp morning in East Potomac Park. The pair dominated the men's and women's divisions, winning in 30 minutes 58 seconds and 34:51, respectively, leading 929 finishers across the line.

Khokhlov, 33, from Khabarovsk in eastern Russia, has been a whirling dervish of a racer in the six months he has been based in Gaithersburg, racing around this country and in Europe. He has run four marathons in that time, including the Cape Cod Marathon, which he won in 2:25:35 on October 31.

Khokhlov's agent is Natasha Smith, from Russia and new to the representation scene; professionally, Smith is a biochemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She also represents women's second and fourth-place finishers, Maryna Bychkova and Elvira Kolpakova, both prolific racers and ultramarathoners. Khokhlov opened up his race on Sunday--he won the Cardinal 5K in Kensington on Saturday--with a 4:50 mile to quickly string out the field.

"I was okay with that," said runner-up and former area racing standout Glen Mays, now from Little Rock. "But he just kept going at that pace."

"We really love racing in Washington," Costescu's husband Ovidiu Olteanu said. "And Denisa, she's so strong; she's won 24 of the last 32 races she's entered. Today, I was so tired I could hardly lift my legs." Ovidiu was the 2003 winner (31:20) and finished in fourth place on Sunday with a time of 32:05.

Mays, who was in Washington attending a public health conference, finished in 31:24; he is training for the Memphis Marathon on December 4. Rick Rountree, 26, from Reston, was third in 31:28.

Like Khokhlov, women's winner Costescu plies her trade on the roads--she and Olteanu (photo), who live in Royal Oak, MI., traveled to Washington by car via Indianapolis, where Costescu won Saturday's Jump the Gun Four Miler in 22:18. In Washington, Costescu was pleased to make amends for her 2003 second place finish (34:27) in the Veterans Day 10K and her third place finish (27:09) later that month at the Outback Steakhouse 8K in Hyattsville.

Olteanu, 33, is a former world-class (3:56) miler and ran for Romania in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. These days the couple devotes weekends to racing--literally--around the country, but during the week Olteanu is a bank supervisor in Michigan.

"I enjoy every single minute of what we do together," he beamed. "We race because we both love it. But don't be confused, I'm the past, she's the future."

Germantown, MD resident Lisa Bard, age 40, participated in a hand-crank wheelchair and finished the flat 10K course with a time of 43:05. She has recently begun competing in road events but is an experienced basketball coach and player. In October, she took on a hilly challenge in Baltimore and finished the half marathon in 2:04:08.

Mark Stickley, 42, from Winchester (photo), won the men's masters division and was sixth overall in 32:36; Chuck Moeser, 53, from Sterling, was second in 33:42.

The top local female finisher was 32-year-old Susannah Kvasnicka of Great Falls, VA, who placed third in 36:15--slowed down by a cold. Kvasnicka, who was greeted after the race by husband Kevin, two young sons and her mother, ran a personal best on September 26 in Pittsburgh of 34:57 at the Great Race 10K. She trains with a group of men and has steadily improved during the past three years.

Laura Freix and Leslie Minnix-Wolfe (photo), both 43, finished first (38:44) and second (39:27) in the women's masters division, seventh and eighth overall. The two are usually contenders, always competitors, and often take turns at winning.

Drew Woodrich contributed to this story.

Award Winners - Men

MALE 
    1 Alexey Khokhlov      33 M GERMANTOWN MD      00:30:58 
    2 Glen Mays            34 M LITTLE ROCK AR     00:31:25 
    3 Rick Rountree        26 M RESTON VA          00:31:28 
    4 Ovidiu Olteanu       33 M ROYAL OAK MI       00:32:05 
    5 Peter Vail           30 M WASHINGTON DC      00:32:26 
    6 Mark Stickley        42 M WINCHESTER VA      00:32:37 
    7 Yancey Hall          35 M ARLINGTON VA       00:33:41 
    8 Chuck Moeser         53 M STERLING VA        00:33:42 
    9 Max Lockwood         34 M WASHINGTON DC      00:33:46 
   10 Tim Schuler          41 M CHAMBERSBURG PA    00:33:54 


MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19
    1 Brian Herscher       19 M WASHINGTON DC        39:15   39:26 
    2 Adam Gaynor          15 M ANNANDALE VA         39:57   40:06 
    3 Jonathan Ryan        15 M CLARKSBURG MD        40:05   40:18 


MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Eric Sherman         21 M ATHENS GA            36:32   36:32 
    2 Mark Roche           24 M WASHINGTON DC        36:48   36:50 
    3 Cam Mccord           24 M WASHINGTON DC        38:23   38:26 


MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Alex Filides         29 M ARLINGTON VA         34:11   34:13 
    2 Jason Weber          28 M RESTON VA            36:38   36:40 
    3 Gregory Pearson      27 M WASHINGTON DC        38:11   38:14 


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Albert Han           31 M WASHINGTON DC        34:47   34:48 
    2 Jon Weiss            30 M ROCKVILLE MD         34:52   34:53 
    3 Eric Rodkin          31 M SILVER SPRING MD     35:05   35:05 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Pascal Brazey        35 M WASHINGTON DC        34:22   34:23 
    2 Daniel List          39 M MIDLOTHIAN VA        34:36   34:39 
    3 Malcolm Lester       37 M WASHINGTON DC        36:33   36:37 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Jean-Christophe Arcaz43 M ROCKVILLE MD         34:41   34:42 
    2 Brendan Vasher       44 M RICHMOND HILL GA     35:08   35:09 
    3 Christopher Sabatini 40 M WASHINGTON DC        36:00   36:03 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Ed Nannenhorn        46 M KINGSTOWNE VA        36:53   36:56 
    2 Larry Goldfarb       45 M                      38:31   38:31 
    3 Peter Hemphill       46 M CENTREVILLE VA       38:57   38:59 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 David Webster        51 M STEVENSVILLE MD      35:22   35:23 
    2 Bill Raabe           50 M N BETHESDA MD        36:19   36:21 
    3 Tim Doescher         54 M HERNDON VA           37:22   37:24 


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 Marc Wolfson         55 M OLNEY MD             41:18   41:21 
    2 Michael Wesbecher    56 M OAKTON VA            42:00   42:05 
    3 Robert Trost         58 M FALLS CHURCH VA      42:52   42:54 


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 Patrick Griffith     60 M ALEXANDRIA VA        38:06   38:07 
    2 Donald Hensel        60 M GAITHERSBURG MD      45:03   45:13 
    3 Chet Coates          64 M SILVER SPRING MD     47:17   47:22 


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1 Carl Cox             67 M FALLS CHURCH VA      46:21   46:25 
    2 Phillip Hager        67 M FALLS CHURCH VA      47:15   47:19 
    3 Ken Quincy           67 M VIENNA VA            47:40   47:44 


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74
    1 Edward Green         73 M WASHINGTON DC      1:00:54 1:01:38 


MALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79
    1 Donald Butler        75 M BALTIMORE MD       1:03:29 1:03:52 
    2 Paul Cronin          76 M ASHBURN VA         1:16:40 1:17:23 


MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99
    1 Walt Washburn        82 M VIENNA VA          1:00:20 1:00:44 
    2 Henryk Bukowski      84 M FALLS CHURCH VA    1:07:18 1:07:52

Award Winners - Women

FEMALE 
    1 Denisa Costescu      28 F ROYAL OAK MI       00:34:52 
    2 Maryna Bychkova      28 F GERMANTOWN MD      00:35:18 
    3 Susannah Kvasnicka   32 F GREAT FALLS VA     00:36:15 
    4 Elvira Kolpakova     31 F GERMANTOWN MD      00:37:17 
    5 Mary Davison         31 F CHESAPEAKE VA      00:38:18 
    6 Genevieve Kiley      30 F PARK CITY UT       00:38:20 
    7 Laura Freix          43 F CENTREVILLE VA     00:38:44 
    8 Leslie Minnix-Wolfe  43 F HERNDON VA         00:39:27 
    9 Erin Conroy          20 F WASHINGTON DC      00:39:54 
   10 Eileen Kickish       24 F WASHINGTON DC      00:40:07 


Hand Crank Wheelchair
    1 Lisa Bard            40 F Germantown, MD       43:05   43:05


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 19
    1 Lauren Carroll       18 F WASHINGTON DC        50:07   50:07 
    2 Chloe Free           19 F WASHINGTON DC        52:12   52:52 
    3 Allison Brown        18 F WASHINGTON DC        55:12   55:29 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1 Molly McHarg         23 F ARLINGTON VA         43:37   43:59 
    2 Stephanie Kluka      21 F WASHINGTON DC        44:31   44:46 
    3 Kelly Ferraro        23 F WASHINGTON DC        45:58   46:03 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1 Colette Yankoupe     27 F ARLINGTON VA         42:19   42:26 
    2 Erin Linthicum       25 F ARLINGTON VA         44:04   44:25 
    3 Elizabeth Jones      27 F FAIRFAX VA           44:36   44:43 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1 Laurie Dempsey       34 F ALEXANDRIA VA        40:19   40:22 
    2 Beth Miller          34 F FAIRFAX VA           40:56   40:58 
    3 Marie Sandrock       32 F ALEXANDRIA VA        41:12   41:15 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1 Rebecca Nathan       39 F ARLINGTON VA         41:08   41:35 
    2 Karen Barthold       36 F ALEXANDRIA VA        41:34   41:38 
    3 Jessica Cover        35 F RICHMOND VT          42:01   42:06 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1 Terri Rath           40 F ASHBURN VA           41:44   41:47 
    2 Cindy Morton         40 F ARLINGTON VA         44:59   45:08 
    3 Barbara Koop         40 F ARLINGTON VA         45:44   46:06 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1 Liza Recto           48 F LEXINGTON PARK MD    46:46   46:52 
    2 Connie Crisman       49 F FUQUAY-VARINA NC     52:02   52:26 
    3 Sonia Slebioda-Pasto 46 F WASHINGTON DC        52:33   53:05 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1 Betty Blank          51 F FALLS CHURCH VA      42:28   42:30 
    2 Donna Lund           53 F ASHBURN VA           46:01   46:54 
    3 Marjorie Marque      53 F ALEXANDRIA VA        49:22   49:28 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1 Alice Franks         56 F ROCKVILLE MD         45:12   45:18 
    2 Jane Poole           57 F FALLS CHURCH VA      51:24   51:40 
    3 Linda Nesbitt        57 F ARLINGTON VA         54:30   55:03 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1 Judy Gilbert         61 F PIKESVILLE MD        47:58   48:03 
    2 Janice Stoodley      63 F FALLS CHURCH VA      48:21   48:24 
    3 Jane Metzler         63 F FALLS CHURCH VA      52:31   52:46 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1 Jamie Wollard        66 F N BETHESDA MD      1:04:36 1:04:44 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 74


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  75 - 79


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 99
    1 Hedy Marque          87 F ALEXANDRIA VA      1:15:54 1:16:02

Photo above: Laura Freix races to the finish for first in her division.

See complete results for men or complete results for women at the Veterans Day 10K.