Many runners were back at school as summer reappeared at the College Park campus for the 7th year of Zack's Run. Temperatures were in the mid seventies under a bright sky. More than a third of the first 200 finishers were in their teens, high numbers for the road running scene. Many more college runners made the average age of the runners quite a bit younger than normal.

Last year four of the top five women were teens, including winner Halsey Sinclair (16) of Silver Spring, MD in 19:10. For the men in the top five, two were teens and two just 20. Alvin Yew (20) of Silver Spring, MD ran away with the race in 16:24 and got to wear bib number one this year.

This year wearing bib number three, Michael Wardian (32) of Arlington, VA over matched the field, running the fourth fastest course time in 15:44. Kyle Smits of Baltimore, MD hung with him for a while before settling for second in 16:15. Smits had been runner-up to Ben Cook's 15:11 victory in 2003, racing 15:43 that day. The course record was set by Sergei Fedotov in 2001 with 14:53. Wardian had run away from the field at the Kensington 8K Saturday, winning handily over a tough field in 25:28. That course is mostly flat with a tester high in the fourth mile. Wardian called today's race a "fair course."

Paul Jacobson (43), second master (receiving award), had not been back to College Park for "about 20 years" but he knew that the course demanded a climb to the top of the campus. The first full mile was a winding Tour de France climb to the top. The second mile featured a quick downhill, leading to another climb back to the top, then it featured a half mile roller coaster to the 2-mile mark. From then on, course was a welcome flat stretch with a very slight upgrade in the last tenth of a mile.

In the first few years, the course was basically the same except that it started near the top and the final mile was all up hill. Today's version was better designed to please the crowd of more than 500 runners and walkers.

David Bernstein (19, #328) of Chevy Chase, MD dueled Alvin Yew (#1) for third place, winning by a second in 16:59. Yew is now competing in the tough Open division. Bernstein has one more year to enjoy the easier qualifying time for teens. His best race of the summer was a fine 27:44 finish at the Twilight 8K. Look for his placing in the Summer Runner Rankings coming in the November-December issue of the Washington Running Report.

Last year's masters division winner was Patrick Griffith (60) of Alexandria, VA in 18:55. This year, Joe Abernethy (47) from nearby Berwyn, MD crushed the masters record with a fifth place overall in 17:12. The record had been held by Brendan Vasher with 17:51 back in 2004. He was the overall winner that year.

For the women, the very first year Rebecca Wassner set the tone with 17:47. The next year, Elena Paramonova unmercifully hammered a huge three-minute victory in 16:55. The Sinclair twins, Halsey and Ashley, debuted that same year at age 12. In 2003, they took first and second overall, with Halsey triumphing in 19:50. They passed in 2004 and then last year came back, with Halsey winning again in 19:06 with Ashley in fourth. They were absent this year, so look for them to reappear in 2007.

This opened the door for a fine young runner from Washington, DC. Sarah Spalding (25) made it look easy, winning in 19:20. Sheryl Kline (43) of Arnold, MD pulled away from a pack of three young runners. From there, she had to do all the work as she improved the masters course record of 20:00 set by Gloria Santarpia in 2001 by a second, finishing second overall.

After the race, runners quickly moseyed over to the refreshments, which were great! Hot Domino's Pizza led the way with buckets of ice-cooled Pepsi, fruit juices, iced tea, and water. Apples, bananas, and bagels were in abundance as well.

There were random prizes as well as gift certificates for the top three in ten year age groups. The overall winners earned $350.00 in cash!

Awards Listing - Chip Time

FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                   Age City                      Time  
===== ===== ====================== === ========================= ===== 
    1   349 Sarah Spalding          25 Washington DC             19:20 


MALE OVERALL
Place Num   Name                   Age City                      Time  
===== ===== ====================== === ========================= ===== 
    1     3 Michael Wardian         32 Arlington VA              15:44 


FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 12
    1   381 Nicole Puffett         11 Marlboro MD               23:22 
    2   218 Debra Jones            12 Gaithersburg MD           26:06 
    3   343 Kiah Seymour           12 Washington DC             26:43 
MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 12
    1   409 Ryan Forsyth           10 Severna Park MD           22:56 
    2   384 Jalen Robinson-Mccoy   12 Mitchellville MD          23:20 
    3   413 Seth Ryan              12 Ellicott City MD          25:02 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  13 - 19
    1   305 Mary Larson            19 College Park MD           21:54 
    2   313 Megan Burke            19 Franklin Lakes NJ         22:02 
    3   130 Katie Sudhoff          19 Annapolis MD              22:05 
male AGE GROUP:  13 - 19
    1   328 David Bernstein        19 Chevy Chase MD            16:57 
    2   312 John Thornton          17 Columbia MD               18:08 
    3   152 Tommy Hastings         19 Leavenworth KS            18:25 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1   364 Mary Colleen McAlliste 22 Silver Spring MD          20:42 
    2   288 Tiffany Hevner         26 Columbia MD               20:48 
    3   154 Cathy Gurgol           28 Mount Rainier MD          22:15 
MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29
    1   404 Kyle Smits             27 Baltimore MD              16:14 
    2     1 Alvin Yew              21 Silver Spring MD          16:58 
    3   290 Michael Montano        20 Rockville MD              17:53 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1   268 Carrie Blozy           31 Gaithersburg MD           22:31 
    2   269 Stephanie Blozy        35 Gaithersburg VA           22:44 
    3   396 Jennifer Perkovich     34 Joppa MD                  24:28 
MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39
    1   753 Eric Makovsky          33 Hanover MD                17:23 
    2   236 Kyle Green             30 Takoma Park MD            19:03 
    3   257 Mike Revell            32 Forestville MD            19:52 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1   365 Sheryl Kline           43 Arnold MD                 19:57 
    2   340 Erin Thede             41 Stafford VA               22:43 
    3   149 Marianne Watson        44 Springfield VA            24:46 
MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49
    1   377 Joe Abernethy          47 Berwyn MD                 17:10 
    2   237 Paul Jacobson          43 Gaithersburg MD           18:16 
    3   366 John Gygax             42 Stevensville MD           19:59 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1    20 Elizabeth Sadoff       57 Washington DC             26:13 
    2   403 Helenor Mesias         53 Laurel MD                 28:51 
    3   155 Mary Wade              54 Greenbelt MD              30:13 
MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59
    1   330 Larry Washington       55 Rockville MD              19:20 
    2   401 Bernard Wright         59 Pomfret MD                21:06 
    3    10 James Moreland         54 Gaithersburg MD           21:50 
FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 99
    1   341 Yolanda Lane           65 Silver Spring MD          25:16 
    2   434 Patricia Devlin        73 Waynesboro PA             54:00 
MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 99
    1   760 Lou Shapiro            64 Silver Spring MD          21:45 
    2   374 Lee Young              64 Chillum MD                29:03 
    3   416 Tony Measham           72 Chevy Chase MD            29:36 

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