"It's for a great cause," said runner Naoko Ishibe of the Marrow Foundation's fifth annual 3M 5K. All proceeds from the race benefit the foundation and, specifically, the foundation's Brianna Haley Fund for Minority Marrow Donor Education and Recruitment. The goal of this fund is to increase ethnic diversity in the registry for the National Marrow Donor Program. Between donor and recipient of marrow or blood stem cells, there has to be a perfect match. This match is determined by a typing process much more complex than blood typing. A person's ethnic background is integral to his or her type. Money from the fund will go toward education about marrow donation and toward marrow donor drives.

For the past two years, the 3M 5K has not been held during ideal times in the DC metro area. Last year's race was on October 20, the day after the U. S. Capitol building was closed in response to the anthrax scare. The race even started in the shadow of the Capitol building. Yet 500 runners came out to participate. Jill McGovern, Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, described the turnout as "inspirational." This year, the race was held just a few days after two men were arrested in the sniper case. Christy Parrack, Assistant Director of Annual Events at the foundation, worried that people might not come out if they believed the sniper was still at large. About a week before the big day, race organizers had discussed canceling the race if the sniper was still at large. Parrack said the organizers looked to the bigger races in the area for a lead. Since the Army Ten- Miler and the Marine Corps Marathon weren't canceled, the 3M 5K wasn't canceled. As luck would have it, the weekend of the race was the first one free of sniper worries. And 620 runners registered. The pre-race area was lively with music and conversation. The general good mood was, perhaps, due to the sense of relief runners felt. It might also have been due to the rain clearing up.

The race organizers contributed to the general feeling of goodwill by welcoming not only runners and walkers, but also parents with children in strollers and even dogs. Strollers and dogs are usually shunned at most races. Parents and dog owners took advantage of this rare occasion. They were also considerate of other runners and lined up in the back of the pack.

Many top local runners came out for the 5K and put on a good show. Kyle Smits (23) and Ray Pugsley (33, photo left) came in first and second in the men's competition, with respective times of 15:40 and 15:47. The two stayed together for most of the race. As they approached the three-mile mark, they were still together. Pugsley said he was waiting for Smits to surge ahead. Pugsley was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to keep up; he had returned to the racing scene only three months ago, for the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K, after eight months off for a hamstring- related injury. Smits did pick up the pace two turns before the finish. Pugsley held on initially, but then Smits flew ahead after the last turn, with about 100 yards left to the finish. "He had me," said Pugsley. Eric Desautels (30) came in third in 16:10.

The women's competition was not as close, though the top three women finished within a minute of each other. Naoko Ishibe (33) was the first woman overall, finishing in 17:29. She took the lead by mile one and maintained it. The three U-turns in the course allowed her to see how much of a lead she had. Otherwise she would not have known; she explained, "I don't make a habit of looking back." Danielle Trelles-Russ (38) came in second with a time of 17:55. Meghan McLaughlin (23) was third in 18:14.

The course was a new one. The start was on 3rd and C Streets SW, outside the Department of Health and Human Services building. The course had many twists and turns. Volunteers from the Naval Academy were out on the course to make sure that no one missed a turn. Runners couldn't miss these volunteers; they wore bright blue, yellow, and white athletic suits and held orange flags to wave runners in the right direction. McLaughlin and Pugsley described the course as "very, very twisty."

The team competition was lively as well. An unofficial team, a group of six tie-dyed-shirt-clad women from Catholic University, finished strong. Rachel Yates (18) finished first for the group, fifth in the women's competition, and second in the 14-19 age group, with a time of 20:20. The second finisher for the team, Rebecca Freyvogel (20), was eighth in the women's competition with a time of 20:44. Colleen Hughes (18), the third finisher for the team, came in tenth in the women's competition and third in the 14-19 age group in 21:34.

Award Winners

FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                  Ag City                      Time    
===== ===== ===================== == ========================= ======= 
    1     2 Naoko Ishibe          33 Silver Spring MD            17:29 
MALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                  Ag City                      Time    
===== ===== ===================== == ========================= ======= 
    1   533 Kyle Smits            23 Washington DC               15:40 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 13
    1   342 Chrissy Esposito      13 Centreville VA              22:37  
    2   494 Galesa Womack         10 Clinton MD                  36:02  
    3   495 Kiauna Womack         11 Clinton MD                  37:01  
MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 13
    1   515 Andrew Morgan         13 Chevy Chase MD              23:42  
    2   625 Casey Mlyniec         11 Washington DC               23:50  
    3   653 Frederick Byrd        11 Clinton MD                  47:27  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  14 - 19
    1   316 Erin Conroy           18 Hawthorne NY                19:57  
    2   440 Rachel Yates          18 Washington DC               20:16  
    3   437 Colleen Hughes        18 Washington DC               21:30  
MALE AGE GROUP:  14 - 19
    1   626 Dustin Sweeney        19 Berryville VA               17:08  
    2   266 Doug Shapiro          16 Vienna VA                   18:53  
    3   537 Ivan Dias             19 Washington DC               19:20  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1   599 Meghan Mclaughlin     23 Alexandria VA               18:12  
    2   525 Kelly Field           26 Washington DC               20:16  
    3   364 Eileen Kickish        22 Washington DC               20:26  
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1   291 Erik Taylor           23 Arlington VA                16:55  
    2   554 Brian Shiner          26 Hershey PA                  16:58  
    3   531 Jason Hunter          27 Washington DC               17:21  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1     4 Danielle Trelles-Russ 38 Arlington VA                17:54* 
    2   690 Sujata Sullivan       36 Washington DC               21:27  
    3    33 Karen Cooke           35 Silver Spring MD            22:44  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1   630 Ray Pugsley           33 Annandale VA                15:46  
    2   530 Eric Desautels        30 Arlington VA                16:09  
    3    39 Miguel Monteverde     34 Arlington VA                17:36  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1   562 Sandy Blasey          40 Kensington MD               21:05  
    2     5 Bernadette Flynn      45 Fairfax VA                  21:48  
    3   421 Becky Roed            43 Springfield VA              22:16  
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1    41 Terry Mclaughlin      42 Spotsylvania VA             17:17  
    2   574 Mike Hart             47 Washington DC               18:29  
    3   335 Kevin Finnegan        45 Alexandria VA               18:37  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1   431 Alice Franks          54 Rockville MD                23:29  
    2    31 Elizabeth Sadoff      53 Washington DC               25:43  
    3    24 Dianne Andruch        52 Washington DC               27:32  
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1    23 Patrick Griffith      57 Alexandria VA               18:33  
    2   614 Shah Mehrabi          50 Fredericksburg VA           19:07  
    3    52 Jay Wind              52 Arlington VA                19:09  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
    1    20 Tami Graf             66 Lusby MD                    26:45* 
    2   547 Janet Newburgh        60 Rockville MD                28:28  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69
    1    27 Terry Derk            61 Dauphin PA                  22:39  
    2   633 Jim Verdier           60 Alexandria VA               22:56  
    3    49 Richard Williams      66 Alexandria VA               23:20  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 79
    1   538 Kay Morrison          76 Potomac MD                  32:07* 
    2   297 Jacqueline O'neil     71 Washington DC               33:55* 
    3    44 Sister Maria          78 Washington DC               59:51  
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline
MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 79
    1    48 Bill Morrison         75 Potomac MD                  29:48  
    2   186 Paul Cronin           74 Washington DC               34:38  
    3   296 William O'neil        71 Washington DC               53:23  
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 89
No Finishers
MALE AGE GROUP:  80 - 89
No Finishers
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  90 - 99
No Finishers
MALE AGE GROUP:  90 - 99
No Finishers

See complete results of the 3M 5K.

See the Photo Gallery.