Photos by Kathy Freedman

Navy ensign Will Christian (photo left) from California, MD enjoyed smooth sailing en route to winning the inaugural Parks Half Marathon in 1 hour 9 minutes 14 seconds. Meghan Ridgley from Reston, VA won the women's race in 1:22:53. The event started near the Rockville Metro station and ended 13.1 miles later in downtown Bethesda on a warm and muggy morning.

Not all the top competitors navigated the course as effortlessly as Christian; many, including a pack of six men trailing the leader, and the top two women, ran off the course just before the 10-mile mark, losing time and places before realizing their error and finding their way back onto the course.

"I knew something wasn't right," said Ray Pugsley, who along with other local standouts Michael Wardian and Aaron Church, was in the chase pack before the detour of approximately 10 minutes effectively ended the pursuit of Christian. "I stopped, turned, and had to ask some joggers if they knew where the race was."

Pugsley found the course and finished; race officials said they would pay prize money based upon the order of finish and upon the standing of the runners before the mishap.

"Of all the places we thought runners might get lost on the course, that wasn't one of them," race director Mike Acuna said of the coned, taped but not manned, section of the course just past the Mormon Temple in Kensington. "We were stretched a little thin with volunteers because a lot of our members are running the race."

Acuna said that about 250 volunteered; registration, which was closed on race day, ended with about 1,600 runners and 1,268 finished.

We'll never know if someone from the chase pack would have caught Christian (23), who ran for and graduated from the University of Virginia last spring; he is now stationed in Norfolk. "I'm just running [my fitness] out," said Christian, who was visiting friends in Middletown, MD, and seized the opportunity to race nearby. Christian had no trouble following the course--a police motorcycle escort accompanied him.

Ridgley (27, photo left) and women's runner-up Diana Pool (25) from Westminster, MD were running together some 10 minutes behind the leading men when they, too, made the same bad turn where the bike path and the road diverged. Their detour was only slight, however; they regained the course and lost little time.

"We heard that we were still out front," Ridgley said. "With three minutes to go, I pushed it hard and was able to win." Pool finished 19 seconds back, and 21 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Laura Turner (26) from Washington, DC.

"I didn't have enough of a kick left," said Pool, a 2002 graduate of McDaniel College and now a high school English teacher. "I'm sure I'll see [Ridgley] again"--which will be sooner than Pool originally thought, as both women are pointing toward the Philadelphia Marathon on Nov. 19.

John Piggott (41) from Williamsburg, VA edged Mark Hoon (41) from Kensington, MD by five seconds to win the masters division in 1:15:43.

Laura Nelson (40) from Woodstock, VA was the top women's master and seventh overall in 1:29:45.

Post-race drinks, pizza, and a band helped assuage bruised feelings for the small percentage of those who went the extra mile or two, as the newest event from the Montgomery County Road Runners Club got off to a promising if imperfect start.

Awards

MALE OPEN Gun Time
    1   429 Will Christian        23 California MD      1:09:14   5:17  500 
    2     4 Jake Klim             26 Bethesda MD        1:14:25   5:41  350 
    3     8 Jason Gish            31 Camp Hill PA       1:14:56   5:43  250 
    4  1631 Vladim Bukalo         30 Kensington MD      1:15:23   5:45  200 
    5     2 Steve Meinelt         23 Washington DC      1:15:37   5:47  100 


FEMALE OPEN Gun Time
    1    18 Meghan Ridgley        27 Reston VA          1:22:53   6:20  500 
    2  1170 Diana Pool            25 Westminster MD     1:23:12   6:21  350 
    3  1418 Laura Turner          26 Washington DC      1:23:33   6:23  250 
    4  1109 Anya Oleynik          18 Gaithersburg MD    1:23:43*  6:24  200 
    5   972 Pamela Maldeis        24 Towson MD          1:24:52   6:29  100 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE MASTERS Gun Time
    1    14 John Piggott          41 Williamsburg VA    1:15:43   5:47  100 


FEMALE MASTERS Gun Time
    1    11 Laura Nelson          40 Woodstock VA       1:29:45   6:51  100 


MALE AGE GROUP:  18 - 24 Net Time
    1   288 David Atkiss          24 Centreville VA     1:20:23   6:08 
    2   820 Chris Johnson         24 Silver Spring MD   1:24:07   6:25 
    3  1559 Robert Eccles         24 Silver Spring MD   1:33:58   7:11 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  18 - 24 Net Time
    1  1158 Emily Pfeil           23 Baltimore MD       1:32:27   7:04 
    2   305 Tara Bansal           22 Potomac MD         1:37:24   7:26 
    3   707 Rebecca Guzman        23 Ijamsville MD      1:39:52   7:38 


MALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29 Net Time
    1     6 Dickson Mercer        25 Frederick MD       1:17:29   5:55 
    2   447 Nathan Coleman        25 Baltimore MD       1:18:24   5:59 
    3    57 Christoph Bain        29 N Bethesda MD      1:18:42   6:01 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  25 - 29 Net Time
    1   524 Nicole Deziel         29 Cabin John MD      1:41:01   7:43 
    2  1269 Anne Schapp Nutt      28 Rockville MD       1:42:06   7:48 
    3  1400 Amanda Tiernan        28 N. Potomac MD      1:42:54   7:51 


MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34 Net Time
    1  1555 Martin Lanz           33 Washington DC      1:16:01   5:48 
    2  1648 Michael Wardian       32 Arlington VA       1:18:29   6:00 
    3     5 Aaron Church          31 South Riding VA    1:18:29   6:00 
    4  1466 Jason Weber           30 Arlington VA       1:18:55   6:02 
    5  1011 Sam McFerran          31 Washington DC      1:28:13   6:44 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 34 Net Time
    1  1603 Marie Sandrock        34 Alexandria VA      1:30:09   6:53 
    2  1201 Lisa Reichmann        32 Silver Spring MD   1:36:28   7:22 
    3  1362 Trish Stone           31 Kennsington MD     1:37:56   7:29 


MALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39 Net Time
    1     7 Max Lockwood          36 Washington DC      1:18:00   5:57 
    2    17 Ray Pugsley           37 Potomac Falls VA   1:18:28   6:00 
    3   683 Kevin Grasmick        35 Washington DC      1:20:24   6:08 
    4    13 David Mead            38 Washington DC      1:22:22   6:17 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  35 - 39 Net Time
    1    16 Cathy Pugsley         37 Potomac Falls VA   1:27:33   6:41 
    2   591 Elizabeth Feldman     39 Chevy Chase MD     1:32:23   7:03 
    3   492 Debra Dailey          37 Brunswick OH       1:33:06   7:07 


MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44 Net Time
    1    12 Mark Hoon             41 Kensington MD      1:15:47   5:47 
    2     1 Chris Chattin         42 Columbia MD        1:21:05   6:12 
    3  1652 Ian Clements          42 Alexandria VA      1:23:29   6:23 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 44 Net Time
    1  1521 Patricia Zerfas       44 Rockville MD       1:33:47   7:10 
    2  1624 Cyndi Hann            43 Potomac MD         1:42:30   7:50 
    3   107 Leslie Knibb          43 Washington DC      1:42:41   7:50 


MALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49 Net Time
    1   708 David Haaga           45 Rockville MD       1:16:45*  5:52 
    2    54 Jean-Christophe Arcaz 45 Rockville MD       1:23:42   6:24 
    3   455 David Cooke           45 Baltimore MD       1:28:00   6:43 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  45 - 49 Net Time
    1   449 Cindy Conant          45 Kensington MD      1:32:34*  7:04 
    2    10 Donna Moore           46 Silver Spring MD   1:32:51*  7:05 
    3   333 Jean Betz             47 Cabin John MD      1:43:59   7:56 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54 Net Time
    1   150 Steven Ward           51 Reston VA          1:21:26   6:13 
    2   448 Norton Compton        51 Fairfax VA         1:25:34   6:32 
    3   717 Bruce Halpin          50 Ashburn VA         1:27:04   6:39 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 54 Net Time
    1  1373 Alison Suckling       51 Arnold MD          1:41:34*  7:45 
    2  1554 Linda Wack            50 Germantown M       1:45:19   8:02 
    3   575 Carol English         51 Germantown MD      1:50:30   8:26 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59 Net Time
    1  1619 Jim Wright            57 Gaithersburg MD    1:26:23*  6:36 
    2  1213 John Ridenour         56 Chevy Chase MD     1:42:19   7:49 
    3  1189 Jim Ratzenberger      57 Vienna VA          1:44:39   7:59 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  55 - 59 Net Time
    1    85 Alice Franks          58 Rockville MD       1:44:32*  7:59 
    2  1411 Giovanna Tosato       57 Bethesda MD        1:49:44   8:23 
    3   127 Jane Poole            59 Washington DC      1:59:20   9:07 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64 Net Time
    1   776 Charles Hull          61 Darnestown MD      1:37:37   7:27 
    2  5002 Lou Shapiro           64 Silver Spring MD   1:38:48   7:33 
    3   405 John Casinghino       60 Kensington MD      1:48:32   8:17 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 64 Net Time
    1   471 Chris Craun           60 Bethesda MD        1:50:53*  8:28 
    2   137 Katherine Sandler     64 Bethesda MD        1:57:34*  8:59 
    3   932 Nancy Linck           64 Alexandria VA      2:06:40   9:40 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69 Net Time
    1   440 Chet Coates           66 Silver Spring MD   2:01:21   9:16 
    2   424 Ronald Chiariello     67 Rockville MD       2:01:51   9:18 
    3  1118 David Osias           66 Chevy Chase MD     2:07:08   9:42 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  65 - 69 Net Time
    1  1612 Betty Smith           65 Rockville MD       2:07:47*  9:45 
    2  1075 Brenda Murray         67 Chevy Chase MD     2:21:12* 10:47 
* Under USATF Age-Group guideline


MALE AGE GROUP:  70 & Up Net Time
    1   152 Richard Williams      70 Alexandria VA      1:53:28   8:40 
    2   140 Robert Smith          72 Comus MD           2:05:05   9:33 
    3   395 Ray Campbell          74 Hyattsville MD     3:10:53  14:34 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  70 & Up Net Time
No Finishers 

John Piggott of Williamsburg, VA (below) starts off the Fall Rankings with a masters win in 1:15:53. Piggott was the top ranked masters runner for the Summer Ranking period listed in the Washington Running Report coming out in late October.

Race Day Report for 2006
Full Race Day Results
Photo Gallery 2006
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