It’s a Sunday morning in December, a few minutes past 9. The weather is gray and cool and still, perfect for running.
RunWashington Editor in Chief Charlie Ban and Patrick Benko, who is 32 and a relatively recent running convert, meet at the chosen starting line: the gates to the Van Ness Metro station in Northwest Washington, D.C.
A train bound for Glenmont takes them both by surprise when it pulls into the station, Charlie yells out, “GO!, GO!” And like that, they split – Charlie, with his notebook, down the escalator towards the platform; Patrick, dressed to run, up the escalator towards the street.
The finish line is the entrance to the Foggy Bottom station, where escalators meet sidewalk.
To be clear, this race is not in any way intended to be some sort of commentary on D.C.’s Metro. This was just a little experiment – a bar bet, if you will. We wanted to make the race as fair as possible, to set a good example for runner safety, to obey all Metro rules (at least the ones we are aware of), and, lastly, gain a heightened sense of how – on the weekend, anyway – steel wheels on rail compare to sneakers on pavement.
Patrick faces about three and a half miles of sidewalks, and has agreed to obey all stop signs and traffic signals.
Charlie, in turn, faces roughly 20 to 30 minutes of public transiting. That includes five stops on the red line to Metro Center; a transfer; three stops on the Orange-and-Blue line to Foggy Bottom; and a controlled hustle (no running in the Metro!) from the platform to the street.
Patrick has a 5k personal best of 20:02. Charlie, well, Charlie has a rapid transit system that much of the time really is.
So, before we go further with this, place your bets. Who will win?
Man or runner?
Patrick on foot or Charlie via Metro?
Actually, before you get serious about your bet, let us tell you more about our competitors.
Patrick Benko, you should know, has already beaten the Metro at least once on foot. One of those times occurred on a Wednesday morning in September, when power failures caused major delays on Metro’s red line, which Patrick uses to commute from Shady Grove (near his home in Gaithersburg) to Chinatown (the closest stop to his job at the American Public Health Association, where he specializes in online marketing).
While some Metro riders were forced to evacuate the red line that day in September, Patrick’s decision to evacuate in Friendship Heights was entirely his own. Why not? He planned to run during his lunchtime, anyway. So rather than make like a sardine in a crowded train, he exited the station and took off running. An hour later, Patrick was at his desk and the train was still stuck in the tunnel. And, Patrick had already gotten his run in.
As it happens, Patrick runs about 30 miles per week, and has made exiting the red line to go running a regular habit.
In fact, according to Patrick math, one minute on the train equals two minutes of running.
And seriously, who reading this magazine wouldn’t want to trade 30 minutes of commuting with an hour of running?
Sometimes he gets off the Metro in Bethesda and runs down the Capital Crescent Trail. Other times, he gets off at Van Ness and runs south on Connecticut Avenue. He carries his work clothes in a Camelbak backpack; on his off days, he carries an extra set of work clothes to lighten his load on the days he runs. He showers when gets to work. And, with good planning, Patrick attests, side trips to Macy’s to buy a belt before the big meeting are easily avoided.
Patrick emerges onto the streets outside Van Ness, starts his watch, and takes off running South on Connecticut.
This is the runners’ hour, when the streets are practically empty, when it’s quiet enough to hear birds. There are enough hours between now and brunch, you figure, that many hangovers have yet to be realized. The car horns have yet to return. The sidewalks have yet to fill up. And the city, at least for now, feels like it’s all yours.
Patrick is running comfortably hard and steady, a couple minutes off his 5k PR pace.
Occasionally, he passes by a runner heading north. He passes a contemplative soul taking a picture of a tree with his phone. He passes people milling about with their coffees. “On your left,” he shouts, as he passes a young man dragging a rolling suitcase.
You can hear the whine of the escalators as he passes the Cleveland Park station. Pretty soon he’s cruising past the Woodley stop.
Crossing the Connecticut Avenue Bridge, his eyes stay focused on the road ahead, his memorized route – not the trees and water and running paths of Rock Creek Park far below.
He had done a test run of his route on Friday morning – at a time no doubt, when the Metro would have been harder to beat.
But he’s having one of those city runs today where everything seems to be conspiring in his favor. In other words, he’s catching all the walk signs. It’s not until Calvert, in fact, that he has to come to a complete stop, and even then it’s only for a second or two that only seems to refresh him a bit before he surges on.
This race is neck and neck.
And below ground, previously-unthought-of-efficiencies of weekend Metro riding reveal themselves: like the absence of people ignoring warnings to, as it goes, stand clear of the closing doors.
Charlie is loving it. He has two seats to himself. He has a newspaper to read. Dude’s content.
But he’s also alert. He knows his transfer in Metro Center is critical. He won’t have much time, you see, to hit a quick transfer to the Orange- and-Blue that could more or less guarantee himself a perch on I Street, where he could stand there reading his Kindle and pretend not to even notice Patrick entering his kick as he turns off Washington Circle.
Entering the Metro Center platform, he heads to the nearest escalator. It seems, at first glance, that everyone is standing on the right side. But it only takes one, and one there is. On his way down the escalator Charlie sees the train pulled up to the platform, doors open. Charlie clears his throat; it doesn’t work. Finally, he says out loud, “walk, please,” which doesn’t work, either.
He reaches the bottom of the escalator just as the doors close. Making matters worse, as the train pulls away, he looks up at the
board and sees “14 minutes,” like some grossly positive split that has no doubt doomed his race.
He takes a seat on a granite bench and sulks, thinking about all the ground Patrick is covering above.
But wait! Charlie almost got on the wrong train! The right train is only a minute away!
This race is back on!
Charlie clocks an 8:47 transfer. Now he’s back on the train, moving again, confident.
Patrick, meantime, hangs a smooth right on Florida, gliding between a small group at the corner. He spots a walk sign and, after looking both ways, darts through a crosswalk.
He crosses Mass Ave. He’s on 22nd bound for K Street and Washington Circle, the end in sight.
All of this would have seemed so improbable just a few years ago.
Patrick had played sports in high school and college. But for a decade after that, he was largely inactive, and a smoker.
He quit smoking in 2010. That year, he also started training for the Marine Corps Marathon so he could run it for Team Travis and Brendan, which raises money for the Travis Manion Foundation.
Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion and Lt. (SEAL) Brendan Looney were best friends and U.S. Naval Academy roommates who both made the ultimate sacrifice. Patrick attended high school with Looney.
Even so, Patrick says, were it not for his wife, Jackie Benko, he could have been a one-and-done marathoner. When
he joined Montgomery County Road Runners’ first-time marathoners group in 2010, Jackie joined, too – figured she’d keep her husband company. Now they’ve run MCM three years in a row, and Patrick has his sights set on the upcoming Rock-n-Roll USA Half Marathon.
As he double-steps the Foggy Bottom escalators, Charlie is sure victory is his. But as he gets closer to the street, he recognizes Patrick’s bright-orange Team Travis and Brendan shirt, and, at the top, graciously accepts his defeat.
Patrick, according to his watch, has covered 3.34 miles in 22:24, with less than 15 seconds of that spent not running. He hit an average pace of 6:43 per mile, just as he said he would.
Charlie, and the Metro, they had a good “run,” too, coming in only about a minute behind.
But for Patrick, with three marathons under his belt now and a new year approaching, the win is sweet – confidence boosting, even. He has a good story, maybe one that will inspire future generations.
On a Sunday morning in December, Patrick Benko laced up his shoes, took off running, and beat the machine.
He also got in a solid tempo run.
Two years later, D.C.’s Alison Meek attempted a shorter but less complex challenge- sprinting between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations to see if she could catch the same train, after .4 miles of running. Her 3:36 time wasn’t enough, but she caught the train immediately following the one she disembarked.
You can see the video she and friends made here.
This story originally appeared in the February/March 2013 issue of RunWashington.
Everything is supposed to hurt during a marathon.
Right?
That’s what Kate Volzer told herself in Philadelphia. Her legs were tired, back was sore, hip ached, but it all seemed like a temporary price to pay for the race she was running, the race of her life.
“My hip had been hurting for a month, but given the mileage I was running, it made sense something would be nagging,” she said.
All of those miles paid off — she brought a 2:53 home to Arlington and enjoyed a few days off before she rejoined her GRC Racing teammates and Potomac Runners. But when she headed out the door to run again, she greeted a pain far worse than she had felt in the city of brotherly love.
Her physical therapist assured her it was a hamstring injury, at worst a tear, and it would heal with rest. A few doctors said that. For months, she followed the frustrating cycle of testing and resting, finding herself an unwitting initiate of a large distance running fraternity. The injured. Delta-Ow-Docta.
It starts with change. Something more than the body is ready to handle. Too much new mileage, too many work- outs, trusting too blindly in faddy running shoes. The averages say it’s going to catch up with everyone eventually, everyone who pushes themselves to get faster. Sometimes a mild injury in one place can cause a form change that has musculoskeletal repercussions, like the plantar fascitis that help fell the erstwhile indestructible Michael Wardian.
He was absent from race results for the first time in more than 10 years in 2012. After thousands upon thousands of miles, his body didn’t have an answer, and in August he was sidelined with five pelvic stress fractures. “The longest I’ve ever taken off was a day here or there when I’m traveling,” he said. “It feels like something’s missing.“
Perhaps it’s the 110 miles a week, or the ability to run the Houston Marathon the morning after competing in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials since he was already in town.
He attributes some of his injury to lack of sleep, because he and his wife take turns watching their son, Grant, who has recently suffered from seizures, which are under control now. With more rest and recovery, he hopes to be running in late October or early November. Though he targets the Kansas City North Face Endurance Challenge, he’ll be happy to race the local Kinhaven 5k, which benefits his sons’ school.
In the meantime, he bikes, including a one-day trip down Skyline Drive, to keep himself in shape. He’s not exactly sitting on the couch watching television.
“Now I feel like I’m a real runner,” he said. “Everyone else I know has dealt with an injury. I’m putting my time in. This is a blip on the radar.”
“Every time I’d go out for a run, I’d cross my fingers and say ‘please don’t hurt, please don’t hurt…’”
Doctors advised Volzer to find a new sport, take a corti- sone shot or elect for surgery, but it was too early for her to go under the knife. She took total rest for a few weeks and gave it another shot.
No dice. This time, her right hip joined in.
Her doctor suggested the body’s symmetry was too uncanny to ignore. Further testing confirmed that her right labrum was also torn.
“I had already made the decision to go with surgery on the left hip, so by this point I figured I might as well take care of everything, rather than start up again and be forced to rehabilitate all over again.”
So she was sliced up twice in August — left, then right, for each labrum to be repaired and irritating bone to be shaved down. She’s looking at a late November return to running. In the meantime, though, she faces some existential questions.
“When you are at a certain level of running and then you can’t run due to injury, you tend to feel like you are no longer an elite runner because you aren’t technically running,” she said. “So if you aren’t the elite runner that you were and so badly want to be again, who are you? Who am I when I am injured? Am I still a runner?”
Liz Greenlaw’s body has given her almost two years’ worth of reasons to stop running.
Riding high on a string of great races in early 2011, she was looking ahead to that fall’s Marine Corps Marathon. A stress fracture took her out, and she discovered she, like Volzer, had torn a labrum and would need surgery. She recovered from her fall 2011 procedure and gingerly ran again in the spring, gaining confidence in fun races, running under a family alias. She was primed for Marine Corps, and her fitness was coming along, until she felt her pelvis shift during a Capital Area Runners workout. She took time off and tried again to run for an hour in August. Afterward she knew she had to beg down to the 10k. Now, with another stress fracture diagnosed, she can just wait and start over.
But she will start over. She saw the course toward her potential with some great races and knew that wasn’t “it.” “I have total confidence I can get back to that,” she said. “There’s more running for me to do.”
She keeps her age group award from the 2009 Marine Corps race framed above her bedroom door so she sees a reminder of better times whenever she walks out
“I remember how it felt to run healthy. I miss the adrenaline. I replay old races in my head, tough, challenging ones that ended up to be rewarding.”
When Keith Kauffman works with injured runners, he keeps them focused on the present.
“There’s a temptation to get caught in the past or the future,” he said. “The regret, the what ifs. Athletes aren’t the best at staying patient.”
He’s a sports psychologist with offices in Alexandria and Washington who also works with Catholic University’s sport psychology research lab.“Confidence is a tenuous thing when your body fails you,” he said. “There’s the fear of re-injury, concerns about lost fitness and the motivation to try and do too much when they get back.”
He said many injured runners show depressive symptoms, in part because of their separation from their ex- ercise outlet, but more because they are missing out on what they enjoy, which includes social time for many. As a result, injuries can be harder on high school athletes. “Their teams are often their primary social group,” Kaufman said. “Injured time is time away from their friends and less attention from their coach.”
College student-athletes carry the added complication of losing a scholarship when mental burnout and extended injury lead them to walk away. Post-collegiate runners, though, face different concerns, especially as they age.
“I think knowing and being able to accept when a window has closed are potentially huge challenges for athletes, particularly when their identities have long been tied to their sport,” he said. “This is why an injury that is career-threatening could be so devastating,” because they have to face the limitations that their body puts on them. “They may be left with an unsettling feeling of, ‘what now?’”
Runners aren’t doomed to lives of injury and frustration, though. Through all the discipline and routine rehab, there’s some hope. Dan Weiser took his first significant run in five months on Sept. 23, 2012. His poorly-aligned kneecaps deteriorated to the point where running was out of the question and climbing stairs or even hopping over curbs was a problem. He didn’t deal with a draconian physician, though.
“My surgeon (John Klimkiewicz) never says ‘don’t run,’ but always works with me to find ways to keep active,” he said.
Weiser races a range of distances from 400 meters to 50k. Variety is not as enticing if he isn’t wearing the rubber off of his shoes.
“Weights, stretching and swimming don’t do it for me,” he said, noting that biking also hurts his knees. “I miss the camaraderie of other runners.”
As a coordinator for DC Capital Striders’ evening Mall runs, he remains at the center of activity for the popular group runs. Now, he’s on his way back.
His physical therapist, Alan Brodnick, had him try alternating walking and light running for a minute at at a time. He increased it slowly, held back when necessary.
“I felt great and wanted to keep running, especially as other runners passed me,” he said. “I wanted to end the run feeling great, not in any pain, so that was my motivation for staying at five minutes.”
Lindsay Wilkins couldn’t do any cross training when she was hurt. In spring 2009, she tripped and tore the ham- string away from her right “sit bone.” It wasn’t something doctors normally saw in runners; rather, it was more of a hockey or water skiing injury. For six weeks, she was trapped in a hip cast. She could stand and lie down. No sitting. And certainly no Pacers racing team workouts. Traveling meant lying in her hatchback as her husband Brian drove her to doctor’s appointments.
“It was a very difficult adjustment, but that surgery was the only way I’d be able to run competitively again,” she said. Removing the cast at the end of six weeks was liberating, but the atrophy in her leg forced her to re-learn how to walk. Her subsequent stab at running was gradual.
“It was like I had never run a step in my life,” she said. After more than a year, she felt something click. Unlike the well-documented fracturing of a bone or snap of a tendon, instead she felt like a runner again, the kind who was once 10 seconds away from winning a marathon two years prior. She was back, and it was time to see what “back” meant.
Her shot at the 2011 Chicago Marathon said it all. On a day much warmer than her 2008 Marine Corps runner up, she finished a mere minute off of her PR.
The whole process made her much more mentally tough.
“Feeling bad in a race is nothing compared to the misery of not being able to run,” she said.
Volzer has been careful in the weeks following surgery. She’s taking her rehab seriously and her cross training lightly.“My personality is a little pessimistic,” she said. “I’m always worrying about worst-case scenarios, and I’ve wondered at times what I will do if I start running again and the surgeries didn’t fix anything.”
She said even as the months piled on without an answer, she never gave up on running.
“I never lost hope, I got upset when I had a setback, but I never thought I wouldn’t be running again someday.” While she is waiting to resume her old life, Volzer can go to happy hours and meet up with friends after work instead of hitting the track. But that doesn’t mean it’s not on her mind. Or that she doesn’t miss her GRC racing team and Potomac Runners training partners.
“I daydream about when I run again, all the time,” she said. “I don’t care how slow I’ll be, I know I’ll be smiling the whole time.”
Not bad for a self-described pessimist.
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2012 issue of RunWashington.
Almost 15,000 runners had a perfect day for the inaugural Nike Women’s Half Marathon, though one stood out more than others.
Leading the packs of first-time half marathoners and visitors seeing the nation’s capital on foot for the first time, Alexandria’sSamia Akbar felt happy to run again.
[button-red url=”http://werundclive.com” target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]As she ran far ahead of her competition from the first mile, having the city to herself, on her way to winning in 1:19:32 over McLean’s Wendi Robinson’s 1:21:06, Akbar felt each step bringing her closer to the kind of appreciation for the sport that had worked itself out through repeated workouts, races and seasons.
“I got really nervous on the starting line because I’ve run for a living for years and I’d have such an ultra-competitive mindset before the gun,” she said. “This was a really nice chance for me to just go out and enjoy what I was doing. For the first time in a long time in a road race, I was able to actually hear the people cheering and it was fun seeing bands and step teams.”
It’s not as though running was bad for Akbar, who started running at Oakton High School before earning All-American honors at 10k at American University and running professionally for Reebok, including an Army 10 Miler win and qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials. But the routine that went into that training wore on her, and she hasn’t raced much lately.
“Had I run this a few years ago, I don’t think I would have appreciated it the same way,” she said. “It had a lot of switchbacks that slow you down, but those switchbacks gave you a chance to hear cheering on the other side every step of the way.”
Impressive as her pace was, Akbar served as a warmup act for nearly 14,500 others, many of whom were thrilled to finish.
Elainna Wright, of Alexandria, had never run more than 10 miles before, but with the help of coworker Samantha Bennett, she conquered the vicious 11th mile and broke through to the finish.
When confronted with the distance she had never run before, she gained a lot of motivation from the music in the 9th Street tunnel under the mall and a point when she told herself: “I can do this. I know I can, I’m just going to do this.”
The crowds on Pennsylvania Avenue pumped her up, and she got a lot of support from the volunteers.
“I’m not great at pacing myself, so Sam helped a lot,” Wright said. “She stayed back with me.”
Marisa Guerette of West Chester, Pa. and Lentine Zahler of
Oakland, Calif. approach 10k. Photo: Charlie Ban
Among those who stayed back were 1984 Olympic Marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson and Olympic distance runner Shalane Flanagan, who ran with Samuelson’s daughter, Abby, all finishing in 1:32.
The race partnered with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program, which attracted many visitors to the race. A group of four women from Ottawa all delighted in what the race had to offer.
“It was unreal,” said LeeAnne Ashfield. “You feel a real sense of community with all of these runners. It’s a special and emotional race for everyone.”
Nadia Maruschak got to see a single cherry blossom on a tree, her goal for the trip.
Sisters Alisha Prater and Chandra Von Tiechman ran in memory of their mother, whom they lost to multiple myeloma 10 years ago.
The course started at Freedom Plaza and after a trip through the Ninth Street tunnel, followed much of the Cherry Blossom course, come back through the tunnel after a trip around Hains Point for a loop around the Capitol reflecting pool before finishing back at Freedom Plaza. Prater enjoyed the trips across the Alrington Memorial Bridge in mile three, being able to see runners ahead of and behind her. The race’s entry fee was steep–$160 for most with a $40 college student discount, but much of that went to cover the silver Tiffany’s necklace awarded to all finishers.
RunWashington’s Maggie Lloyd wrote about working the finish line
Though it was billed as the women’s half marathon, the race was open to men, and more than 538 ran. Some, like Arlington’sMatt Meldroum, were pressed into service when friends or significant others couldn’t make it. His girlfriend, Kristin Salvatora, prepared for the race with Team in Training, and made it to her 11-mile training run before spraining her ankle two weeks ago. Concerns that she could also be suffering a stress fracture led her to drop out, a decision she called “heartbreaking,” and have Meldroum run for her. Except she didn’t tell him it was a primarily female race.
“I was a little overwhelmed on the metro, all the women,” he said. “I definitely stood out, people were looking at me a little weird, but I kept going on strong.
“There were a lot of signs for free high fives. I cashed in on that, I was just trying to raise the energy!”
Some, like North Bethesda’s Darren West, ran to lend support. His wife, Elizabeth, was running her first half marathon and he wanted to be there with her. Though they ran separately, he got to see her on the course and said she was doing great.
“I didn’t feel weird at all, there was fantastic energy,” he said. “She was really excited to take her running to the next level. The Tiffany’s ‘bling’ was definitely an incentive.”
lead a pack through mile three at the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. Photo: Charlie Ban
By Dickson Mercer
Alexandria, VA
April 22, 2012
For the Washington Running Report
Sean Graham almost backed out. In the week leading up to today’s George Washington Parkway Classic, the 32-year-old Pacers athlete missed three days of training due to illness. By Friday, Graham was feeling better. By Saturday, elite athlete coordinator Jordan Zwick was urging him to give it a shot.
[button-red url=”http://www.swimbikerunphoto.com” target=”_self” position=”left”] Photos [/button-red]Good thing Graham took Zwick’s advice. Near the 7-mile mark, Graham took the lead and proceeded to put 61 seconds on runner-up Eddie Jones, 35, of Boise, ID. He won Pacers Event’s annual 10-mile race in 51:03.
Running his first race in the DC area, Jones was impressed. “I started pulling away and he just came out of nowhere,” he said of Graham at the finish in Old Town Alexandria.
Graham moved to Arlington from Oregon three years ago. Both he and Jones have sub 14-minute 5K speed and are relatively new to the 10-mile race distance.
Runners were greeted at the start in Mount Vernon with overcast skies, a cool temperature, and an off-and-on drizzle. For the first hour or so, rain was not much of a factor. And even though the rolling point-to-point course on the George Washington Parkway featured a fairly steady headwind, runners mostly praised the conditions.
“It was not too hot, not too cold, pretty much perfect for 10 miles,” Graham said.
Matthew Barresi, 29, of Falls Church was third in 52:18. Jordan McDougal, 24, and Charlie Ban, 29, of McLean ran 52:52 and 53:24, respectively, rounding out the race’s contest for top Americans. Ethiopia’s Seife Geletu broke up the contingent with a time of 52:41, good for 4th overall.
Geletu lives in Washington, DC with fellow Ethiopian and course record-holder Demesse Tefera, who in 2007 posted 47:30. (The women’s course record-holder is Tatiana Chulakh of Russia, who the same year clocked 55:39.)
Derik Thomas, 46, of Alexandria was top master in 57:33.
“There was a headwind,” Thomas said. “It was steady. Once you got to mile 8, you were exposed to it. It hit hard.”
Thomas, however, had the benefit of a pack to work with – five guys working together, running in a line – that carried him through a negative-split effort, he said.
Thomas’s wife, Lisa Thomas, was second in 1:00:25, bested only by Ethiopia’s Tiringo Getachew Shiferaw.
“The weather was hard,” said Shiferaw, who was pleased to get the win in 58:50.
Thomas, 36, competed in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in January but has nonetheless maintained a steady spring racing schedule. This was her best finish at the GW Parkway Classic yet.
“It usually takes something like this … to get me concentrated for the summer and fall,” said Thomas.
Laura O’Hara, 32, of Alexandria was third in 1:01:04. Michaela Courtney of Arlington (1:02:24), Kerry Allen of DC (1:02:39), and Jenny FitzGerald (1:02:55) of Woodbridge, VA rounded out the top 5 Americans. Samantha Kirby Cole, 43, of Arlington was top master and 9th overall in 1:04:48.
With more than 8,000 runners registered, the 10-miler had nearly 5,000 finishers and the 5K had more than 800.
For Andrea Ricketts, 28, of Alexandria, who wore a Boston Marathon shirt, today’s 10-mile race gave her confidence that recent injury troubles are behind her, she said. Ricketts finished in 1:12:33 and is plotting a return to Hopkinton.
From the finish chute, runners had just a short walk to the post-race celebration in Oronoco Bay Park.
Before heading there, Greg Gonzalez, 41, sporting the T-shirt from his first race –
October’s Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon – took a second or two to catch his breath.
Gonzalez’ friend and coach, Noah Simon, 36, of Arlington, a runner of 15 years, was congratulating him for running a huge “PR,” except Gonzalez had no idea what the term meant.
“I don’t know what that means … Oh, personal best,” he said.
As it happens, Gonzalez had entered the GW Parkway Classic, his second race, with the simple goal of averaging faster than the 8:28 pace he had averaged in October. But, pushed by Simon, Gonzalez gutted out 1:16:44, nearly a minute-per-mile faster than that.
Just a year ago, the lawyer discovered that running helped him solve problems he was having with his back.
10 Mile
FEMALE OVERALL RESULTS
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ======= =======
1 52 Shiferaw Tiringo-Geta 27 Alexandria VA 58:49.2 58:49.2
2 32 Lisa Thomas 36 Alexandria VA 60:24.2 60:23.9
3 8 Laura O'Hara 32 Alexandria VA 61:03.6 61:03.6
4 5 Michaela Courtney 28 Arlington VA 62:23.9 62:23.9
5 4092 Kerry Allen 23 Washington DC 62:38.9 62:38.2
6 4449 Jenny Fitzgerald 32 Woodbridge VA 62:55.6 62:54.9
MALE OVERALL RESULTS
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ======= =======
1 4 Sean Graham 32 Alexandria VA 51:02.6 51:02.6
2 2 Eddie Ernest-Jones 35 Boise ID 52:03.1 52:03.1
3 3144 Matthew Barresi 29 Falls Church VA 52:17.9 52:17.9
4 49 Seife Geletu 30 Washington DC 52:41.0 52:41.0
5 38 Jordan McDougal 24 Warrenton VA 52:51.8 52:51.8
6 18 Charlie Ban 29 McLean VA 53:23.1 53:22.9
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 10 - 19
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 3222 Katie Necochea 17 Springfield VA 1:12:25.5 1:11:57.8
2 4379 Mary Johnson 18 Alexandria VA 1:30:01.4 1:27:46.2
3 925 Lyssa Bantleon 19 Sewickley PA 1:29:08.8 1:27:59.8
4 4984 Tate-Louisa Mikkelsen 14 Alexandria VA 1:33:33.3 1:32:07.0
5 3518 Kayla Stamey 17 Herndon VA 1:34:36.0 1:34:02.2
MALE AGE GROUP: 10 - 19
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 1300 Lewis Millholland 16 Falls Church VA 1:04:38.4 1:04:35.7
2 3970 Murray Iv Johnston 14 Alexandria VA 1:17:51.2 1:17:12.6
3 5265 James Culcasi 16 Merchantville NJ 1:19:49.3 1:17:36.3
4 2412 John Green 16 Arlington VA 1:19:19.5 1:18:55.0
5 1793 Eric Esposito 14 Sterling VA 1:20:07.7 1:19:52.2
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 29
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 2063 Kyra Rathbun 25 Alexandria VA 1:03:02.6 1:03:01.2
2 5201 Lauren Woodall 26 Washington DC 1:03:10.6 1:03:10.2
3 1839 Phoebe Markle 28 Alexandria VA 1:04:52.7 1:04:50.3
4 6091 Sarah Brown 25 Washington DC 1:05:32.0 1:05:30.9
5 4469 Katie Schettig 29 Washington DC 1:05:39.0 1:05:34.1
MALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 29
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 51 Chalie Bitew 24 Washington DC 54:00.1 54:00.1
2 19 Garret Martucci 23 Arlington VA 55:06.0 55:06.0
3 1066 Gregory Mariano 26 Arlington VA 55:41.3 55:41.3
4 4089 Brian McCabe 26 Washington DC 56:22.2 56:22.2
5 1119 Tripp Southerland 27 Washington DC 57:08.4 57:08.4
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 39
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 4209 Stephanie George 30 Chevy Chase MD 1:06:59.0 1:06:55.6
2 2726 Georgeanne Fayrweathe 33 Annandale VA 1:07:10.4 1:07:05.7
3 4353 Amanda Juratovic 33 Alexandria VA 1:08:47.1 1:08:34.8
4 5712 Abigail Stiles 32 Norfolk VA 1:09:09.8 1:09:03.8
5 57 Kimberly Gayton 37 Wellington VA 1:10:49.1 1:10:34.5
MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 39
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 1495 Hugh Toland 31 Fairfax VA 55:31.4 55:31.4
2 1643 Jose I Gonzalez 33 Arlington VA 55:34.3 55:34.3
3 5747 Keith Levasseur 33 Columbia MD 57:31.9 57:31.9
4 4676 Jeremiah Doyle 31 Arlington VA 58:42.8 58:42.8
5 179 Richard Rapine 39 Alexandria VA 59:12.8 59:12.4
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 9 Samantha Cole 43 Arlington VA 1:04:47.5 1:04:47.2
2 5710 Suzanne Himes 42 Alexandria VA 1:05:48.3 1:05:42.6
3 7 Bridget Bowers 41 Alexandria VA 1:07:08.2 1:07:06.8
4 2086 Lori Wallace 41 Alexandria VA 1:12:15.9 1:07:27.5
5 3541 Amy Smith 41 Fairfax VA 1:09:58.1 1:09:48.7
MALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 4423 David Kent 40 Arlington VA 59:59.5 59:59.5
2 4323 Evan Weisel 40 Alexandria VA 1:00:13.9 1:00:13.9
3 4063 Andrew Pugh 42 Washington DC 1:00:47.6 1:00:43.1
4 116 Dave Cahill 40 Arlington VA 1:01:27.7 1:01:26.4
5 4036 Reynolds Wilson 40 Arlington VA 1:01:48.8 1:01:47.1
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 770 Mary Gellerup Bolich 49 Plymouth WI 1:10:24.1 1:10:19.7
2 2659 Elizabeth Dann 45 Arlington VA 1:14:58.5 1:14:41.1
3 5064 Barbara Noe 47 Alexandria VA 1:16:10.8 1:16:10.8
4 5838 Nancy Lopez 46 Alexandria VA 1:21:11.5 1:16:34.8
5 5755 Patricia Cuff 47 Alexandria VA 1:18:13.4 1:17:48.0
MALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 35 Derik Thomas 46 Alexandria VA 57:33.0 57:33.0
2 5987 Chris Rotunno 49 Washington DC 1:02:46.3 1:02:44.2
3 629 John Rhodes 46 Herndon VA 1:03:25.1 1:03:23.0
4 4132 Shawn Buettner 45 Washington DC 1:05:18.6 1:04:01.4
5 2518 Kenneth Springer 45 Alexandria VA 1:04:18.4 1:04:05.6
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 2657 Lorraine Ross 51 Arlington VA 1:12:20.3 1:12:11.1
2 952 Teresa Lent 50 Arlington VA 1:14:22.7 1:14:04.4
3 4891 Blake Rushin 50 Vienna VA 1:17:09.9 1:17:00.3
4 2941 Linda Kennedy 51 Alexandria VA 1:19:42.3 1:19:06.3
5 409 Darcy Gruttadaro 51 Arlington VA 1:20:30.3 1:19:13.0
MALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 48 Greg Cauller 52 York PA 59:33.2 59:33.2
2 5986 William Clem 52 Bethesda MD 1:06:26.5 1:06:23.8
3 5988 Philip Bender 50 Washington DC 1:10:16.8 1:10:10.2
4 1682 Gregg Brinegar 51 Alexandria VA 1:10:19.9 1:10:15.6
5 2336 Gerald Bruce 51 Alexandria VA 1:11:40.8 1:11:31.9
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 4972 Carole Jones 55 Ashburn VA 1:13:35.5 1:13:20.4
2 2817 Julie Lee 55 Arlington VA 1:23:53.5 1:23:38.7
3 3521 Joanne Hampton 55 Purcellville VA 1:24:15.9 1:23:42.2
4 1619 Tobin Gatto 56 Alexandria VA 1:26:48.2 1:25:28.0
5 3575 Martha Martin 55 Burke VA 1:26:36.0 1:25:58.7
MALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 1873 Bruce Halpin 55 Ashburn VA 1:04:55.1 1:04:53.1
2 4278 Dan Mendelson 55 Washington DC 1:08:36.6 1:08:35.7
3 2553 Peter Blair 56 Alexandria VA 1:10:49.8 1:10:31.8
4 5084 Ken Krehbiel 58 Washington DC 1:12:57.5 1:12:54.9
5 586 Steve Thienel 59 Columbia MD 1:13:08.8 1:12:58.0
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 793 Lynne Kidder 61 Frederick MD 1:31:21.4 1:30:57.7
2 2425 Leslie Stanfield 62 Reston VA 1:32:32.7 1:30:58.5
3 2465 Shirley Compton 63 New Middletown OH 1:36:57.1 1:33:30.2
4 1951 Tom Montgomery 62 Woodbridge VA 1:36:18.9 1:34:20.0
5 888 Mariam Morad 62 San Diego CA 1:40:19.9 1:39:03.7
MALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 6356 Chris Arey 61 Stafford VA 1:11:13.0 1:11:00.6
2 2798 Donald Kearns Jr 60 Falling Waters WV 1:13:22.6 1:13:08.3
3 1833 Harry O'Hara 63 Fredonia NY 1:13:15.4 1:13:11.7
4 3120 Frank Spicer Jr 60 Clifton VA 1:16:32.9 1:16:27.0
5 4798 Norm Seip 60 Alexandria VA 1:17:29.2 1:17:08.4
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 1780 Mary Napoleon 66 Batesville VA 1:33:53.6 1:32:24.1
2 1192 Lucia Davidson 66 Arlington VA 1:34:46.2 1:33:07.6
3 3852 Shelley Prince 65 Mc Lean VA 1:39:57.7 1:39:57.7
4 2881 Donna Casey 65 Annandale VA 1:51:10.5 1:47:01.8
5 135 Maryellen Cameron 68 Falls Church VA 2:01:28.3 1:59:06.4
MALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 4678 Bob Chase 66 Falls Church VA 1:15:02.6 1:14:55.7
2 4351 Alan Ryder 65 Big Flats NY 1:22:13.9 1:21:43.0
3 4350 Stephen Banks 66 Springfield VA 1:22:23.7 1:21:45.5
4 2776 Gary Chase 67 Lorton VA 1:23:55.7 1:23:00.2
5 4390 Krupakar Revanna 68 Falls Church VA 1:25:25.3 1:24:37.7
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 4907 Nancy Linck 70 Alexandria VA 1:45:56.1 1:43:44.1
2 4661 John Finney Jr. 72 Arlington VA 1:54:12.1 1:52:06.2
MALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 3663 Leon Sample 72 Alexandria VA 1:27:44.4 1:27:23.2
2 609 Bill Earner 70 Crownsville MD 1:42:16.4 1:40:15.4
3 633 Gene Simaitis 74 Bowie MD 1:56:45.2 1:52:47.2
4 1360 Eric Thompson 70 Chevy Chase MD 2:08:47.8 2:03:43.4
5 2808 Robert Mulholland 73 Accokeek MD 2:16:23.8 2:13:38.5
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 79
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
MALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 79
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 80 - 84
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
MALE AGE GROUP: 80 - 84
Place No. Name Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== === ================== == ========= =========
1 1 Don Trilling 84 Alexandria VA 3:18:12.4 3:18:12.4
5K
FEMALE OVERALL RESULTS
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ======= =======
1 8936 Jackie Gruendel 5K 37 Clifton VA 18:03.9 18:03.9
2 8682 Alexandra Smargiassi 5K 20 Washington DC 20:21.3 20:20.9
3 9008 Helen Knudsen 5K 31 Washington DC 22:11.6 22:08.9
MALE OVERALL RESULTS
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ======= =======
1 8613 Keith Freeburn 5K 38 Centreville VA 17:49.1 17:49.1
2 8436 Brad Byrnes 5K 32 Alexandria VA 18:07.9 18:07.9
3 8367 Connor Pearson 5K 17 Alexandria VA 18:37.1 18:37.0
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 09
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8931 Eva Haddock 5K 9 Alexandria VA 36:12.7 34:53.8
2 8483 Khalean Honesty 5K 9 44:21.3 42:53.8
3 8754 Samantha Uhrin 5K 8 Alexandria VA 43:59.3 43:24.0
MALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 09
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 9182 George Pacious 5K 8 Alexandria VA 27:22.5 26:31.3
2 8296 Charlie McCoy 5K 8 Arlington VA 27:30.5 27:30.5
3 8692 Ian Magnell 5K 9 Woodbridge VA 30:55.7 30:00.5
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 10 - 19
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8435 Elley Donnelly 5K 16 Fort Belvoir VA 25:55.9 25:25.2
2 8060 Kassie Smith 5K 16 Virginia Beach VA 26:55.6 26:23.9
3 8438 Catherine Logrande 5K 13 Alexandria VA 26:36.8 26:28.7
MALE AGE GROUP: 10 - 19
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8439 Michael Logrande 5K 15 Alexandria VA 18:51.9 18:51.8
2 9052 Tucker Burnett 5K 15 Alexandria VA 22:33.8 22:06.7
3 8596 Andrew Wright 5K 11 Indian Head MD 22:24.8 22:24.8
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 29
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8154 Aliza Caplan 5K 25 Philadelphia PA 22:18.0 22:08.9
2 9035 Lauren Groth 5K 28 Washington DC 24:01.7 23:59.8
3 1543 Emily Godenschwager 5K 27 Reston VA 24:04.1 24:03.2
MALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 29
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8111 Miguel Matta 5K 27 Arlington VA 19:24.2 19:24.0
2 8187 Thomas Johnson 5K 28 Alexandria VA 20:40.5 20:39.5
3 8169 Wade Meyers 5K 23 Raleigh NC 22:14.3 21:30.0
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 39
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8179 Laura Scott 5K 35 Arlington VA 24:33.6 24:14.9
2 8878 Laura Bryan 5K 32 Springfield VA 25:30.3 25:26.4
3 8723 Sara Olsen 5k 33 Gaithersburg MD 25:50.8 25:36.1
MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 39
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8775 Ellins Thomas 5K 31 Gainesville VA 18:46.2 18:46.2
2 8901 Jason Bryan 5K 32 Springfield VA 19:27.9 19:27.9
3 9009 Brian Knudsen 5K 33 Washington DC 20:36.2 20:35.6
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8186 Rebecca Cranna 5K 43 Annandale VA 26:57.9 26:49.5
2 8651 Stephanie Ruiz 5K 43 Arlington VA 27:34.4 27:29.6
3 8328 Liz Brinson 5K 41 Silver Spring MD 28:42.6 27:33.2
MALE AGE GROUP: 40 - 44
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8678 Matt Erskine 5K 42 Arlington VA 22:29.2 22:28.0
2 8581 Alex Garrett 5K 43 Fairfax VA 23:17.7 23:04.9
3 9188 Daniel Twomey 5K 43 Alexandria VA 23:24.5 23:20.0
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 9059 Lorraine Wilson 5K 46 Great Falls VA 25:08.2 25:04.8
2 8180 Cheryl Logan 5K 46 Arlington VA 26:29.1 26:05.9
3 9115 Sharon Hancock 5K 46 Ashburn VA 27:52.5 27:26.0
MALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 49
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8607 Robert Martin 5K 48 Fairfax Station VA 20:05.0 20:05.0
2 8635 Jack Tade 5K 47 Falls Church VA 20:45.6 20:45.5
3 8948 Mark Harris 5K 49 Alexandria VA 21:28.7 21:10.6
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8380 Sandy Thurston 5K 54 Arlington VA 27:06.8 27:00.2
2 8057 Victoria Nguyen 5K 52 Arlington VA 27:02.8 27:02.8
3 8056 Paige Jones 5K 50 Alexandria VA 28:12.3 27:54.7
MALE AGE GROUP: 50 - 54
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 9053 Wally Burnett 5K 53 Alexandria VA 27:48.9 27:21.2
2 6066 Chuck Tyrpak 5K 51 Reston VA 28:25.1 27:48.7
3 8015 Scott Smith 5K 50 Dumfries VA 28:23.6 27:51.4
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8560 Merrilee Seidman 5K 57 Alexandria VA 25:25.2 25:25.2
2 8817 Grace Rascati 5K 55 Alexandria VA 28:01.0 27:58.0
3 8206 Rita Cook 5K 57 Bethesda MD 28:58.4 28:54.9
MALE AGE GROUP: 55 - 59
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8542 Gary Presuhn 5K 57 Burke VA 20:22.6 20:22.6
2 8559 Paul Bousel 5K 58 Alexandria VA 20:50.6 20:50.6
3 8529 Kenyon Erickson 5K 58 Vienna VA 21:00.0 20:59.6
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8401 Shannon Burcroff 5K 61 Alexandria VA 32:18.3 32:00.0
2 8053 Margaret Stancampiano 5K 62 Vienna VA 34:30.7 33:41.2
3 8309 Lynn Amende 5K 61 Edgewater MD 34:27.4 34:10.4
MALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 64
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 9012 Fred Protopappas 5K 63 Silver Spring MD 22:44.3 22:41.7
2 9016 Edwin Patout 5K 63 Washington DC 26:31.8 26:26.3
3 9011 Curt Demars-Johnson 5K 61 Okemos MI 28:29.9 28:03.5
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 79 Linda Kornett 5K 65 Annandale VA 37:50.9 36:57.6
2 8355 Teresa Revanna 5K 65 Falls Church VA 46:09.8 45:30.2
3 8386 Susan Scott 5K 66 Spotsylvania VA 51:17.7 50:27.9
MALE AGE GROUP: 65 - 69
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8881 Keith Padgett 5K 65 Alexandria VA 26:28.0 26:25.8
2 8297 Ernesto Reyes 5K 66 Arlington VA 30:49.8 30:40.4
3 9017 Warren Snaider 5K 65 Washington DC 33:00.4 32:30.4
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
MALE AGE GROUP: 70 - 74
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8908 John Gluck 5K 74 Alexandria VA 25:53.2 25:49.0
2 8141 Jim Verdier 5K 70 Alexandria VA 30:13.9 30:13.8
3 9176 Carl Magnell 5K 71 Woodbridge VA 42:21.2 41:25.9
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 79
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
MALE AGE GROUP: 75 - 79
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 80 - 84
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8359 Marilyn Karoly 5K 82 Alexandria VA 1:08:47.0 1:08:09.0
MALE AGE GROUP: 80 - 84
Place No. Name Race Age City St Guntime Nettime
===== ===== ===================== ==== === ================== == ========= =========
1 8612 Larry Dickerson 5K 80 Burke VA 28:29.8 28:28.3
“At this time last year,” Gonzalez admitted, “there was no way I could envision ever running a 10-mile race.”
By James Moreland
Broadlands, VA
March 10, 2012
For the Washington Running Report
In its 20th year this popular 5 mile race upgraded yet again. First, they certified the course (over the years the race has started from a quite a few different sides of the course). The race has already been famous for its prolific random awards. This year the race expanded to five year age groups to make the age challenge even more fair. The food has always been fun with dozens of doughnuts and coffee to go along with the healthier apples and bananas. This year there were scores of commemorative cupcakes with eatable logos. Comparing the different types for taste was an enviable task.
Last year David Nightingale battled Karl Dusen for the title winning in 23:56. Dusen’s 24:03 was solidly ahead of third place Gurmessa Megressa’s 24:25. Last year the event was a week after the mammoth St. Patrick’s Day 8K, which had been won by Demesse Tefera. Tefera started but dropped last year. This year Tefera battled New York’s Teklu Deneke, pulling away in the final sixty meter down hill charge to finish in 24:55. Dusen finished third this year in 25:53, all alone with fourth place Charlie Ban arriving nearly two minutes later. The certified course was about 250 feet longer than last year but that hardly explains the slower times. The sunny day was cool with a more than just pleasant breeze. The top reason may be that tomorrow will be national class competition at the massive (7500 person) St. Patrick’s Day 8K. Tefera will be there to defend his title.
On the women’s side which has now become the larger of the two sexes in most races, the course saw seven runners more than a minute faster than last year’s champion. Runner-up and former Runner Rankings champion Hirut Mandefro could not keep pace with Askale Merachi, a new face in town. Mandefro ran a very nice 29:02 but she was closely shadowed by two new faces, Anna Gosselin, 23, in 29:10 and Maura Carroll, 22, in 29:13. Merachi turned the final corner in seventh overall at 28:28. If the course had been a few meters longer she would have finished her rundown of sixth place man Bryan Young 28:26.
Peggy Yetman, 43 of Leesburg, VA was testing the waters again in her first race since surgery in December. Everyone in the field was amazed by her excellent 29:16, staying with the lead pack the whole way. She will tell you she was delighted with the race .She will thinking, “Another month of recovery and I could have one it all.” One of her first races after she arrived from Texas was right here just five seconds short of the title in 29:01. Mandana Mortazavi, 48, (in photo) was the second master in 35:47.
After the race, there were lots of folks to thank for the race’s continuous success and checks for Children’s National Medical Center. The race won a special award to get an additional $75,000 to add to the already massive $106,000 they had gathered from the proceeds of the event.
Awards
FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num Name Age City Time
===== ===== ======================= === ===================== =====
1 4 Askale Merachi 24 Washington DC 28:28
2 536 Hirut Mandefro 26 Washington DC 29:02
3 617 Anna Gosselin 23 Vienna VA 29:10
MALE OVERALL
Place Num Name Age City Time
===== ===== ======================= === ===================== =====
1 5 Teklu Deneke 32 New York NY 24:55
2 3 Demesse Tefera 29 Washington DC 25:00
3 615 Karl Dusen 29 Mt Airy MD 25:53
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 14
1 556 Logan Cunningham 14 Ashburn VA 39:32
2 123 Campbell Brown 13 Herndon VA 44:21
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 14
1 482 Jonathan Kerr 13 Ashburn VA 39:10
2 381 Andrew Bouras 13 Ashburn VA 39:29
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
1 289 Melissa Saunders 19 Potomac Falls VA 32:04
2 26 Amelia Jones 17 Baltimore MD 33:16
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 15 - 19
1 481 Alex Kerr 18 Ashburn VA 30:13
2 329 Steven Hurwitt 19 Ashburn VA 30:23
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
1 613 Maura Carroll 22 Washington DC 29:12
2 270 Elisabeth Flores 21 Sterling VA 35:34
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 24
1 107 John Baldwin 20 Reston VA 31:09
2 630 Jim Bradshaw Jr 20 Springfield VA 35:04
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
1 616 Susan Hendrick 26 Washington DC 30:01
2 299 Jessie Yester 27 Richmond VA 30:31
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 25 - 29
1 614 Charlie Ban 27 Falls Church VA 27:48
2 407 Nyandusi Omurwa 28 Kingston PA 28:02
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
1 233 Erica Cline 33 Leesburg VA 35:59
2 247 Kathryn Hessen 32 Ashburn VA 37:07
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 34
1 612 Brian Young 33 Washington DC 28:25
2 635 Ryan Parks 33 Fairfax VA 32:40
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
1 239 Kathleen West 36 Chantilly VA 37:54
2 181 Sally Stevenson 38 Ashburn VA 38:38
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 35 - 39
1 601 Gregory Stemberger 35 South Riding VA 28:43
2 602 Brian Szabos 38 South Riding VA 29:33
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
1 494 Peggy Yetman 43 Leesburg VA 29:15
2 323 Jill Benhart 43 Broadlands VA 40:06
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 44
1 467 Andrew O'Brien 41 Centreville VA 30:51
2 550 Atle Nesheim 43 Ashburn VA 32:42
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
1 604 Mandana Mortazavi 48 Leesburg VA 35:27
2 487 Stephanie Cappiello 48 Ashburn VA 39:27
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 45 - 49
1 619 Jim Nielsen 46 Ashburn VA 29:11
2 549 Jeff Gilliland 47 Clifton VA 32:34
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
1 25 Judy Graham 54 Baltimore MD 37:03
2 399 Sarah Buckheit 51 Reston VA 37:59
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 54
1 542 Martin Calhoun 50 Herndon VA 30:18
2 24 Nicholas Jones 52 Baltimore MD 32:37
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
1 40 Elizabeth Baumgarten 55 Stone Ridge VA 38:14
2 497 Carol Beaupre 55 Ashburn VA 45:50
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 55 - 59
1 129 Kevin Apsley 55 Herndon VA 35:22
2 448 Rob Colburn 56 Ashburn VA 37:01
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
1 310 Linda Leatherbury 60 Great Falls VA 69:20
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 64
1 334 Bill Koetter 63 Ashburn VA 42:36
2 434 Ting Yi Oei 63 Reston VA 43:56
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 65 - 69
1 254 John Baxter 65 Fairfax VA 41:37
2 219 Donald Burnham 65 Aldie VA 48:42
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 99
1 362 Chan Robbins 74 Arlington VA 40:20
2 125 James Chapman 71 Herndon VA 41:17
MALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 390 Dimitri Shanin 35 M Springfield VA 34:16
FEMALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 389 Regina Pace 41 F Springfield VA 41:05
By Karen Gardner
October 1, 2011
Shepherdstown, WV
For the Washington Running Report
Runners dodge the raindrops. Photos courtesy of Tinadawn Stratton.
For some it was their first race and for others it was their first marathon. Nearly 3,000 runners participated in the Freedom’s Run events that included a marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K in Shepherdstown, WV on Saturday, October 1. The Harpers Ferry National Historical Park was the starting location for the marathon, while the other three races started in Shepherdstown, crossed into Maryland and looped back to Shepherd University where all the events finished.
Talentino Angelosant, 52, (left) from Albuquerque, NM was the overall marathon winner with a time of 2:57:34. He was followed by Nigel Perez, 29, who finished just under three hours, 2:59:52. Jaqueline Palmer, 23, (below) of Hagerstown, MD, won the women’s marathon in 3:18:42 and Victoria Grieve, 38, from North Logan, UT took second place with a time of 3:19:20.
Afterward Palmer said she liked the hills.
In the other races, McLean’s Charlie Ban, 29, took the half marathon title in 1:12:19 and Lori Jandreau, 27, from Frederick, MD handily won the women’s half marathon in 1:32:49. The 10K winners were Stephen Malcolm, 25, from Martinsburg, WV in 39:05 and Kelly Burkak, 27, from Frederick, MD in 41:45. Martinsburg’s Brad Sponaugle, 31, won the men’s 5K in 18:13 and at age 13, Abby Colbert, from Shepherdstown topped the women’s 5K field 20:02.
Those who followed the winners had stories to tell.
John Kippen, 59, of Frederick, MD had a liver transplant in February because of cancer. The long-time runner and owner of If The Shoe Fits, a running shoe and apparel store in Frederick, finished the marathon in 5:11. He plans to run the JFK 50 Mile Run in November.
Kirke Martin, of Keedysville, MD, ran the half marathon. “I think this course is incredible,” he said. “It’s the area where I run.” Martin, a potter and a stay-at-home dad, trains while pushing a jogging stroller along the park roads at Antietam.
Shepherdstown’s John Noel, a park ranger at the C&O Canal, ran the half marathon in 1:47:50. Hill training is what got him through the race, because he does not run much.
Jennifer Scarle and Michael Burns drove in from Pennsylvania. Scarle ran her first 10K while Burns ran the half marathon. “For this course, that was a nice surprise,” said Burns who finished the half marathon in 1:33. “The battlefield is relaxing. There was a lot of different terrain, flat, rolling hills and scenic.” The pair had planned to bike to Harpers Ferry afterward along the C&O Canal, but rain was making that unlikely.
It was the first 5K for locals Gaye Henderson, 58, and Paula Tremba, 56, a cyclist, just started running. Both were excited about their finish. “I was inspired by the movie, Seabiscuit,” said Henderson. “I was shocked that running a race was so much fun.”
Katie Payne, 34, of Westminster, MD, also ran her first 5K while her husband ran the half marathon. “My husband didn’t think I could do it,” she said after finishing in just over 35 minutes. Her son Sebastian did the 1-mile Kid’s Run, making it a family affair.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail is tough. It is approximately 2,181 miles from Maine to Georgia. Four young men, Preston Lamance, 21, Dylan Ricke, 18, Jeff Wozniak, 26, and Michael Salas, 18, took a day off from hiking the Appalachian Trail to run the marathon. They left their backpacks and hiking boots with Lamance’s dad and put on running shoes.
“This is the first time I’ve ever run more than three miles,” Lamance said. His time was 4:56:42.
Ricke, who ran high school cross country, finished eighth overall in 3:11:58.
“We go from town to town having adventures,” Lamance said. Two weeks ago, he called race director Mark Cucuzzella to ask if the four could run the race. Lamance, Ricke and Salas left Mount Katahdin, ME three months ago and plan to arrive in Georgia in November or December. They hike about 20 to 30 miles a day. The four were back on the trail later day.
Freedom’s Run is truly a run through history. Marathon runners pass through Harpers Ferry, the site of a 19th century arsenal and a transportation hub where railroads and canal boats carried cargo and passengers east and west. Participants then proceed over the Potomac River on the Appalachian Trail footbridge, and head west on the C&O Canal, a 19th century engineering marvel. At the colorfully-named Miller’s Sawmill Road, runners head uphill toward Antietam National Battlefield, the site of the most deadly one-day battle in the history of the United States.
Karen Gardner is a freelance writer based in Keedysville, MD.
By James Moreland
Broadlands, VA
March 19, 2011
For the Washington Running Report
Elite racers get ready to rumble in Jon Hickman photo.
On the cusp of spring more than five hundred runners turned out for a glorious day. Scores of children enjoyed the one mile fun run. This race is famous for its scores of prizes for the young ones as well as the large amounts of money designated for Children’s National Medical Center. This year the check was for $65,000. In today’s race one young lady who you might have thought was more suited for the mile earned the “youngest, fastest award.” Ivy Richerson, just five-year-old ran the full five miles in 52:49.
There were some lone, lean runners ready to go after the cash money for the top three. Regulars Demesse Tefera and former winner Gurmessa Megerssa were, as always, among the favorites. Just last week Tefera had won it all at the St. Patrick’s Day 8K in 24:22 and event record holder (23:36) Megerssa had been fourth in 24:49. Megerssa told us that they had been doing some really challenging track workouts and Tefera had overdone it a bit and had to pull out of the race.
There were three sections in the top eight runners. Megerssa was tucked in behind Karl Dusen and David Nightingale going for the cash. Dusen was one of five runners sporting Georgetown Running logos that all finished in the top eight. The course is a fast, fair course but the first mile is a steady uphill to separate the wheat from the chaff. In the second pack Sam Luff and Ryan Hanson of Rockville were taking on Allen Carr of Washington, DC. Carr has not been seen in the last year or so but it is clear he has been training. With a light breeze it is important not to left runners pull away. Drafting helps. A couple hundred meters back Charlie Ban and Jake green were keeping each other honest. Both broke 27:00, which has been fast enough to win this race in past years. Not today.
In 2009 Abraham Ng’etich set the event record in a blazing 23:43. In all, twenty runners have broken 25:00 on this fast, runner friendly course. In the final mile Nightingale (in photo) with the longer legs pulled away to win with 23:56; a tie for the second fastest time for the event. Julius Gwako won a photo finish in that identical time with Michel Khbotov in 2003 on the old course. Megressa loped in shortly afterward in 24:25.
The age groups are only two deep in ten year age groups so the competition is fierce and usually won by the runners who have just entered an age group. Allen Vaughan, 60, was looking around at the start and felt comfortable about his chances. He started out conservatively, taking the first mile in 7:15. Then he just kept powering away to win in a very nice 35:08.
The grandmaster champion was Kevin Washburn, 53, of Centreville, VA (in photo) in 33:40. Everyone recognizes the Washburn name. Walt Washburn, who turns 89 in October, has been a regular on the racing circuit for scores of years. He owns three American records for 80 and older. Until lately he was an active member of the 50 Plus Club, a club with a goal to race fifty races in a year. Walt had a few setbacks but do not be surprised if he comes back out on the roads again. Mike Cannon, who was second grandmaster in 35:02, is also a 50 Plus club member who ran 66 races in 2010. Not far behind is Myron Kremer, 54, of Winchester, VA who ran 68 races in 2010.
For the women, 49-year-old Linda Foley was one of the pre race favorites. More than once she has been the overall winner and is always ranked near the top of her division. She had a very nice race running mostly alone in 32:41. This year none of the elite open racers were racing here. Foley’s 32:12 only bought her eighth place last year. In 2009 Phebe Ko ran an excellent 27:54 to set the standard for the current course. Naoko Ishibe has the event record racing 27:52 in 2003.
Today Elizabeth Young (in photo) took charge early. She race unchallenged to a nifty 31:28 victory. Amy Franklin, 25, Ashburn, VA was third in 33:31. Just like the men there was a gap and then another pack of three. They flew home in the mid 35:00s. Then the final competitors in the eight pack were Leslie Fajfar and Van Metre veteran Erica Cline just faster than 37:00. Pane, 51, of Clifton, VA was the top grandmaster in 37:26. There no women older than 58 in the event.
Runners delighted to coffee and doughnuts on both sides of the race as well as fresh fruit. No race has more random prizes.
Awards Listing (No Duplicate Prizes)
Age Groups by Net Time
FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num Name Age City Time
===== ===== ======================= === ===================== =====
1 488 Elizabeth Young 31 Washington DC 31:28
2 579 Linda Foley 49 Oak Hill VA 32:41
3 45 Amy Franklin 25 Ashburn VA 33:31
MALE OVERALL
Place Num Name Age City Time
===== ===== ======================= === ===================== =====
1 572 David Nightingale 25 Washington DC 23:56
2 456 Karl Dusen 28 N Bethesda MD 24:03
3 600 Gurmessa Megerssa 31 Washington DC 24:25
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 19
1 100 Amelia Jones 16 Baltimore MD 37:32
2 597 Logan Cunningham 13 Ashburn VA 41:27
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 1 - 19
1 262 Sam Coffman 17 Sterling VA 30:35
2 263 Micah Coffman 14 Sterling VA 32:03
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 29
1 517 Autumn Parker 27 Ashburn VA 34:28
2 236 Jorie Devine 29 Leesburg VA 35:16
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 20 - 29
1 431 Samuel Luff 24 Rockville MD 25:04
2 382 Ryan Hanson 23 Rockville MD 25:15
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 39
1 445 Diane Lathom 39 Ashburn VA 35:24
2 612 Erica Cline 32 Ashburn VA 36:45
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 30 - 39
1 497 Brian Young 32 Washington DC 28:24
2 546 Greg Stemberger 34 South Riding VA 28:37
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 49
1 540 Tonya Stotler 44 Leesburg VA 37:00
2 408 Tamara Yoder 44 Aldie VA 38:04
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 40 - 49
1 415 Bryan Tenney 43 Ashburn VA 31:05
2 512 Philip Baetcke 40 Falls Church VA 32:23
FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 59
1 477 Pam Sane 51 Clifton VA 37:11
2 443 Nancy Wallace 51 Ashburn VA 37:46
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 50 - 59
1 576 Kevin Washburn 51 Centreville VA 33:39
2 323 Michael Cannon 53 Springfield VA 35:00
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 60 - 69
1 392 Allen Vaughan 60 Stafford VA 35:07
2 207 John Baxter 64 Fairfax VA 37:22
MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME 70 - 99
1 14 Chan Robbins 73 Arlington VA 41:15
2 27 Gary Ehlert 70 Vienna VA 52:55
MALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 353 Daniel Cardile 36 M Derwood MD 36:11
FEMALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
1 520 Jill Galaida 33 F Broadlands VA 40:13
