Photos by Kathy Freedman

Halloween weekend has been celebrated these past 12 years with the costume enhanced Goblin Gallop. This year's new course featured the ChampionChip timing system for the first time, starting in the bright sunshine at the center plaza area of Fairfax Corner Shopping Center.

Everybody got an extra hour of sleep with the return to standard time earlier in the morning. The opening event at 8:30 am was a fun run of 1-kilometer for costumed youngsters. The main event featured almost 800 runners this year, including Jon Palks in full gorilla suit running his 120th 5K of the year.

There were many super heroes among the large contingency of fast runners, including 70-year-old Robert Gurtler (photo left) as Batman. Women out numbered the men by nearly hundred and many of them had the men's heads spinning like tops.

The course circles around the mall with all right turns. It was a roller coaster with only the first and last hundred meters flat. Still, it was the breezy wind that blew away the cold 40 degree morning into a beautiful day near sixty-five, that slowed some of the runners.

Third place Philippe Rolly of Fairfax, VA concurred with runner- up Alex L'Heuruex of Raleigh, NC that "this was the longest 5K he had run in some time." Rolly is ranked number three in the Runner Rankings for the summer, boasting a 14:57 5K. Today, he battled the breeze for a 5:00 first mile or as L'Heureux said, "We struggled at first." Andrei Gordeev, living in Germantown, MD, took first place in 15:18. The next three runners were spread out about 20 seconds apart. Aaron Church, in his first race back from his Leesburg 20K victory, was fourth.

From Germantown, MD, Marina Bychlova dueled with Elvira Kolpakova for first place, prevailing 17:16 to 17:35. Jessica Storm of Reston was last seen finishing third overall at the Cascades 10K in May. Today she was third again, crossing the mats in 19:27.

With all his flashy running outfits, one can never tell when he is in costume or not. Still, (photo above) Karsten Brown (30-34) found himself earning an age group award. Before the race his words were, "I already won a race this weekend, I don't have to win today." Patrick Griffith (60-64) did not have to win but he nearly always does. He seemed only moderately pleased at his 18:45 age group win. More importantly he told me, "I was looking for the new issue of the Washington Running Report so I can see where you ranked me."

As always, the rankings bring smiles and a few "but hey, I am really faster than the runner you placed in front of me." So far this year nobody has been faster in the 75-79 men's division than Mel Mattson up from Stormy Florida. This national champion blazed a record setting 27:55.

The herd of masters runners galloping to the finish made for some tough competition. For the men, Stuart Pineo of Columbia, MD took the top masters spot in 17:40 just ahead of 50-year-old James Cooper of Potomac, MD (Photo left). Cooper was one of four grandmasters whose pace was less than six minutes a mile. Top female grandmaster Betty Blank was the third master fussing that she "was really in twenty-minute shape." Come on, Betty, 21:02 is really the same thing. Paula Miller of Fairfax, the top master in 19:53, was fifth overall just ahead of number two master Linda Foley of Oak Hill, VA

Gary Grimsley won the two spot in the 50-54 division in 18:32. His mom Mary Grimsley earned the number one spot as the oldest runner in the race. At 86, she ties Alvin Guttag, who was not here today, as the oldest racer in the metro area this year.

The band played sixties and seventies music, which makes the most sense these days, as most of the runners are between forty and sixty. Still, there were quite a few less than teens dancing near the stage as the band frolicked through Lionel Ritchie's "Brick House." Panera provided bagels, which went quickly, as the DJ read through the long list of award winners, three deep in five-year-age groups. After awards, the crowd was treated to some great random prizes.

Race director Dixon Hemphill, still an age group record holder for a few distances, was proud to see his son Peter (photo below) stride up to the podium for an age group prize.

Awards List for the Valvoline Instant Oil Change Goblin Gallop 5K

FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                   Age City                      Clock Net T Pace  
===== ===== ====================== == ========================= ===== ===== ===== 
    1     1 Marina Bychkova        29 Germantown MD             17:16 17:15  5:34 
    2     3 Elvira Kolpakova       33 Germantown MD             17:35 17:34  5:40 
    3   231 Jessica Storm          28 Reston VA                 19:27 19:26  6:16 


MALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                  Age City                      Clock Net T Pace  
===== ===== ====================== == ========================= ===== ===== ===== 
    1     4 Andrei Gordeev         32 Germantown MD             15:18 15:17  4:55 
    2   957 Alex Lheureux          24 Raleigh NC                15:37 15:36  5:02 
    3    58 Philippe Rolly         33 Fairfax VA                15:50 15:50  5:06 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 & UP
    1   443 Linda Foley            43 Oak Hill VA               20:22 20:18  6:32 
    2   978 Kay Jones              40 Fairfax VA                21:04 21:00  6:46 
    3    11 Betty Blank            52 Falls Church VA           21:01 21:00  6:46 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 & UP
    1   466 Stuart Pineo           44 Columbia MD               17:40 17:39  5:41 
    2   792 James Cooper           50 Potomac MD                17:49 17:47  5:44 
    3    45 Terry Mclaughlin       45 Spotsylvania VA           18:14 18:12  5:52 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 14
    1  1023 Allison Brady          11 Great Falls VA            24:09 24:08  7:47 
    2   851 Yuiko Ito              14 Falls Church VA           24:28 24:25  7:52 
    3   779 Kate Outterbridge      14 Herndon VA                24:42 24:32  7:54 


MALE AGE GROUP:  01 - 14
    1   866 Tom Inglis             13 Vienna VA                 19:07 19:06  6:09 
    2   619 Patrick Fulghum        13 Vienna VA                 19:30 19:29  6:17 
    3   683 Nicholas Ashur         14 Vienna VA                 19:34 19:33  6:18 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19
    1  1007 Nicole Kauffman        16 Fairfax VA                23:06 23:01  7:25 
    2   202 Annalisa Culbert       16 Fairfax VA                23:25 23:18  7:30 
    3   688 Ellen Hartge           18 Fairfax VA                26:17 25:57  8:21 


MALE AGE GROUP:  15 - 19
    1   292 William Domedion       19 Herndon VA                18:48 18:45  6:02 
    2   530 J Kieran Garvey        19 Doylestown PA             21:48 21:23  6:53 
    3   646 Sergio Rivera          15 Fairfax VA                22:54 22:48  7:20 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1   331 Heather Mccarthy       23 Lorton VA                 19:45 19:38  6:19 
    2   751 Megan Sowa             22 Vienna VA                 20:30 20:28  6:35 
    3    26 Leila Melhem           24 Chantilly VA              20:50 20:44  6:41 


MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 24
    1   863 Colin Delaney          23 Reston VA                 16:38 16:36  5:21 
    2   353 Michael Orton          22 Reston VA                 18:48 18:45  6:03 
    3   958 David Merz             23 Herndon VA                19:50 19:44  6:21 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1   498 Carin Maclean          29 Fairfax Station VA        21:59 21:58  7:04 
    2   152 Cecilia Mak            26 Rockville MD              23:35 23:13  7:29 
    3   981 Melissa Nicolli        28 Bristow VA                24:05 23:44  7:39 


MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29
    1  1016 Christian Frazar       28 Silver Spring MD          18:35 18:31  5:58 
    2   248 Neil Bridge            25 Arlington VA              18:58 18:54  6:05 
    3  1005 Vaden Hill             26 Winchester VA             20:16 20:05  6:28 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1   766 Alicia White           33 Springfield VA            21:25 21:17  6:51 
    2    36 Alison Gittelman       33 South Riding VA           22:59 22:57  7:24 
    3   174 Lisa Bertomeu          32 Fairfax VA                23:35 23:25  7:33 


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34
    1     2 Aaron Church           30 Fairfax VA                16:20 16:19  5:16 
    2   959 Mike Elabarger         32 Harrisburg PA             16:58 16:56  5:27 
    3    57 Karsten Brown          31 Front Royal VA            18:24 18:22  5:55 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1  1050 Amy Harloff            37 New York NY               22:08 22:05  7:07 
    2   478 Cindy Sieber           38 Herndon VA                22:20 22:12  7:09 
    3   150 Jennifer Lazio         37 Alexandria VA             24:13 24:03  7:45 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39
    1   969 Mike Colaiacovo        36 Baltimore MD              16:35 16:35  5:21 
    2     5 Todd Martin            35 North Canton OH           17:13 17:12  5:33 
    3   555 Craig Chasse           36 Reston VA                 18:22 18:21  5:55 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1   121 Cynthia Shang          40 Chantilly VA              21:03 21:02  6:46 
    2  1044 Annie Hennessa         40 Reston VA                 21:22 21:15  6:51 
    3    44 Sushila Nanda          44 Arlington VA              21:50 21:49  7:02 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44
    1    37 Michael Marsh          40 Leesburg VA               19:25 19:24  6:15 
    2   852 Masaki Ito             40 Falls Church VA           19:32 19:27  6:16 
    3   723 Matthew Robinson       40 Fairfax VA                20:25 20:22  6:34 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1  1033 Julie Hayden           45 Ashburn VA                21:12 21:08  6:48 
    2  1041 Win Persina            45 Washington DC             21:16 21:14  6:50 
    3   630 Debbie Daughtry        47 Clifton VA                24:32 24:13  7:48 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49
    1  1039 Rich Makia             48 Saxonburg PA              18:39 18:38  6:00 
    2   467 Steve Moyer            47 Reston VA                 18:52 18:51  6:04 
    3   372 Peter Hemphill         47 Centreville VA            19:59 19:57  6:26 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1   696 Renee West             50 Bethesda MD               23:18 23:13  7:29 
    2   503 Monica Reed            50 Washington DC             27:03 26:20  8:29 
    3   742 Linda Fauteux          53 Herndon VA                26:53 26:31  8:32 


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54
    1   471 Bruce Hamilton         50 Fairfax VA                18:24 18:21  5:55 
    2   605 Gary Grimsley          51 Springfield VA            18:32 18:30  5:58 
    3   270 Richard Adams Jr       54 Herndon VA                18:39 18:39  6:00 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1    21 Jane Poole             58 Falls Church VA           26:42 26:39  8:35 
    2   780 Eileen Collins         58 Herndon VA                27:49 27:39  8:54 
    3  1047 Karen Nickerson        59 Fairfax VA                28:16 28:08  9:04 


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59
    1   640 James Wright           56 Gaithersburg MD           19:39 19:37  6:19 
    2   381 Michael Wesbecher      57 Oakton VA                 20:09 20:06  6:29 
    3   145 Allen Vaughan          55 Stafford VA               20:31 20:29  6:36 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1   475 Patricia Browning      62 Annandale VA              32:24 31:35 10:10 
    2   386 Rosemary Jellish       61 Alexandria VA             32:54 32:24 10:26 
    3   130 Connie Moy             61 Fairfax VA                38:02 37:05 11:56 


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64
    1    12 Patrick Griffith       60 Alexandria VA             18:45 18:44  6:02 
    2    47 Roger Anderson         60 Manassas VA               21:28 21:24  6:54 
    3   976 Jim Verdier            63 Alexandria VA             24:49 24:45  7:58 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1   603 Tami Graf              69 Lusby MD                  28:35 28:29  9:10 
    2   655 Betty Lou Wolfe        69 The Plains VA             40:56 40:15 12:58 


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69
    1    22 Richard Williams       69 Alexandria VA             23:32 23:28  7:33 
    2   971 Talbot Mack            65 Middleburg VA             24:29 23:56  7:43 
    3   582 Ken Quincy             68 Vienna VA                 24:03 23:59  7:43 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1   149 Winnie Gordon          72 Fairfax VA                42:01 41:26 13:20 
    2   606 Mary Grimsley          86 Springfield VA            53:02 52:08 16:47 


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99
    1  1064 Tony Measham           71 Chevy Chase MD            26:44 26:37  8:34 
    2   575 Mel Mattson            79 Gainesville VA            27:55 27:27  8:51 
    3    29 Robert Gurtler         70 The Plains VA             29:01 28:06  9:03 

Goblin Gallop 5K Race Results

Photo Gallery 2005
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