How low will the times go? There is no speed limit in Fairfax. The school yard at Paul VI Catholic High School was quiet until the front line broke free. The 3rd PVI Runfest 5K had assembled the most competitive field in its history; something was going to happen. No one said it was going to be easy. The weather was overcast and mild; humidity almost near perfect for this time of year. There were 400 runners and walkers for the event, which was sponsored by Nike, Metro Run & Walk, Franey, Parr & Muha, Inc., and Clarke-Hook Corporation.

A pack of eight had formed going into the first mile in 4:35 including Thomas Omwenga, David Njunga, Henry Kipngetich and Anthony Korir, all from Kenya. Trailing 50 meters back was Ben Cooke of Silver Spring, MD in ninth place.

Martha Komu and Hannah Njeri of Kenya led going through the first mile. The record holder and defending winner (17:16), Caroline Tynan of Sterling, VA, was holding in third and passed the first mile in 5:25.

The two loop rolling course did present a small challenge. Going into the second loop the pack had dissolved quickly down to three, Kori, Omwenga and Njunga. The pace took its toll. Cooke advanced into sixth place.

Komu had pulled away from Njeri and Tynan and was running unopposed going into the second loop.

It was down to an all-out sprint over the last 400 meters, Korir had the edge over Omwenga and Njunga. In the last 100 meters Korir threw in the final surge and only two seconds separated the top three as Korir won with 14:12, a new event record. In addition to the $300 for first, a bonus of $100 was collected for a new record. Omwenga was second in 14:14, Njunga was third in 14:16. Henry Kipchirchir was fourth in 14:36 followed by David Kipngetich in fifth with 14:42 and Cooke was sixth in 14:51. The first four runners all finished under the old record of 14:42 set last year by Eliud Barngetuny.

"Now I know the course, I could run it faster. I really enjoyed it and I wasn't fighting too much. The course was very nice and the pace was fast," said Korir.

The winning masters division runner, in seventh place, was Simon Karori of Kenya in 15:44. The record is 15:31 set by John Tuttle of Douglassville, GA. Dave Berardi of Baltimore was the second masters runner in 16:15 (9th place), followed by Dan Lawson of Gaithersburg, MD, in 16:25 (10th place).

"I came out for the competition and I got that and more. I hope that we can get some local runners and run with the guys. I raced against three of them in West Virginia. I try to be as tough as I can when I run. It shows that everybody has their day. I'm not disappointed. I feel like I did a good job," said Cooke.

Komu pushed harder going into the second mile and went on to win in a record-setting time of 16:36 and collected the bonus prize. Njeri was second in 17:05 followed by Tynan in third with 17:41. Lory Gray of Alexandria was fourth in 18:33, followed by Laura Freix of Centreville, VA., in 19:31. Fried set a new masters record and collected the $100 bonus.

"I'm happy and it was tough uphill and downhill. I was concerned about Hannah coming back up on me. I ran faster in the last mile. My best 5K time has been 16:01. I would be happy to come back next year," said Komu.

"I felt good and I ran a consistent pace about 6:20. I was sure that I could break the record but I didn't know that I would get $100. I felt comfortable about the other masters around me," said Freix.

The second masters division runner was Betty Blank of Falls Church, in 20:48. The third master was Beth McCann of Falls Church, in 21:00.

"Each year we take another step. We could not do this without the athletes and sponsors and community. We will be back next year with some new things," said Ed Zigo, Race Director.

See the top fifteen male and female finishers in the Washington Running Report's Results section.