By Dickson Mercer
Washington, DC
November 13, 2011
For the Washington Running Report

Frank Devar and Serena Burla each won $500 for winning today’s Veterans Day 10K on a cool, blustery morning in Washington, D.C.’s West Potomac Park. Early on, though, the men’s winner was a tad confused.

“Where are the Ethiopians?” Pacers Racing Team member Bert Rodriguez said to his teammate, Devar, on the starting line of this always competitive race. The question set Devar to wondering: Was the 12th annual Veterans Day 10K – contested on an out-and-back, flat-and-fast course starting on Ohio Drive – not offering its generous 10-deep prize purse?

Event host Capital Running Company, as it turned out, indeed offered its usual prize purse. And for at least one Ethiopian runner, it was a marathon, not a lack of prize money, which kept him off the starting line.

Last year Abiyot Endale won his second straight Veterans Day 10K the day after racing the HCA 8K in Richmond. While Endale was back in Richmond yesterday, this time it was for the SunTrust Richmond Marathon, in which he placed fourth in 2:19:19. That was enough to keep Endale away from attempting a potential three-peat, and the door was thus left open for top locals such as Rodriguez and Devar.

Devar’s 7th place finish last year came in a personal best of 30:40. This year he took control of the race early to win in a new personal best of 30:23, a per-mile average of 4:53.

Rodriguez, who was 2nd in 30:53, stayed with the eventual winner “until I couldn’t keep up with [him] anymore,” he said laughing.

For Rodriguez, the time was just a second off his personal best, set here last year, in what might also be the 32-year-old Arlington resident’s last local race before he and his wife move to Charlotte, N.C. in February. (He did announce plans to return for April’s Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler.)

Look back at the Veterans Day results for 2005 and you will see that Rodriguez was 10th in 33:01. The next year he was 8thin 32:42. The year after that Rodriguez was training with Pacers and shaping up into a top local runner.

Devar graduated last year from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. The 23-year-old Arlington native is working part time for Pacers while making a go at improving upon college bests of 8:13 for 3,000 and 14:10 for 5,000.

Georgetown Running Company’s Sam Luff, 23, of Rockville was third in 31:00. His teammate, Ryan Witters, 23, of Washington, DC was fourth in 31:17. The master’s crown went to Ray Pugsley, 42, of Potomac Falls, VA. His time of 32:44 put him just outside the top 10 overall.

For the women, this was Burla’s race from the start. Having recently moved to Falls Church from Missouri, the 29-year-old Olympic Trials qualifier took out the opening mile right around 5 minutes en route to a near event record breaking time of 33:04, a per-mile average of 5:19. Svetlana Zakharova set the event standard in 2000 with 32:53.

Burla’s Riadha running club teammate, Kristin Anderson, who was second in 35:04, a time good enough to win some years, admitted that Burla’s quick early pace took her away from her race plan, or at least partially away from it.

Anderson’s plan was to run five seconds off Burla through the mile. Thing was, she was expecting Burla to go through in 5:30.

“I tried to not get overwhelmed by it, just work hard,” Anderson said of her 5:10 opening mile. “I just tried to take a deep breath, and keep working for it. It helped when some guys came around. Actually, I kept picturing every guy was a girl.”

This was the 28-year-old adjunct college professor’s first race since track season, she said. After some time off, Anderson, of Arlington, said she went into a base building phase that has been greatly aided by the arrival of Burla, her new training partner.

Burla, who ran 2:37:06 at the 2010 New York City Marathon, is preparing for January’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. After today’s race she set out for another hour of running, up-tempo, making her unavailable for an interview. Riadha’s Alisa Harvey, 46, of Manassas, VA was the top female master in 38:13.

The third place female, Anna Holt-Gosselin of Georgetown Running Company, knew better than to get mixed up in the early pace set by Burla and Anderson. Still, the 23-year-old Vienna, VA resident said, after clocking 35:39, that she had run her best race this year.

Many of today’s participants ran in honor of men and women serving in the armed forces. Members of a Howard County, MD based group of women who met each through LiveNow Fitness ran in honor of Delma Johnson’s husband, Eric Johnson, who is overseas with the U.S. Army.

Johnson, along with Lesley Smith, Evelyn Cooper, Kendra Booth, Grace Bristol, and Aixa Flanders push each other through boot camp-style workouts during the week, they said. On the weekends, however, they head to the races, where it is every woman for herself.

“We go, ‘Go team!’” explained Johnson. “Then it’s, ‘See you at the finish!’”

The 12th Veterans Day 10K benefited Luke’s Wings. A member of the Wounded Warrior Transportation Assistance Program, Luke’s Wings provides travel planning and complimentary airline tickets to wounded warriors and their families during the service member’s hospitalization and rehabilitation. This enables families to be with their loved ones at such a difficult time.

At the conclusion of the awards ceremony, Linda Duyen Nguyen of Annandale, VA won the grand random prize of a 7-day resort stay for two.

 

MALE Open
    1    48 Frank Devar          23 Alexandria VA         30:23 
    2    15 Bert Rodriguez       32 Arlington VA          30:53 
    3    20 Samuel Luff          24 Rockville MD          31:00 
    4    22 Ryan Witters         23 Washington DC         31:17 
    5  1854 Tristram Thomas      24 Baltimore MD          31:50 
    6    28 Ryan Hanson          23 Rockville MD          31:55 
    7     3 Wilson Komen         33 Washington DC         32:12 
    8     5 Christopher Sloane   28 Rockville MD          32:15 
    9  1706 Dennis Wolff         29 Hartford CT           32:17 
   10    45 Dickson Mercer       30 Washington DC         32:19 

MALE Masters
    1    13 Ray Pugsley          42 Potomac Falls VA      32:44 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 19
    1 John Morgan          18 M ANNAPOLIS MD          33:18 33:18  5:22 
    2 Alexander Waldt      18 M BALTIMORE MD          34:05 34:05  5:29 
    3 Noah Howard          16 M WASHINGTON DC         39:50 39:27  6:21 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 20 - 24
    1 Jerry Greenlaw       23 M ALEXANDRIA VA         32:58 32:58  5:19 
    2 Alexander Wepsala    24 M WASHINGTON DC         36:40 36:39  5:54 
    3 Cole Ashcraft        20 M WASHINGTON DC         37:17 36:42  5:55 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 25 - 29
    1 Paul Guevara         25 M ALEXANDRIA VA         33:00 33:00  5:19 
    2 Andrew Ciarfalia     29 M RESTON VA             33:37 33:37  5:25 
    3 Andy Sovonick        25 M GAITHERSBURG MD       33:45 33:45  5:26 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 30 - 34
    1 Ben Ingram           34 M WINCHESTER VA         34:08 34:08  5:30 
    2 Steven Staats        33 M WASHINGTON DC         35:29 35:26  5:43 
    3 Dwayne Bax           30 M WASHINGTON DC         37:17 37:17  6:00 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 35 - 39
    1 David Wertz          35 M ARLINGTON VA          32:38 32:38  5:16 
    2 Eric Lavigne         35 M PHILADELPHIA PA       32:40 32:40  5:16 
    3 Marcos Galicia       36 M SILVER SPRING MD      36:10 36:08  5:49 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 40 - 44
    1 Matthew Frank        44 M LOUISVILLE CO         36:42 36:40  5:54 
    2 Andrew Pugh          42 M WASHINGTON DC         37:28 37:23  6:01 
    3 Dave Cahill          40 M ARLINGTON VA          37:58 37:55  6:07 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 45 - 49
    1 Derik Thomas         45 M ALEXANDRIA VA         34:53 34:53  5:37 
    2 Poul Wisborg         48 M WASHINGTON DC         38:35 38:22  6:11 
    3 Warren Djuric        49 M SPRINGFIELD VA        38:46 38:46  6:15 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 50 - 54
    1 Jean-Christophe Arca 50 M ROCKVILLE MD          35:48 35:48  5:46 
    2 Kevin Dix            52 M MANASSAS VA           40:00 39:58  6:26 
    3 Terry Basham         52 M DUMFRIES VA           40:46 40:38  6:33 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 55 - 59
    1 Paul Serra           55 M LUSBY MD              41:28 41:20  6:39 
    2 Ken Krehbiel         58 M WASHINGTON DC         41:47 41:47  6:44 
    3 Rod Devar            58 M ALEXANDRIA VA         42:20 42:10  6:48 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 60 - 64
    1 Malcolm Senior       60 M NEW MARKET MD         40:43 40:41  6:33 
    2 Jim Wright           62 M GAITHERSBURG MD       41:46 41:42  6:43 
    3 Jay Jacob Wind       61 M ARLINGTON VA          44:17 44:17  7:08 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 65 - 69
    1 Jim Noone            67 M FAIRFAX VA            44:59 44:57  7:14 
    2 Bob Chase            66 M FALLS CHURCH VA       45:29 45:23  7:19 
    3 John Sullivan        66 M WASHINGTON DC         53:57 52:53  8:31 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 70 - 74
    1 Gerry Ives           72 M WASHINGTON DC         45:56 45:44  7:22 
    2 Malcolm O'Hagan      71 M CHEVY CHASE MD        48:20 48:12  7:46 
    3 Chan Robbins         74 M ARLINGTON VA          50:57 50:55  8:12 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 75 - 79
    1 Skip Grant           76 M CHEVY CHASE MD        50:06 49:54  8:02 
    2 Alan Rider           75 M RESTON VA             56:01 55:50  8:59 
    3 Robert Gurtler       76 M THE PLAINS VA         63:16 63:02 10:09 

MALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 80 - 99
    1 George Yannakakis    80 M SPARKS GLENCOE MD     52:49 52:44  8:30 
    2 Jack McMahon         80 M SILVER SPRING MD      58:26 58:14  9:23 

MALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
    1  1378 Mike Cahill    33 M Washington DC         39:58 39:42  6:24
FEMALE Open
    1  1708 Serena Burla         29 Falls Church VA       33:04 
    2  1709 Kristin Anderson     28 Arlington VA          35:04 
    3    17 Anna Holt-Gosselin   23 Vienna VA             35:39 
    4  1704 Jacqui Wentz         23 Baltimore MD          36:07 
    5     7 Wendi Robinson       24 Washington DC         36:46 
    6    27 Maura Carroll        22 Washington DC         37:05 
    7     6 Lisa Thomas          35 Alexandria VA         37:10 
    8     8 Lindsay Wilkins      33 Arlington VA          37:30 
    9    19 Susan Hendrick       25 Washington DC         37:34 
   10    44 Laura O'Hara         31 Alexandria VA         37:42 

FEMALE Masters
    1     4 Alisa Harvey         46 Manassas VA           38:13 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 01 - 19
    1 Maggie Wood          14 F WASHINGTON DC         46:54 46:18  7:27 
    2 Christina Glasener   16 F WASHINGTON DC         46:36 46:18  7:28 
    3 Maria Luisa Navarro  19 F BALTIMORE MD          49:58 49:43  8:00 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 20 - 24
    1 Samantha Lee         23 F NEW PROVIDENCE NJ     38:51 38:48  6:15 
    2 Elizabeth Laseter    23 F WASHINGTON DC         39:33 39:27  6:21 
    3 Heather Jelen        24 F FALLS CHURCH VA       39:36 39:36  6:23 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 25 - 29
    1 Erin Swain           29 F ARLINGTON VA          38:31 38:31  6:12 
    2 Kelly Swain          26 F ARLINGTON VA          38:32 38:32  6:12 
    3 Ashley Palmer        28 F LYNCHBURG VA          39:25 39:25  6:21 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 30 - 34
    1 Christina Vanucci    33 F WESTLAKE OH           39:48 39:35  6:23 
    2 Jessica McGuire      31 F ARLINGTON VA          41:29 41:25  6:40 
    3 Ingrid Peterson      33 F WASHINGTON DC         41:50 41:35  6:42 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 35 - 39
    1 Barb Fallon Wallace  37 F ALEXANDRIA VA         37:46 37:46  6:05 
    2 Jackie Gruendel      36 F CLIFTON VA            38:08 38:08  6:09 
    3 Kristie Connelly     36 F ALEXANDRIA VA         38:41 38:41  6:14 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 40 - 44
    1 Samantha Cole        43 F ARLINGTON VA          39:23 39:23  6:21 
    2 Lisa Chilcote        41 F N BETHESDA MD         40:02 40:02  6:27 
    3 Julie King           44 F ALEXANDRIA VA         43:24 43:21  6:59 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 45 - 49
    1 Valinda Nwadike      46 F LEONARDTOWN MD        47:08 46:58  7:34 
    2 Mery-Angela Katson   47 F MCLEAN VA             47:58 47:34  7:40 
    3 Ellen Willison       45 F STAFFORD VA           47:56 47:47  7:42 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 50 - 54
    1 Patti Galleher       54 F DENVER CO             42:10 42:03  6:46 
    2 Carole Jones         54 F ASHBURN VA            44:38 44:27  7:10 
    3 Carla Freyvogel      54 F MCLEAN VA             50:12 50:01  8:03 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 55 - 59
    1 Betty Blank          58 F FALLS CHURCH VA       44:59 44:58  7:15 
    2 Liza Recto           55 F LEXINGTON PARK MD     48:50 48:48  7:52 
    3 Carol Brockschmidt   55 F WASHINGTON DC         52:20 51:56  8:22 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 60 - 64
    1 Ginny Hughes         61 F WARRENTON VA          49:14 49:05  7:54 
    2 Alice Franks         63 F ROCKVILLE MD          49:42 49:33  7:59 
    3 Mary Pultz           61 F SPRINGFIELD VA        66:06 64:38 10:24 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 65 - 69
    1 Joanne Murphy        66 F BALTIMORE MD          52:50 51:57  8:22 
    2 Karen Kautz          68 F SILVER SPRING MD      56:24 55:57  9:01 
    3 Nancy Malan          65 F WASHINGTON DC         68:04 67:43 10:54 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 70 - 74
    1 Jamie Wollard        73 F N BETHESDA MD         89:45 87:53 14:09 

FEMALE AGE GROUP: NET TIME - NET PACE 75 - 79
    1 Tami Graf            75 F LUSBY MD              61:47 61:42  9:56 

FEMALE FIRST TIME RACER: NET TIME - NET PACE 1 - 99
    1  1100 Dominique Gale 29 F Chantilly VA          50:57 48:15  7:46

 

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