Three out of four records get their “running papers” at Clarendon Day

Run and repeat.

That’s what 286 runners opted to do at the Clarendon Day 5k and 10k, both of which started with a more-than-one-mile drop down Clarendon Boulevard into Rosslyn. The brave 5k runners were on the clock to get back to the top of the hill by 9:05 at the latest to start the 10k.

[button-red url=”http://www.zippyraceresults.com/search.php?ID=4330″ target=”_self” position=”left”] Double results [/button-red] Rachel Schneider ambitiously opted for both and her combined time of 51:40 not only easily outdistanced second place doubler Kayley Cerney‘s 1:03:41, but she broke both course records in the process. Her 16:26 5k shaved off Katie Read‘s 16:54 from 2009, and her 35:14 10k gouged almost 90 seconds from Lisa Baumert‘s 36:42 the same year.

“I just finished five years of running at Georgetown University for cross country and track, and I still train under women’s head coach Mike Smith,” Schneider, 23, said. “So we just kind of figured that we would use this as a good workout to see where I’m at. The crowd here is so awesome. It really made me feel good and got me pretty fired up.

Schneider also used the opportunity to speak about her alma mater and its track and cross country program.

“Georgetown has such a phenomenal team. There is a great group of girls over there who are just working so hard. I feel lucky to be able to train with them and help them out.”

Alexandria’s Landon Peacock broke Steve Hallinan‘s 14:43 course record with his 14:37 win over Mike Franklin. Marathoner/ultramarathoner Mike Wardian proved he isn’t out of speed at 40 by running a 15:17/32:13 double, leading the male doublers. Kevin McNab just missed Matt DeBole‘s 30:24 10k record with his 30:37 winning time.

The highly-trafficked Clarendon neighborhood received a dramatic makeover on September 27 as street vendors and exhibitors’ tents replaced vehicles and littered typically-busy Wilson Boulevard for Clarendon Day 2014.

[button-red url=”http://www.zippyraceresults.com/search.php?ID=4328″ target=”_self” position=”left”] 5k results [/button-red]“I think it’s a very festive atmosphere – beginning with the run and ending with the daylong street fair here in Clarendon,” John Brittain said. There are a good combination of fun runners and competitive runners. We’ve seen families running together, recreational runners and a few speedsters. Everything blends well on a morning like this.”

Cousins Candace Inghram (30:52) and Janelle Freeman (30:35) made Clarendon Day 2014 a family affair as the two participated in the 5k event. For Inghram, the race was a first. The cousins donned matching gray-and-pink T-shirts emblazoned with “Will Run for Wine” and set out on the three-mile course.

“I found out about the race from Janelle. She runs a lot and is always posting pictures of her races on Instagram, so I wanted to participate,” Inghram, 33, an Indianapolis, Ind., resident said. “I was nervous all week but Janelle told me that it was just a 5K – I had no idea even how long that was –   and that I would make it. I made it.”

Freeman, 31, said she hopes Saturday’s race is the first of many the two will run together.

“I’m glad she made it through her first race. Pacers always puts on good races. I knew that it would be a fun, easy event for her to do. It was a lot of fun and today was a great day for running,” the Alexandria resident said.

The fun did not end with the adults.

[button-red url=”http://www.zippyraceresults.com/search.php?ID=4329″ target=”_self” position=”left”] 10k results [/button-red]Stephen Lagarde slowly walked along Fillmore Street as he shepherded his two young daughters, Cate and Evie. Both girls’ sets of eyes remained locked on the gold medals they just received, and their little fingers tightly gripped the trinkets.

After a bit of confusion at the start of the race, Lagarde said the family was finally on its way.

“We lined up by age – there was a little chaos as everyone tried to figure out where to go – and when the dust settled and it was time to run, we fell to the back of the pack,” Lagarde, 35, who lives in Clarendon, said. “We’re proud to say that we were dead last out of the two hundred or so people that were in the race.”

And although Lagarde’s five, and two-and-a-half year old daughters were far too preoccupied with their medals to speak for themselves, their father said the three will likely run again.

“I suspect we’ll be back again next year. We didn’t know what to expect today, but now we do,” Lagarde said.

In early May of 2010, Anthony Cook sat in one of the rooms at Arlington’s Virginia Hospital Center. Cook, a lifelong asthma sufferer, had just become the world’s first successful bronchial thermoplasty procedure patient. Prior to three-operation procedure, Cook said mere breathing was a daunting task.

“I was on oxygen, I was in bed and I was on tons of medication,” the 51-year-old Herndon resident said.

On Saturday, he stood in front of Whitlow’s on Wilson, barley able to contain his excitement. He set a personal best with a time of just over 22 minutes in the 5k event. It was a fitting ending to an already-remarkable day.

“The morning has been emotional. I love Arlington because I had the procedure here and it saved my life,” Cook said. “To be able to come across the finish line in the fastest time that I’ve ever run, just added even more emotions to it. I love to speak about the procedure because I want other asthmatics, who want to run, to be able to know about it. It really means a lot to me.”