The fourth try was the charm for Christine Ramsey, who broke the tape at the Pike’s Peek 10k Sunday morning in 34:43.
The Baltimore runner debuted here in 2008, finishing 5th in 36:19. Four years later, she returned, running more than 90 seconds faster but finishing two spots lower. Last year, another solid showing got her 11th.
When runners registered for the most recent Montgomery Country Road Runners Club race, they were mistaken if they thought it would be a “piece of cake.” Little did they know that they would have to conquer tough-rolling hills through Seneca Creek State Park in order to cross the finish line.
“It’s a very challenging course,” said Carol English of Germantown, Md. “But it’s good. It builds character.”
Getting up on a chilly, Sunday morning in February is no challenge for Cindy Conant, 51 of Kensington.
The 6th annual Boo! Run for Life 10K run and 2 Mile walk moved east about a mile and a half to East Potomac Park to accommodate the large crowd of people attending opening ceremonies for the the new Martin Luther King Memorial just north of the traditional course in West Potomac Park. Most of the course was the same, starting on the channel side and racing around the point to where mile one would have been and then returning home.
With all the elite runners at the Army 10 Mile last week and the Baltimore Running Festival Saturday, it was great to see more than 500 runners and scores of walkers to celebrate the near perfect autumn morning. One runner tried to find fault with, “Did you notice the breeze on the river side.” Maybe it was three mph instead of the dead calm on the channel side. Pancake flat, this course was made for records and the event scored eight of them.
Below, runners charge the final meters to the finish line. Above, the finish arch awaits.
In its fourth year this little race is starting to gain momentum. The first two years the winners of the race barely broke 19:00 on a course that, while never flat, has no hills of consequence. In the second year, hometown legend Ted Poulos measured the field and ran just fast enough to win in 18:42. Take note that Sarah Spalding finished only one second later to keep things interesting. Then in 2010 some very fast runners entered the fray. Michaela Courtney easily set the women’s event record in a sparkling 17:22 that was sixth overall a stride behind Craig Clar. Poulos who has a PR of 15:48 settled for a division win in 18:32. Mark Drath lowered the bar beating runner-up Christopher Pruitt by a 100 meters in 15:44. Finishers nearly doubled to just short of 300 finishers.
Julie Sapper finishes fourth overall.
Walking down Fawcett Avenue in old town Kensington towards the start of the race, two young kids were talking about the race. One said, “There must be a thousand runners here today,” “No way,” replied the older one. She was wrong and the little boy was right. The event has three parts and three different starts off the circular Carroll Place. At 7:45 a.m. close to five hundred 2 mile walkers and runners headed south around the circle. At 8:30 a.m., the main event 8K bolted from the south side of the Noyes Library toward Connecticut Avenue. They would cross the finish line for the first time at just less than a half mile. Three minutes after they got under way, the 1K fun run charged after them from the north side of the library.