Falling leaves and football mean autumn to most. But for us fortunate few who run and race, the best of the Washington area's four seasons is for falling leaves and fast times at local road races. And no race is more emblematic of autumn than the Back-to-School Classic, which celebrated its 17th running on October 10 with more than 760 8K and 2K enthusiasts.

What is it that makes a race a classic (lower-case "C," of course)? Weather is part of it, and Back-to-School enjoyed another in a long string of gorgeous fall mornings. There's a sense of community to the event as well; dozens of volunteers donning the race T-shirt helped direct the runners and then host the sumptuous post-race brunch, which is well-stocked by generous local merchants. Good organization is always key, and this race is a tightly run show, with proceeds benefiting reconstruction of Somerset Elementary School, which is out of the ground and well on the way to educating the next generation of kids.

As for the racing portion of the event, Katie Filipczyk, 28 (photo above), from just a few blocks away--"I had the home-course advantage," she said--ran away from Carol Bamford early to claim her first-ever road racing win in 32 minutes 5 seconds.

Filipczyk (pronounced Phillip-check) said she ran as hard as she could until four miles when "some lady said I could relax because she couldn't see any women behind me." Filipczyk earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at American University, where she ran under Coach Matt Centrowitz, whom she considers "a second father."

Bamford, 41, from Washington, was the top masters runner and second overall in 34:21. "I saw [Filipczyk] at the start, and that was it," Bamford said. "She looked fast--and young, too, so I didn't think I could keep up with her."

Talk about young: Stephanie Denning, 17, from Washington, took third in 34:58.

Jim Hage, 46, from Kensington, won the men's race in 27:41, but had a little help from runner-up John Rogers and Anthony Belber, who came to the race together and finished second and third, respectively. A last-minute diaper change for Belber's 8-month- old daughter, Leah, caused Dad to be late meeting Rogers, and the pair started some 20 seconds after the start of the race.

Rogers, 25, who is the cross-country coach at St. Albans (photo left), schooled his elder traveling companion, Belber, 31, the cross-country coach at rival Georgetown Day School, running 28:26, 13 seconds ahead of his friend.

Dan Murphy, 40, from Bethesda (photo), finished seventh in 29:03; he won the inaugural Back-to-School Classic in 1988. "Dude," Murphy asked, "do you think we'll be doing this in another 40 years?"

With any luck we will. Dude.

Award Winners

OVERALL MALE  (GUN TIME)
Place Num   Name                Age City                  Time    
===== ===== =================== === ===================== ======= 
    1   109 Jim Hage             46 Kensington MD          27:41 
    2   501 John Rogers          25 Washington DC          28:26 
    3   502 Anthony Belber       31 Washington DC          28:39 


OVERALL FEMALE  (GUN TIME)
Place Num   Name                Age City                  Time    
===== ===== =================== === ===================== ======= 
    1   442 Katie Filipczyk      28 Chevy Chase MD         32:05 
    2   521 Carol Bamford        41 Washington DC          34:21 
    3   519 Stephanie Denning    17 Washington DC          34:58 


MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 11   (NET TIME)
    1   309 Elie Goldman        10 Chevy Chase MD          40:13 
    2   493 Matthew Mckew       08 Herndon VA              42:53 
    3   307 Jordan Missal       10 Chevy Chase MD          44:03 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 11   (NET TIME)
    1   316 Ava Farrell         10 Chevy Chase MD          44:07 
    2   435 Hannah Green        11 Chevy Chase MD          45:05 
    3   528 Ida Tjonneland      10 Bethesda MD             53:40 


MALE AGE GROUP:  12 - 15   (NET TIME)
    1   374 Nick Mulder         14 Washington DC           31:28 
    2   325 Andrew Morgan       15 Chevy Chase MD          31:31 
    3   335 Alex Rosenberg      15 Gaithersburg MD         32:35 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  12 - 15   (NET TIME)
    1   412 Caroline Goodman    15 Chevy Chase MD          43:41 
    2   460 Leah Loversky       13 Chevy Chase MD          51:50 
    3   538 Nakissa Gandji      12 Bethesda MD             52:14 


MALE AGE GROUP:  16 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1   261 John Sanders Jr     16 Chevy Chase MD          34:33 
    2   289 Michael Young       17 Chevy Chase MD          34:35 
    3   253 Benjamin Hecht      16 Chevy Chase MD          36:28 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  16 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1   230 Elise Lang          16 Chevy Chase MD          40:02 
    2   448 Elizabeth Agger     16 Silver Spring MD        40:53 
    3   354 Astri Sorenson      16 Chevy Chase MD          44:28 


MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 34   (NET TIME)
    1   386 Brian Tullis        31 Silver Spring MD        28:51 
    2   190 Rich House          32 Silver Spring MD        33:17 
    3   128 Eric Schnure        34 Washington DC           36:42 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 34   (NET TIME)
    1   456 Courtney Ohlweiller 23 Arlington VA            36:57 
    2   511 Erin Silliman       22                         37:14 
    3   480 Tyler Kaspar        23 Washington DC           38:51 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1   395 Nathaniel Mcvey-Fin 35 Silver Spring MD        29:03 
    2   267 Chuck Graf          38 Chevy Chase MD          29:59 
    3   490 Mark Hand           37                         30:10 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1   400 Carole Kammel       36 Rockville MD            36:54 
    2   498 Yayoi Dacosta       38 Potomac MD              37:29 
    3   504 Kirsten Keating     37 Washington DC           39:00 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44   (NET TIME)
    1   110 Ted Poulos          42 Mclean VA               28:54 
    2   404 Dan Murphy          40 Bethesda MD             29:20 
    3   240 Paul Jacobson       41 Gaithersburg MD         29:50 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44   (NET TIME)
    1   314 Antonia Farrell     43 Chevy Chase MD          35:29 
    2   283 Renee Butler        43 Bethesda MD             36:25 
    3   327 Anna Gunn           41 Chevy Chase MD          36:48 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1   413 Neil Goodman        47 Chevy Chase MD          35:03 
    2   264 Matthew Jaffe       48 Chevy Chase MD          35:42 
    3   209 David Fenichel      45 Chevy Chase MD          35:43 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1   537 Liza Recto          48 Rockville MD            37:59 
    2   334 Marcia Rosenberg    48 Gaithersburg MD         42:06 
    3   132 Laura Will          45 Chevy Chase MD          42:35 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54   (NET TIME)
    1   134 Jay Wind            54 Arlington VA            33:19 
    2   494 David Brewer        50 Herndon VA              33:43 
    3   487 Ed Ryan             50 Washington DC           33:52 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54   (NET TIME)
    1   218 Amy Ross            52 Chevy Chase MD          41:42 
    2   297 Betsy Hanlon        50 Chevy Chase MD          44:18 
    3   497 Sara Sennett        54 Chevy Chase MD          45:10 


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1   299 Jim Wright          55 Gaithersburg MD         32:23 
    2   211 Norm Coleman        59 Chevy Chase MD          35:20 
    3   486 John Patterson      55 Silver Spring MD        35:58 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1   131 Alice Franks        56 Rockville MD            36:18 
    2   496 Harlene Bernstein   56                         45:20 
    3   119 Nancy Malan         58 Washington DC           49:21 


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64   (NET TIME)
    1   535 Gary Berg-Cross     61                         39:06 
    2   333 Earle Fingerhut     62 Potomac MD              40:51 
    3   141 Keith Hewitt        64 Kensington MD           47:19 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64   (NET TIME)
    1   506 Rosemary Schwartzba 62 Arlington VA            46:30 
    2   239 Linda Kaplan        60 Chevy Chase MD          50:19 
    3   144 Blair Jones         60 Washington DC           51:45 


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69   (NET TIME)
    1   385 John Elliott        66 Columbia MD             33:26 
    2   359 Benito Vazquez      65 Laurel MD               38:15 
    3   533 William Graham      69 Washington DC           47:05 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69   (NET TIME)
    1   469 Carol Montgomery    69 Philadelphia PA         53:53 
    2   422 Lucky Marmon        67                       1:07:36 


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99   (NET TIME)
    1   484 Joe Nettles         70 Tybee Island GA         40:48 
    2  1202 Robert Smith        70 Comus MD                42:06 
    3   121 Henry Metzger       72 Chevy Chase MD          44:55 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99   (NET TIME)
No finishers

Photo above: Amy Ross of Chevy Chase was first in the 50-54 division, almost three and one-half minutes ahead of her competition.

See complete results of the Somerset Elementary Back-to-School 8K.

Peak at our Photo Gallery.