The fall weather was perfect all week long with crisp, clear mornings followed by gorgeous blue skies with an occasional fluffy white cloud. The morning started with a cool mist hovering around the trees not bold enough to block the brilliant flowers adorning the park for the 6th Annual Run with Kathy race. Allen Pond is a bustling park with soccer fields and baseball fields adorning the centerpiece pond. The pond with its picturesque fountain in the middle helps create a joyful spirit for this fun race.

Race Director Ken Long and his friendly staff of volunteers put on a clinic in putting on a race. All the details were well taken care of and his relaxed smile made it seem like he was out for a weekend stroll. Instead, the race rebounded from a smaller crowd the last two years to a near record 211 finishers in the 5K.

The race day started with more signups and an efficient packet pickup led by long time runner Julie Trapp. She was already handing us our packets before we even got to her booth. Julie is a mega race volunteer, logging volunteer efforts with scores of races each year. The packet included a water bottle and some Clif Bars to go with a nice long sleeve shirt in a keeper of a race bag.

Last year I arrived with hopes of running the race and instead lamely played photographer. This year we took a warm up jog around the pond to survey the last half-mile of the race. Upon returning through the finishing chutes, it was already time for the march to the starting line about a third of a mile up the park road. Nice! This makes for a net downhill race. While the 5Kers warmed up and stretched, the youngsters started an ambitious mile run and walk around the pond.

Ken wasted no time getting us started and with a quick toot of the foghorn and the race was on. Man, those young runners can dart out fast. Even with the downhill start, I watched as scores of runners flooded by. Three-time race winner Ted Poulos eased by me about a hundred yards in the race. Though he had his calm race-day face on and it was too early to panic, surely he was concerned that his bib marked number one might not renew this day. Ted owned the third fastest time racing to a 16:25 win in the race's biggest year, 2001. That year many races had cancelled and Kathy's race benefited. The year before he had set his personal record at the Freddie Mac 5K in 15:48.

Today youngster Blake Johnson of Riverdale, MD raced down the lane in a hurry and led the runners out of the park into the neighboring suburbs of Bowie. Another local runner JD Rojas of Temple Hills, MD led a pack of three, which included newly minted master's runner Chris Hamley of Silver Spring, MD and Mike Sheehy of Chevy Chase, MD, in a fruitless effort to gun down Johnson. The course record was set in the first year Kurt Kroemer 15:59 that he narrowly earned over Steve Nearman (16:02) before the course was certified.

Upon leaving the park, the course heads up Northview Drive and the one-mile mark turns us into the housing area as Sean Dixon of Fort Belvoir, VA puts it. Sean loved the race and now that he is back from New York, this excellent race has put him in the racing mood. He is eager to build on today's success.

The next mile is a big rolling square leading back to Northview. There are down hills and there are some up hills too. Back onto Northview, the two-mile mark points the way back down towards the park. Races that end with little or no hills in the last mile get my vote. There were marshals everywhere showing us the way but they cannot help you run up the hills when your lungs are burning and you hear footsteps coming up behind you. Finally, you hit the woods and circle around the other side of the pond. Breaking back out of the woods the finish line is a tantalizing quarter-mile away.

By the time I lunged past the finish line, most of the age group winners had followed Blake Johnson over to the post-race food table. I did not need to hurry because there was plenty of food, but I did. The bagels were fresh, the apples were crisp and cold, and I loved that hot chicken from Popeye's. Last year Ken thought he almost ran out of Deer Park bottles of water, so he ordered extra this year. Actually, there was plenty last year too. One woman exclaimed, "I have never been to a race that had cotton candy!"

The crowd stayed around waiting for the awards and hoping to be a recipient of one of the many random awards. Your chances were about one in five and before I could say, "I'll never win," my number was called and I was the proud owner of a great Under Armour racing shirt.

The Run For Kathy honors the late Kathy Popp-Long who succumbed to cervical cancer at the age of 36, in June 1999. The first race was held that October. The race is very serious about raising funds for The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. So far, it has raised more than $41,000. Race Director Ken Long thanked runners for their contributions and encouraged them to donate to this worthy cause. He also announced that the race's policy continues to be that cancer survivors get complimentary entry into the race.

Meanwhile, as the long line of happy random awards winners marched up to claim their prize, the littlest participants where taking a swing at a brightly colored pinata. Now for the race awards. The overall winner took home $100 gift certificate for Under Armour products. Blake Johnson, now the owner of the third fastest time of 16:17 was the men's winner. Ann Reed of Colombia, MD, (30) crushed last year's course record of 18:59 set by Katie Dickerson. Ann's time was a tenth overall 18:14. Rojas (21) used his nineteen-year age advantage to push Chris Hamley back to third. For his efforts he earned an $85 shoe store gift certificate. Almost better was third place, dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse.

Eileen Kickish (24) of Washington, DC made a monster improvement in time. Though she won last year (19:54) and this year had to settle for second place, her 19:04 was a stellar bid and third fastest all time. Sheryl Kline was a rookie master's runner last year when she won second place overall in 21:08. Reed's super time helped bump her back to third even though Sheryl improved her finish this year to 20:18. In fact, she just did crack the top three with rising star, Gloria Roberts, age 12, of Largo, MD right behind her in 20:22.

Devon Gillet (15) of Columbia, MD had a big age group win in 18:10. Iain Bain of Bowie, MD edged fellow twenty something Michael Dusenberry of Savage, MD 17:54 to 17:59. 30-39 champion Mike Sheehy (17:01) was fourth overall to Eric Rodkin of Silver Spring in 17:33 for sixth overall. Ted Poulos (42) of McLean, VA finished smoothly ahead in 17:29 to win the 40-49 division. Last year Jim Noone (59) easily won the division with a record 19:36. Now sixty, he had other fish to fry. Last year's 40-49 champion Lionel Scatliffe (49) won a narrow two-second victory in 18:21. Now fifty, he was nowhere to be found. That was great news for James Moreland of Gaithersburg, MD who darted out way too fast and then had to drag himself home listening for the thundering of fifty-year-old shoes. Luck be told, there were none in time to stop an age group win in 20:38. Richard Kutzner (61) of Alexandria, VA held off his city mate Richard Williams (68) to win the sixty and over division 22:29 to 23:31.

For the women, Melissa Lott (21:51) of College Park, MD and Ruth Burns (22:09) of Crofton, MD were separated by just two places. Karen Guilds of Gaithersburg, MD easily won the 30-39 division in 23:22. Cheryl Hendricks (48) of Waldorf, MD ran an even swifter 23:16. Last year's runner-up in the 50-59 division, Lainey Bernstein of Potomac, MD, was a little nervous racing through the somewhat humid morning. Training for her first marathon, she had just finishing winning the Great Allegany 15K in 1:16:00 last week. She had cruised through the first 5K in 24:45. Last year she had run 25:05 at Allen Pond but this year the going was tough. At the finish, I explained to her that you could never tell what age the runners in front of you really are. Her solid 25:30 was good enough to win her another medallion, this year for first place.

All the runners got medallions with the race name engraved on the back. In addition, winners were handed two dinners from Mongolian Barbeque.

The race Web site, www.run4kathy.org, is very professionally done. It contains messages from the recipients of all the fine work they did on this race. They have all the information you could want about the race and the goals of their donations, as well as complete results from every year of the race.

The efforts of Kathy Popp-Long's family, friends, and volunteers have honored and celebrated her life. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, please send a check payable to Run For Kathy at 14410 Autumn Crest Road, Boyds, MD 20841. You may also send a message to donations@run4kathy.org or to get more information.

Run for Kathy 5K

Top Three Males             
  1 Johnson, Blake    Riverdale, MD      23 16:16  
  2 Rojas, JD         Temple Hills, MD   21 16:48  
  3 Hamley, Chris     Silver Spring, MD  40 16:55  


Top Three Females             
  1 Reed, Ann         Columbia, MD       30 18:14  
  2 Kickish, Eileen   Washington, DC     24 19:03  
  3 Kline, Sheryl     Arnold, MD         41 20:17  

See the Results.