Drumstix Dash 8K Race Report

By James Moreland
Burke, VA
November 26, 2011
For the Washington Running Report

No times for brakes as the race starts at the top of the hill.

The glorious weather continues to reign (not rain) throughout the busiest weekend of the year. Many runners took a break from the busiest racing day of the year to eat dinner and go out shopping. Friday seemed like Sunday. Then Saturday was almost perfect. Locals even thought it was almost too warm, while a few slender Caribbean transplants announced that anything colder than 70 degrees was too cold.

The sun was already warming up the day as runners lined up just above Burke Lake and released by the magic ‘G’ word plunged down the fast first half mile. From there the course circled around the lake like a necklace with only a few gentle hills. The weather had been dry but not enough to make the gentle layer of leaves crackle.  Some of the lead runners played traffic cop and warned unsuspecting hikers that an avalanche of runners would soon be heading their way. Everyone wanted to be out on this day.

Many of the Thanksgiving weekend races are called fun runs as nearly 10% of all the racers for the year come out to play. Still, lots of the top racers are eager to try out their stuff. Early in the race Keith Freeburn, 37, took over the lead duties. Freeburn has been coming on strong for the last year though rarely at the very front of the pack. He knew Rob Bell, 22, was right there with him and that helped propel both of them to very solid times, especially for a course that is half cross country. Right at four miles the runners headed up a steady incline and Bell made his move. The final half mile is mostly a quick downhill but the final 100 meters is the steepest hill on the course. Bell held on to win in 28:42; Freeburn was next in 28:48.

Usually youngsters do best on cross country and, being generally lighter, fly up hills better. Today six of the top 13 men were masters. Fifth place Kevin Lynch, 44, (right)was earliest the top master in 30:06.  David Pinnick, 55, commanded the grandmaster field, finishing 20^th overall in a swift 33:47.

Looking around the field Laura Ramos, 32, (left) must have felt like the favorite. However, this is a traveling weekend and you never know when a ringer is going to come into town. Olivia Poblacion, 25 of Corvallis, OR came in from the west coast to set the new standard for the event in an excellent 30:59 that made her the eight finisher overall. Ramos followed her in with a very nice 32:42.  Before the race Sushila Nanda, 50, smiled and said yes her leg was still bothering her but she had a few more races that she wanted to do before she would fix it. She blasted out with the lead women covering the first mile in about 6:30. After that she settled in some but still had a very nifty 37:14 to finish as the second master and the first runner older than fifty, Cathy Ross was the first master at fourth overall in 34:26. The grandmaster and 20^th overall was Janet Janas. Janas is coming off her first WRR Runner Ranking in the fall season.

After the race there were bagels and bananas to go with gallons and gallons of hot coffee with real cream and bottled water. One runner said as he offered his young daughter a cinnamon raisin bagel, “I ran in the race; you eat the food.”

OVERALL MALE  (GUN TIME)

Place Num   Name                Age City                  Time    
===== ===== =================== === ===================== ======= 
    1   212 Rob Bell             22 Gainesville VA          28:42 
    2   211 Keith Freeburn       37 Centreville VA          28:48 
    3   232 Adam Roggia          26 Stafford VA             29:47 

OVERALL FEMALE  (GUN TIME)
Place Num   Name                Age City                  Time    
===== ===== =================== === ===================== ======= 
    1   109 Olivia Poblacion     25 Corvallis OR            30:59 
    2   265 Laura Ramos          32 Silver Spring MD        32:42 
    3   206 Leah Stiegler        21 Vienna VA               33:32 

MALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1   297 Steven Kool         17 Vienna VA               31:11 
    2   267 Joe Brough          16 McLean VA               31:25 
    3   328 Steven Harokopus    15 Vienna VA               36:30 

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  1 - 19   (NET TIME)
    1   319 Tara Landy          18 Burke VA                35:06 
    2    89 Kayla Grimmett      18 Burke VA                37:02 
    3   249 Mary Pollin         15 Burke VA                37:16 

MALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29   (NET TIME)
    1   207 Jason Dods          22 Vienna VA               33:05 
    2    55 Alec Rosenman       23 Fairfax Station VA      34:25 
    3    54 Mark Brier          26 Wilmington DE           35:33 

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  20 - 29   (NET TIME)
    1   170 Emily Williams      29 Arlington VA            38:47 
    2    53 Lauren Rosenman     25 Fairfax Station VA      38:49 
    3   163 Heather Hunter      25 Fairfax VA              40:47 

MALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1    85 Michael Feeney      34 Burke VA                29:59 
    2   359 Frank Gold          34 Warrenton VA            30:28 
    3   345 Oscar Tiglao        34 Lorton VA               31:48 

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  30 - 39   (NET TIME)
    1   397 Laura Barringer     35 Fairfax VA              38:41 
    2   269 Mary Blair          32 Springfield VA          39:08 
    3   281 Romana Johnson      37 Dumfries VA             39:22 

MALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1   331 Kevin Lynch         44 Chantilly VA            30:04 
    2    30 Dennis Billings     42 Woodbridge VA           30:54 
    3   322 Matt Anderson       45 Fairfax VA              31:04 

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  40 - 49   (NET TIME)
    1    73 Cathy Ross          40 Burke VA                34:25 
    2   136 Barbara Murillo     46 Fairfax VA              39:20 
    3   338 Mary Maver          46 Springfield VA          39:57 

MALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1   370 David Pinnick       55 Manassas VA             33:44 
    2   233 Myron Kremer        54 Winchester VA           36:09 
    3    80 Malcolm Carlyle     54 Leesburg VA             36:17 

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  50 - 59   (NET TIME)
    1   324 Sushila Nanda       50 Arlington VA            37:13 
    2   155 Janet Janas         50 Clifton VA              41:04 
    3    61 Cynthia Martin      54 Springfield VA          41:13 

MALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69   (NET TIME)
    1    35 Robert Taylor       61 Alexandria VA           38:11 
    2   364 Jim Avila           63 Arlington VA            42:12 
    3   246 Rick Rice           65 Burke VA                43:56 

FEMALE AGE GROUP:  60 - 69   (NET TIME)
    1   263 Carolyn Rice        66 Burke VA                45:18 
    2   259 Kathryn Fanelli     62 Annandale VA          1:00:39 
    3     4 Nancie Becker       61 Rockville MD          1:16:59 

MALE AGE GROUP:  70 - 99   (NET TIME)
    1    10 Chan Robbins        74 Arlington VA            40:58 
    2   111 Robert Gurtler      76 The Plains VA           53:01 
    3   226 Dick Nanto          70 Clifton VA            1:01:11

The final climb to the finish was no “walk in the park.”