McLean 5K Race Report

By James Moreland
McLean, VA
October1, 2011
For the Washington Running Report

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.

Now for 2011 the race was offering a 7-day Wyndham Worldwide Vacation for the overall winners as well as for a random winner. This helped the race to a record 360 finishers on a cool, breezy morning that started to spit rain just moments before the start of the event. Philippe Rolly, 39, who once possessed 29:00 10K speed returned after finishing third last year. He improved to 17:07, which was all alone again in third place. The battle for the top prize came from runners nearly half his age.

Ethan Rissell, 22, has not been on the radar in a year or so but he battled all the way to earn the runner-up spot in 15:23. Andrew Benford, 23, of Richmond showed what a powerful runner he was triumphing in an event record 15:09. One tired runner coming off a slower than normal race mused that nobody would beat 20:00. Back in March on the track Benford had set a PR 13:59.99 to break 14 minutes by the slimmest of margins.

Standing at the starting line there were no women revving up to dart out onto Old Dominion for the nearly mile climb, albeit a mild elevation change. Then at a half mile Win Persina, 51, who usually starts easy, started pushing the pace. Maybe she had noticed that grandmaster women, such as Cindy Conant at the Kensington 8k last week, have been winning it all. Maybe she felt she would like that vacation. Whatever the reason, she pulled away from everyone to win handily in 21:26. Mimi Comer, 13, of McLean was next in 22:14. Fourth place Jen Norris, 40, started back in the pack otherwise she may have caught third place Kristin Novak. The final half mile contains two steep, though short humps but the way Norris tore over them, they might as well have been flat.

The final 200 minutes is a lovely downhill that leads around the final corner with the finish line right away there.  The weather was not a problem during the race but it sure was nice to be able to shelter inside the little courtyard a few yards away after the race. And of course there was food and drink.

Maynard Weyers, 75, looked smooth and relaxed as he glided home in 27:36. That was nearly a minute and a half faster than his Run for the Door 5k just two weeks before.

After the race, tags like were torn off bib (like in the olden times) but this time they were deposited in that little green bucket. Everyone would get a chance for the 7-day Wyndham Worldwide Vacation.

Awards

Overall Female 

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Win Persina       Washington  DC   51  20      21:26     21:26    6:55/M  

 Overall Male

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Andrew Benford    Richmond  VA     23  1       15:09     15:09    4:53/M  

 Female 19 and Younger        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Mimi Comer        McLean  VA       13  28      22:07     22:14    7:08/M  
 2     Megumi Chen       McLean  VA       15  42      23:01     23:01    7:25/M  

 Male 19 and younger        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Sam Hutton        Annandale  VA    15  7       20:10     20:15    6:30/M  
 2     Wesley Fouse      Annandale  VA    16  8       20:11     20:15    6:31/M  

 Female 20 to 29        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Kristin Novak     Arlington  VA    27  39      22:54     22:55    7:23/M  
 2     Martha Mishkin    Fairfax  VA      28  69      24:37     24:47    7:56/M  

 Male 20 to 29        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Ethan Rissell     Alexandria  VA   22  2       15:23     15:23    4:58/M  
 2     Douglas Hickeg                     28  4       17:41     17:41    5:42/M  

 Female 30 to 39        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Luise Rodriguez   Germantown  MD   39  44      23:14     23:18    7:30/M  
 2     Genta Branstetter McLean  VA       39  54      24:12     24:28    7:48/M  

 Male 30 to 39        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Philippe Rolly    McLean  VA      39  3       17:07     17:08    5:31/M  
 2     Andrew Howley     Arlington  VA    34  6       19:54     19:55    6:25/M  

 Female 40 to 49        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Jen Norris        McLean  VA       40  40      22:57     23:06    7:24/M  
 2     Cynthia Hutchings McLean  VA       48  52      24:03     24:05    7:45/M  

 Male 40 to 49        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     David Fouse       Annandale  VA    45  13      20:43     20:46    6:41/M  
 2     Kevin Morin       McLean  VA       49  14      20:58     21:00    6:46/M  

 Female 50 to 59        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Pat Leighton      Falls Church  VA 52  83      25:21     25:30    8:11/M  
 2     Carla Freyvogel   McLean  VA       54  89      25:32     25:33    8:14/M  

 Male 50 to 59        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     John Bacon        Arlington  VA    55  12      20:35     20:36    6:38/M  
 2     Robert Salmon     McLean  VA       50  24      21:46     21:49    7:01/M  

 Female 60 to 69        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Gwen Davies       McLean  VA       67  205     31:56     32:01    10:18/M 
 2     Sharoos Newton    Chantilly  VA    65  317     43:23     43:38    14:00/M 

 Male 60 to 69        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Tom Noonan        McLean  VA       63  56      24:16     25:10    7:50/M  
 2     Les Irby          McLean  VA       61  74      24:51     25:14    8:01/M  

 Female 70 and Older        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Ellen O'Brady     Woodbridge  VA   75  184     30:55     30:55    9:58/M  

 Male 70 and Older        

 Place Name              City             Age Overall Chip Time Gun Time Pace    
 1     Maynard Weyers    Alexandria  VA   75  134     27:34     27:36    8:54/M  
 2     Bendy Viragh      Washington  DC   77  239     33:35     33:42    10:50/M