Dan Browne came to the 20th Army Ten-Miler as the man to beat. He was the course record holder (47 minutes 44 seconds in 1997) and two-time winner (he also won in '98), ran the 10,000 meters (finishing 12th) and the marathon at the Olympic Games in Athens, and is one of the most celebrated Americans heading into the media circus that is the New York City Marathon on November 7.

On no front did Browne disappoint. Like a movie star in town shooting a cameo, the Army captain and Oregon National Guard member performed his extensive public relations duties--which included meeting the president earlier in the week, visiting the Army hospital at Walter Reed, and signing autographs at the race expo--then dispatched his competition of some 13,000 runners on race day, winning handily for a third time in a course record of 47 minutes 29 seconds.

"I should look comfortable and I should be confident," Browne, 29, said. "My focus now is on New York City, and I don't want to say the other guys weren't running well or hard, but this for me was pretty much of a workout."

Browne and 2002 race winner Ryan Kirkpatrick, 26, sailed through the opening mile in 4:38, but by two miles Browne was pulling away.

"I wanted to get a nice pace going early and see how it felt," Browne said.

Luigi La Bella, 22, finished third in 49:32 and led a group of four Italian Army members in the top nine. The group has come to compete against the U.S. Army team in Washington for the past several years.

Edmund Burke, 35, from Burtonsville, was the top local finisher and 10th overall in 50:35.

Casey Smith, 25, from Arlington (photo), won her second Army Ten-Miler in 57:26. She took the lead from Sharon Lemberger near the four mile mark and motored the last half of the race alone. Lemberger, 31, from Washington, finished third in 58:32.

"Sharon has been running so well lately," Smith said. "When I began gaining on her so early, I thought, 'Should I really be doing this?' But it worked out."

Smith is training for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 21. Christine Clifton, 32, from Kirkland, Washington, who ran 2:32:45 at the 2000 Chicago Marathon, finished second in 58:02.

Martha Merz, 42, formerly from Arlington and now living in Mystic, Connecticut (at left in photo), made her annual visit to the area and won the masters division for the third straight year, this time finishing ninth overall in 1:00:51.

"I went out [for the first mile] in 5:40, and that was a little aggressive at my age," Merz said. "But it's a great course and it's so much fun to see all these people."

The Army's Sammy Ngatia, 45, the surprise race winner in 2000, finished 15th overall in 52:45 and was the top masters division finisher for men.

For results of the Army Ten-Miler, visit the race Web site.