The Fall Backyard Burn Trail Running Series wrapped up Dec. 1 at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park in Clifton.

The race attracted local cross country runners and trail running aficionados. Runners in the 5.5 mile and 10.3 mile race encountered rugged conditions, with a few small patches of ice thrown in for good measure. The course took runners through hiking trails (including the Bull Run-Occoquan Trail), open fields, and dirt roads by the Occoquan River and Popes Head Creek.

Many runners agreed that the course was more difficult than others in the series due to the hills, rocks, and stream crossings.

“I heard some cursing in front of me and I knew to be careful,” said Ivette Booher of Lorton, who competed in the 5.5 mile race. “It was fantastic, it was great weather for [the race].”

“I thought it was really challenging relative to the ones I’ve done in the past,” commented Kate Blood of McLean.

Brent Bartlett of Falls Church won the 5.5 mile race with a time of 35:55. His wife, Marta Bartlett, was the first female finisher in the 5.5 mile race, finishing in 42:35. The Bartletts train together for the trail races, which they have been running for the last couple of years.

“I know the pace I could hold and went with it,” Brent, a former cross-country athlete at SUNY Geneseo, said of his race strategy. “It’s probably the hardest race [in the series], there were a lot of rocks and streams. The people who run it do a really good job of clearing the course.”

Second place female finisher Jen Cortesi finished the 5.5 mile course in 43:58, trailed by Sarah Flynn, who finished in 44:46. Murjan Hammad came in second place overall in the 5.5 miler with a time of 38:36.

Third place overall finisher Danny Cooper of Falls Church ran his first Backyard Burn race on Sunday morning. Cooper, who completed the 5.5 mile race in 39:01, ran cross-country in high school and said that the course at Hemlock was challenging as a first-time competitor.

“My strategy was to stay close to people because I don’t know the course at all and I didn’t want to get off the path, but they marked it pretty well so that really wasn’t an issue,” Cooper said. “I didn’t want to start out too strong because I’m not in the best shape I could be, so I didn’t want to burn out in the middle of it. Two big hills could just wipe you out for the rest of the race, so I was trying not to crush it on the hills because I also didn’t know which hills were coming up.”

Woodson High School rowing coach Joe McMullin competed in the 10.3 mile race Sunday, finishing third overall with a time of 1:14:09. Jason Starr and Chad Wolf finished first and second overall in that race in 1:12:20 and 1:13:46, respectively.

McMullin began running competitively two years ago after running relays with his father, who is a triathlete. He competed in two other races in the Backyard Burn series last month at Wakefield and Prince William Forest Park.

“I like running these [races],” he said. “This is a nice transition [from rowing]. I’m doing races one weekend then regattas the next.”

McMullin said his race-day strategy was to power up hills and said the race was well-coordinated.

“This race, I think was the hardest one,” he said. “The people who run the race do a great job, there were plenty of water stations and plenty of bathrooms.”

Sunday’s race was a family affair for Claudia Escribano and her daughter, Caitlin Payne, who ran the 5.5 mile course.

Escribano, a long-time runner, inspired her daughter to start running cross country when she entered high school. Since then the pair, who live in Sterling, run together in local races including mud runs and trail races.

“I don’t know that I would come out here if I didn’t have someone to run with, so it’s good to have her there,” Escribano said. “We love these trail runs, these are awesome. I mean, they’re hard as heck but they’re fun.”

“We run just for the fun of it,” Payne said. Escribano and Payne also ran the Backyard Burn race at Prince William Forest Park on Nov. 17.

Although competitors agreed that the course at Hemlock was a challenge, some said it was a great race for those who enjoy trail running.

“The ice made it really difficult. I think this is a really unique race series. Depending on your level of fitness, you can still get a good run in,” Blood said.

“It’s really fun, a great vibe, and people cheer each other on,” Fay Slattery of Alexandria said. “If somebody trips, everybody stops and asks if you’re ok. It’s really nice. I like the fall race series. It’s like you have your own cross country season.”

Tyler Andrews, 23, registered last-minute for the Drumstix Dash 8k while visiting family for Thanksgiving in the D.C. area.

Although the temperatures were a far cry from what he’s used to while living in Quito, Ecuador, Andrews took first place overall in Saturday’s race with a time of 28:02.

Hundreds of runners braved the below-freezing temperatures Saturday morning to compete in the Drumstix Dash 8k at Burke Lake Park.

Now in its fifth year, the popular post-Thanksgiving race benefits Housing and Community Services of Northern Virginia (HCSNV), a Springfield-based nonprofit that provides services to the homeless, including emergency housing assistance, case management, counseling and financial literacy training.[button-red url=”http://www.albanyrunningexchange.org/results/search.php?ID=3619″ target=”_self” position=”left”] Results [/button-red]

The race raises money for HCSNV programs. In 2011 and 2012, the race raised a net profit of $20,000 for the organization, which comes from sponsor money and a small percentage of race registrations. The race is a key fundraiser that helps the organization continue to fulfill its mission, said race founder and HCSNV board member Jill Landsman. The organization also hosted the Everyone’s Home Matters Fundraiser at the McLean Project for the Arts in October, which was another major fundraiser for  HCSNV.

“When counties provide funding for nonprofits they never do it completely,” Landsman said. “If you can’t prove you can fundraise then you can’t keep your doors open. So the fundraising is essential to keeping nonprofits open.”

This year’s turnout was thinner than past years due to the weather and the number of other races taking place over Thanksgiving weekend, Landsman said. She said that 206 people participated in 8k and accompanying fun run.

Board President José Paíz said HCSNV appreciates the community support for the race.

“It’s for a great cause and we are really grateful for all the folks who come out here and support the organization, and shed some of the extra pounds they gained over Thanksgiving,” Paíz said.

First-place finisher Andrews is the director and co-owner of STRIVE Trips, which offers service travel opportunities for student athletes. Andrews recently launched STRIVE Racing, a team of semi-elite post-collegiate athletes based in New York. He ran the Drumstix Dash to show support for HCSNV.

“I work a lot with nonprofits and I try to support that as much as I can,” Andrews said. “A portion of my team’s proceeds go towards NGO projects we work on. So it’s important for me to find races to support projects that are like-minded.”

Second-place finisher Ryan Hughes of Ashburn finished more than 30 seconds after Andrews with a time of 28:34. Third-place overall finisher Patrick Spahn trailed after Hughes, coming in at 29:44.

Handcycle athlete Rebecca Rollick, 11, of Chesapeake, Va. traveled with her parents to compete in the Drumstix Dash. Rollick was born with arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that affects her muscles. Rebecca has had numerous surgeries that have enabled her to walk with leg braces, and she has been going to physical therapy sessions since birth. She participated in the 8k just a few months after receiving a racing handcycle from Preston’s March for Energy and plans to enter between 15 and 20 races per year.

“She’s just absolutely determined,” mom Jessie Rollick commented while waiting for her daughter to complete the race. “She’ll get up at 5 o’clock in the morning to go do a race and not even complain about it. She just loves it so much. She’s an absolute go-getter.”

Cathy Ross of Burke claimed her second consecutive first-place finish in the women’s division with a time of 35:38. Lauren Burke of Oakton finished in second place with a time of 37:04 and Chloe Shaltanis followed Burke in third place with a time of 37:43.

 

Thanksgiving, a day organized around gatherings, started with a cold race for thousands of people. More than 10,000 registered runners preceded any pie with the SOME (So Others Might Eat) Trot for Hunger.

For many participants, the 5k embodied the essence of the holiday.

“This one is a big one for the whole family,” said Lianna Nguyen, of Annandale. “We’re all here for Thanksgiving, being thankful we have our healthy family.” Fourteen family members joined what Nguyen called a “well-organized race.”

Many families wore matching shirts or sets of the same themed hat. Turkeys with legs that tied to keep them on in the wind, turkeys with drumsticks in the air that might have come straight from the oven, chef’s toques and slices of pumpkin pie all bobbed down Pennsylvania Avenue.

“It’s a family tradition to run on Thanksgiving,” said Christine Billings, of Castle Rock, Colo. Her family members from Colorado and Utah travel to a new state each year for the holiday, and they pick a race at their destination. After seeing photos of last year’s race, they ordered nine matching turkey hats for the event.

But the weather also called for gloves and scarves.

Wind chills at the race start were in the 20s. Normal highs for this time of year are still above 50 degrees, according to Capital Weather Gang at The Washington Post.

“I wore enough clothes,” said Scott Allen, “more than I normally wear in a race.” The DC resident won the Trot for Hunger in 16:04. “I’ve been in worse wind, but it was pretty rough. I was expecting to go faster.”

Allen caught early leader Dustin Whitlow (16:31), of Arlington around the two-mile mark. The Trot served as a tune-up for the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon that Allen will run on Dec. 7. He said he typically doesn’t come out for Thanksgiving Day races, but an injury in the spring left him unsatisfied with his performances this year.

“I wasn’t able to train a lot this summer,” he said. “I didn’t get the full season I wanted.”

Rosemary Barber, of Springfield, Va., won the women’s race in 18 minutes flat.

The second-place finisher for the women was Vicky Schandevel (18:59). She was in town from Charlottesville, visiting her sister in Silver Spring. Schandevel said the wind was brutal on the finishing stretch, but the SOME event has become a tradition for her family.
“It’s one of the races I really look forward to,” she said. “Something about being here on Thanksgiving in downtown Washington, DC — it’s a great way to remind ourselves what we’re thankful for.”

Sarah Kessel, of Greenbelt said the event is the only big race her family joins. Kessel’s dozen relatives and close friends included Architha Vishnuvajjala, also of Greenbelt who had donated to SOME before but never run the race.

SOME raised nearly a half million dollars for its work in the capital.

“It’s more than we expected,” said Linda Parisi, SOME’s chief development officer. She said the goal was $450,000.
“We started on Ohio Drive with 100 people,” Parisi said. “We’ve grown every single year.”

SOME has organized the 5k for the past 12 years. The organization was founded in 1970 to help feed the poor, but its role in the community has expanded to include counseling, health care and housing. Yet food remains a major part of the mission, and SOME serves more than 1,000 meals every day.

The Carrollsburg Fundracers were the top team for donations, and they collected almost $14,000.

“SOME does really great work,” said Carrollsburg team member Jenny Harper. “Everyday services, but also working to provide transitional services like mental health care and job training. We think they have a good model.”

The Carrollsburg group represented the other side of the holiday. “Our Thanksgiving we do is a group of friends,” Harper said, “the kind of friends who are family.”

Plenty of people have the image of a long dining room table filled with family members reminiscent of the classic Norman Rockwell painting. But the Friendsgiving tradition has gained momentum in recent years, especially in cities like Washington, which boast clusters of geographic transplants.

Matthew Adamczyk, of Chicago said he discovered the SOME Trot several years ago when he spent a Thanksgiving alone in DC. This year was different. He ran the race with five other dancers of the Joffrey Ballet, who are spending the day’s big meal at the house of a company member who is from the area.

“We all race in our off time as cross training,” Adamczyk said. “We decided on our day off between seven shows we’d come down here and do a run.”

The group is performing The Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center this weekend, an apt signal for the transition from the yellows and browns of the late fall to the reds and greens of the winter racing season.

Sometimes it’s good to be a local running king.

It comes with the perks of using your influence to throw a community race and help raise money for your children’s preschool.

That’s exactly what Michael Wardian has done for the last four years organizing the Kinhaven School 5k.

Roughly 200 runners gathered along Four Mile Run Creek in Arlington’s Bluemont Park for the 5k and children’s fun run on a frosty and windy day.

The event is one of the few fundraisers the school – a non-denominational preschool near Virginia Square — uses throughout the year to raise money for the kids’ events.

“It helps buy art supplies. It helps with field trips, snack menus,” Wardian said. “Tuition covers most of the cost for the school, and then this helps augment that.”

Wardian, three-time competitor in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials and four-time USA Track & Field Ultra Runner of the Year, is able to use the help of some of his sponsors like The North Face and Power Bar along with the weight of his name and influence in Washington’s running scene to bring people out and help operate the race.

The event has raised about $6,500 in years past, but Wardian, who is assisted in throwing the race by his wife, Jennifer, hopes that number increases this year.

“The only thing to make it better is if it were warmer,” he said. “This will be one that people remember.”

Temperatures were in the upper 20s at the 9 a.m. start with winds gusting upwards of 20 miles per hour at times. Runners danced and moved to try to stay warm in the moments leading up to the race. Others took shelter in the cars.

Speakers blared U2’s “Beautiful Day” in the minutes leading up the race and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” from the Rocky soundtrack as runners took off.

Wardian – who doubled as the men’s winner and event organizer – finished in 17:39. He’s now won three of the four years the event has been held, the only blemish coming last year when he didn’t run at all.

Keith Freeburn, 39, of Centerville, who finished about 15 seconds behind Wardian in second place, faced a stiff headwind on the way out of the out-and-back course as did all the runners.

“I just tried to keep as close to Mike on the way back with the wind at our back,” Freeburn said.

The event is less about winning and running fast times as it is about coming together as a community to support a good cause.

“To me this is what running is all about, whether it’s the Marine Corps Marathon, the Olympic Trials, or a community race,” women’s overall winner Heather Hanscom of Rosslyn said. “I just thought it was a lot of fun.”

She crossed the tape in 19:37. “I wanted to run about a minute faster, but I’ve been sick all week,” she said.

Wardian convinced her come out after an almost 6-year hiatus from running because of injuries. It was her first year running the Kinhaven 5k.

Jason Belinkie, head coach of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, brought about 10 of his runners to the race after Wardian spoke to his team earlier this year.

Wardian also used his social media footprint to promote the race.

This is the third year Joetta Sack-Min of Arlington has participated in the event. Her children, Jameson, 4, and Natalya, 2, attend Kinhaven, and the family views it as more than a fundraiser for the pre-school.

“We use it as a way to build community support for the school,” Sack-Min said. “It’s a good way to get all the families out and have some fun.”

Her husband was competing in the baby-stroller-pushing category with the kids – one of the offbeat categories.

Another award was given to the top finisher running barefoot or in FiveFinger-type shoes.

The race is small and holds a community feel. Arlington County permits cap the event at 225 people, which is held entirely within the confines of Bluemont Park.

“We try to keep the costs really low so that more of the money goes back to the school rather than having a bigger event where we’re going to have more road closures and more expenses,” Wardian said. “We don’t get as many people as some of the other races, but we still do OK.”

Organizers throw a 1k fun run for the children – many of whom attend the school – and give the kids a small, plastic medal for finishing.

Behnaz Kibria of Arlington, who is the parent of a first-year attendee at the school, came out to participate with the toddler in tow.

“There’s not a lot of great races that we can bring the kids to,” Kibria said.

Freeburn said he would have brought his kids this year but left them home because of the weather.

“The stuff that they do for kids here is amazing,” Freeburn said.

What might be better than a crowd of eager runners hungry for a win? Simple: a crowd of eager runners racing to feed the hungry!

Saturday, November 23, marked the second year that Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church held its Spend Yourself 5k along the W&OD trail. For runners and organizers alike, this community race holds a clear sense of running for a purpose.

Husband and wife team Janine and Daniel Aronowitz organized the annual race as part of the larger Spend Yourself mission: the pair helped orchestrate an event that connects the strength and spirit of running with the pure desire to aid others locally and globally. The primary focus of this race was providing a Thanksgiving meal for families in Fairfax County.

“We want to be feeding people spiritually and physically. There are 400 running today and 300 eating,” Janine said. “That creates a unique synergy in our community.”

The relationship between running and giving is a powerful one, according to Janine. “We always wanted to use running,” she said. “We welcome people throughout the community to run and to give. No matter your belief, people like to do good.”

Before the race kicked off, runners had a chance to donate food or money to Columbia Baptist Church’s Hunger Ministry. Runners generously donated this year, with few runners coming empty-handed. Neil Eckard, the church’s vice-chair of deacons, was optimistic about this year’s donations.

Surrounded by a table full of cans and boxed meals, and eyeing a queue of runners waiting to drop off their goods, Neil said, “I hope the donations this year exceed last year’s — especially the food.”

In return for a food donation, runners were entered into a lottery for a free pair of shoes from Road Runner Sports.

Being a family-oriented community race, the 8 a.m. start was low-pressure with few runners setting blistering time goals. The flat, out-and-back course offered little difficulty to runners.

Marshall High School Sophomore  Justin McFaul of Vienna crossed the finish line with a winning time of 17:31. With a previous 5k PR of 16:53, Justin said, “I’m happy with today’s run. Running is just fun.” Like many other participants, Justin was invited to the run by one of Columbia’s regular members.

Following the lead, Jeffrey Grabosky of Alexandria pulled in looking strong with a close second at 17:41. Samuel Mrozinski of Silver Spring took third with a time of 18:26.

The top female finisher Kathy Goetz of Reston easily won her division (seventh overall) with a time of 20:14. Mary Rachel Robins, also of Reston,  couldn’t quite catch Kathy, but posted a time of 20:55. Ellen Meinhart of Falls Church came in third at 21:56.

While all of the Spend Yourself runners ultimately supported the event’s admirable cause, many also saw the race as a way to run a convenient local 5k as part of their personal training program. Christopher Carney, Falls Church local and sixth place overall finisher, used the course as a “bounce-back” run after recently completing the Marine Corps Marathon in October.

“This race is so close—I could almost walk here from my house,” he said, “I ran [today’s race] at my half-marathon pace.” Chris used the 5k as a recovery run, citing its non-competitive atmosphere as one of the features that made this race a good choice for a post-marathon follow-up.

Indeed, Chris was in good company as many of his fellow runners were Marine Corps Marathoners looking to hit the pavement again with a shorter November run.

For Hannah Resig, a member of Columbia Baptist Church who also ran the MCM, the Spend Yourself 5k also gave her a chance to return to the type of philanthropy that drives her running. When Hannah ran the MCM, her motivation was a charitable goal, so her desire to run in her church’s 5k was a natural extension of her love of running and giving.

Hannah explained, “There are a lot of charities out there, so it is good to work for your own community. Being able to integrate your faith with what you love—running—it’s just a great feeling to be able to do that.”

This spirit is one Daniel Aronowitz hopes to spread by hosting this race. And Daniel isn’t just a man of words: he is a man of action. “I ran today, yes I did! And I was pushing my two kids in a stroller!”

Certainly, strollers, dogs, and a walking crowd were welcome at the Spend Yourself event. As Daniel explained, “We want people to know that everyone can come. The [3k] walk is a big part of our event because it is friendly to families. The 5k is great for runners, and the walk is great for everybody else.”

Daniel summed the day up best: “We want to do good things in our community—for people who like to run, for people who need food, for everybody.”

Even after 50 miles of running, Zach Miller was still happy to be out on the JFK 50 Mile course.

For a guy who spends five months at a time at sea, the latest champion of the east coast’s big fall ultramarathon doesn’t take any time on land for granted. Miller, not to be confused with  2003 runner up Zachariah Miller, is based in Columbia, Pa., but that’s just a place his junk mail shows up while he’s on the boat.  Results

“It’s good and it’s bad,” Miller said about his job operating printing equipment on cruise ships. “I’ve gotten to run on five continents and I’ll be able to do South America soon, but I really can’t get fast running 10 miles a day on a treadmill.”

That didn’t stop him from pulling away from Ultra Race of Champions winner Rob Krar somewhere between mile 33 and 38 and cruising to victory in 5:38:53, the third fastest time on the course and the youngest, at 25, under 5:40. Krar did not finish the race. Matthew Flaherty of Bloomington, Ind. was second in 5:44:37 and Arlington’s Michael Wardian, he of two marathons in a single day earlier in the week, finished third in 5:55:37.

“When they said I was going to come in under 5:40, I couldn’t believe it,” Miller said. “Only two guys had done that before, and one was Max King (2012 winner and course record holder at 5:34:59).”

Miller’s job affords him months-long vacations, and this one included a road trip to Nevada for the USATF 50k trail championships. A sixth-place finish helped convince JFK race director Mike Spinnler to let Miller into the race, though he didn’t decide on it until a few days before.

“I got the okay but I really had to think about if I really wanted to do it,” he said. “A 50 mile is a lot different from a 50k. I had never run more than 35 miles before.”

Whatever pre-race worries seemed quaint in retrospect of a race that came together “perfectly.” He took the 13 miles of alternating road and technical Appalachian Trail easy, cautiously navigating the rocks.

“I wanted to make sure my ankles came out of it,” he said. “I was falling back, but there was plenty of race left.”

When he and Jason Wolfe hit the C&O Canal Towpath for 26.3 miles, they took down the pace, but Miller considered that he might be running on borrowed time, though it was Wolfe who didn’t finish.

“I thought if we kept sub-6:00 pace up too long, I might blow up by mile 25,” he said. “I was working pretty hard, but once I caught up with Rob (Krar) and found out who he was, I was just happy to be up there with him. I was floored just to be in a position to be second to him.”

Miller didn’t know the kind of lead he had, or that Krar had dropped out, until he hit a tight turn with a little more than eight miles to go. On the rolling hills headed into Williamsport, Md. he tried to reconcile some of the splits he got from escort vehicles, 6:15 for one mile, with the fact that he had never pushed his body that far in a race.

“I was in the great unknown,” he said. “I was just seeing what I could do at that point, it felt like it was all adrenaline. I nailed the nutrition, because you have to take a lot of food to keep going. I think I had a banana at every aid station and my homemade gu.”

Oddly enough, the former Rochester Institute of Technology 10k runner might be well suited for ultra running because of his job situation.

“I don’t have the opportunity to train for a fast marathon, but I can get really strong,” he said. “When were at port, I go out and run because that’s my chance to get off the treadmill. If we’re in port for four hours, I’ll go run for four hours. Norway, South Africa, I just go out and run mountains.”

Warren County, Va. native and Flagstaff resident Emily Harrison might not have matched her time from her ultramarathon debut last year, when she dipped under the old course record coming in second to Ellie Greenwood, but she still managed to race with a commanding lead and capture the title that eluded her before.

“I felt a little off from the start,” she said. “Even leading up to the race, I knew I wouldn’t be as fast but (coach and habitual JFK runner) Ian Torrance said I could run in the 6:30s, so I just focused on getting the win.”

Her 6:35:05 was nothing to scoff at, because it was well ahead of Frederick’s Sage Norton‘s 7:14:03 and Boulder’s Kara Henry‘s 7:17:37.

“I just didn’t drop my pace on the canal this year,” she said. “I did get to see my parents and grandparents driving along the canal and thought to myself that I’d get to see them in a few miles.”

Those were just two of the 863 runners to finish the trek between Boonesboro and Williamsport, run the day after the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination.

Erik Price hasn’t had his pick of great days in either of the ultras he’s run this year. The Oakton resident tried his hand at the Northern Virginia North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile in June, which saw hot muggy weather demolish the field. At JFK, temperatures in the upper 30s and lower 40s, which took a hit at mid-day were accompanied by a constant headwind. That’s coupled with the long, consistent stretch on the towpath, made Price somewhat wistful for the sweltering North Face conditions.

“Running that far on a flat course, you use the same muscles, make the same motion for so long,” he said. “People told me JFK was a tough race but I didn’t see it, looking at the elevation chart. Now I know.”

The conditions hit Reston’s Andrew Simpson hard, but he managed what he called a “great race” despite all of it.

” I think I was close to hypothermic,” he said after recovering from his 39th place finish in 7:29:32.

“Somehow I sprained my ankle along the way but didn’t notice until I stopped and tried to walk around the gym at the middle school,” he said. “Definitely an epic day for ultra-marathoning. I would think that JFK would have been  very proud as the course tests you both mentally and physically.”

Simpson’s Team FeXY finished second in the men’s open category to Pain Train.

Lara Shegoski finished fourth on the women’s side, hundreds of miles away from where her Johns Hopkins University cross country teammates were celebrating their second consecutive Division III women’s cross country national championship. Shegoski spent a week out of training with the flu and getting back into the swing of training wasn’t easy.

“My coach said I could try to get back into shape and run one more race, but I figured it was time to move on,” she said. “I spent the summer not running because of ROTC training, so I wasn’t in shape for college racing.”

The ultra distance, though, worked out quite well.  In a race that would make Aristotle proud, she just ran without a strategy or preconceived notion about the race, her mind a blank slate. That led to a surprise midway through the race.

“I thought I’d run nine hours,” she said. “I was running with two other women and one of them mentioned we were on sub-7:30 pace. Once I heard that, I started getting a little worried, so I stopped looking at splits.”

She finished in 7:20:45.

Eugene resident Emily Halnon signed up for the race while living in Washington, D.C., but she found her new training environment rocketed her into an optimistic mindset for the race.

“You have great trails, and great runners of all kinds,” she said. “It’s not just “Track Town.'”

She took the Appalachian Trail section carefully and managed to emerge unscathed.

“I fall in road races, so that was really big,” she said. “But it meant a lot of people passed by me.”

She emerged onto the towpath in 26th place and worked her way up to seventh by the time she turned onto the road, holding that place to the end.

Triathlete Alyssa Godesky of Baltimore had a breakthrough race, running 7:38:20 on her fifth JFK race for sixth place. Her previous best was around 8:05. She was the second woman to reach the towpath but found her pursuers running faster than she thought was sustainable for that long a race.

“I tried to hold on but I saw my Garmin putting us in the low-eights (pacewise) and I knew that wasn’t my plan, so I let them go,” she said. “I know what I’m getting myself into, I guess. I was excited to race an ultra now that I know how to race, triathlon definitely taught me that. I used to do ultras trying to go fast, but I have a different mentality now.”

From global to local, the .US National Road Racing Championships in Alexandria, Va. catered to runners of all skill-levels. The race not only featured 30 Olympian and world-class athletes, but also included a community 12k. While many competitors did not have their sights on a new world record like Molly Huddle did when she broke through the tape with a time of 37:50, runners looked forward to competing in a new distance that guaranteed 12k newbies a personal record.

Among the several hundred runners who clenched a 12k personal record was Alexandria City Council Member Justin Wilson and Del. Rob Krupicka, who represents Virginia’s 45th District. Usually rolling out of bed on Sunday mornings to run together, they competed with hundreds of their constituents and a number of world champions all in one race—and in the same town they both represent in public office.

“It’s wonderful putting [Alexandria] on the map for races,” Wilson said.

Krupicka agreed with Wilson and said that the race brought good attention to the city.

“The best part of running on your own streets is you see so many friends along the way that are cheering you on.”

Wilson sped through the finish line two seconds before Krupicka finished. Krupicka said he will have a rematch with Wilson in the upcoming Turkey Trot they compete in every year together in Del Ray, Va.

“I thought [Krupicka] was going to catch me,” Wilson said. “He was right on my tail.”

In addition to hoping to achieve a goal time and a personal record, some runners were hoping to spread a message. Benjamin Villagracia of Fort Belvior, Va. and Teddy Gonzales of Silver Spring, Md. passed spectators on the streets of Alexandria while holding the Philippines flag in an effort promote relief efforts for the recent typhoon that struck the Philippines and killed thousands.

“I have relatives that were affected by the typhoon and I wanted to fight for their spirit and suffering,” Villagracia said.

Villagracia and Gonzales switched off holding the flag every two miles. Villagracia said it wasn’t easy running with the flag, but was the least he could do for his relatives.

“Compared to the suffering people have back home, the flag is very light,” Villagracia said.

As they passed spectators, Villagracia said they received a tremendous amount of support from the cheering audience.

“Holding the flag and hearing the crowd support was very inspiring and kept me going,” Villagracia, who started running three years ago to improve his health, said.

Participants competed on the same course that world-class athletes raced on, which made for a flat and fast route through the streets of Alexandria. Though the course lacked hills, it was complete with more than 20 turns—and some runners embraced them.

“I actually found that I was able to pass people on the turns,” said Barb Fallon Wallace of Alexandria, who is a member of the Pacers-New Balance racing team and placed second in the female open division. “I lost people on the flat straight-aways, they just get too monotonous.”

Because the race was local for her and her family, Fallon Wallace’s husband and nearly three-year-old twin daughters were able to cheer her on during the race. Though she had never competed in a 12k race before and was used to shorter races, Fallon Wallace said the distance had benefits.

“I need to start bumping up my mileage so the more I do, the better,” Fallon Wallace said. “I just tried to race people and it worked out. The distance didn’t feel much different than a 10k race.”

Fallon Wallace also added how much she enjoyed competing in the same race as the elite world champions.

“It is fun to mingle with the professionals,” Fallon Wallace said. “They’re the big cheeses.”

Currently serving in the Air Force, Jessica Vega of Alexandria also liked competing in the same race as the elite runners.

“It was cool to see some of the Olympians and world-class champions,” Vega said. “It was an honor running on the same course as them.”

The race started and finished near Oronoco Bay Park near the water front in Alexandria, Va. After the 588 athletes who competed in the .US National Road Racing Championships community 12k race weaved in and out of the neighborhood streets of Alexandria, they received medals from volunteers as they crossed the finish line—the same medals that the 30 elite men and women received once they crossed the finish line.

Paul Thistle of Washington, D.C. took first in the overall community race with a time of 36:33. Mindy Sullivan of Woodbridge had over a one-minute lead over second place in the women’s division and claimed the first-place title with a time of 43:49.

Season after season, on the track, on the roads – at one national championship after another – Aaron Braun has been in the mix, establishing himself as one of the top distance runners in the country.

Braun, 26, broke through to the top this morning on the streets of Alexandria – taking firm control at the 10k mark of the .US National Road Racing Championships to win his first national title. Results

The inaugural championship race capped the 2013 USA Running Circuit (USARC), a road racing series that includes national championships for races ranging from the mile to the marathon. The first 10 U.S. runners in these races earn points, with 15 awarded for a win.

The .US National Road Racing Championships, however, offered triple points, not to mention $100,000 in prize money.  And it was contested at the uncommon distance of 12k, an unfamiliar distance serving as something of a middle ground for 5k specialists and marathoners.

What made today’s race interesting, though, was not so much the unique race distance; it was the time of year the race was held. Some of the pros entered in today’s race had run marathons the month prior. Some had been racing relentlessly since January (and coming off a marathon), thus operating on fumes. Others, like Braun, came in focused and fresh.

The lead pack was at least a dozen strong through 5k. But Braun – from the very beginning on Union Street – seemed to be the one tugging the strings, injecting fresh pace at mile marks or surging off some of the course’s tight and even 180-degree turns.

The opening pace through the first few mostly-flat miles was about 4:40. Spectators lined the intersections to cheer, and Abdi Abdirahman and Shadrack Biwott at times moved out into the lead.

Pre-race favorites Matt Tegenkamp, leading the USARC standings, and Chris Solinsky tucked into the group. Solinsky, who dropped out, started to fall off first, shortly around 5k. Tegenkamp started slipping back closer to a turnaround near five miles.

“Coming off the marathon, I was just locked into those 4:50s, 4:55, five-minute miles,” said Tegenkamp, an Olympian who debuted in the marathon Oct. 13 in Chicago, clocking 2:12:28. “Trying to run any faster than that for a sustained amount of time, there was just never a comfort zone.”

Tegenkamp fought through a tough day to finish eighth.

Braun, meanwhile, lowered the pace into the 4:30s. He said he knew dropping the field wouldn’t happen and focused instead on staying aggressive: “… I just had to keep my foot on the pedal and keep it nice and steady, be able to hold that pace all the way to the finish.”

Braun’s time, 34:28, was two seconds shy of Steve Spence’s American record. Maybe if Braun had not looked back in the closing stretch and waved to the crowd and enjoyed the moment … maybe then the record could have been his.

But the Englewood, Colo.-based runner was not the least bit concerned about that. His only goal, he said, was to win: “It’s just so great to finally cross the line and be U.S. champion.”

Braun recently returned to a former coach and his native Colorado, where he also attended running powerhouse Adams State College. He made the change, he said, out of concern that his performances had leveled off.

“To keep in this sport,” Braun said, “you have to keep getting better – because everyone else is getting better, too. So if you’re staying the same, you’re getting passed. I am just determined to keep getting better year after year.”

Sensing Braun was on his game, Shadrock Biwott – second in the standings – focused on not letting him get too far away.

Biwott has been racing without a break since January, he said. Six weeks ago he finished third in the national marathon championships – and afterward took just two days off. (“I’m exhausted,” he said. “My legs are tired right now. I have never been so tired in the race.”)

His near-breaking point came while heading up the bridge between miles five and six. There was a tight turn to make at its end – and Biwott, entering his rough patch, said his focus was further thrown by seeing Abdirahman take a hard fall there that ended his race.

But Biwott successfully re-grouped to hold on for second, seven seconds behind Braun – a result that earned him the USARC series title.

Next in the 12k was Tyler Pennel, 25, of Blowing Rock, N.C., finishing third in 34:37.

It was Pennel’s first race since Peachtree in July, and his first race in a new season he hopes will peak in January at the national half marathon championships.

“It kind of validates the training I am doing with my coach,” he said. “I know I can compete with these guys. I can go out here and run toe to toe with them.”

Local Connections

Chris Kwiatkowski of Washington, D.C., recently finished fourth at the Army Ten-Miler in a new personal best of 48:17. He is coached by Matt Centrowitz and runs for the Pacers-New Balance team.

Kwiatkowski ran confidently this morning in the thick of the lead pack. He started to lose contact around five miles but held on to finish 12th.

“It’s a different world the way these guys race,” he said. “You got to be strong; you got to stay relaxed. So I’m working on it, and it was a good learning experience.”

Matt Llano trains in Flagstaff, Ariz., but attended Broadneck High School in Annapolis and competed for the University of Richmond.

He finished seventh today in 34:49, matching his place at the national 20K championship in September and continuing his recovery from an injury that sidelined him for most of 2012. His parents, sister, college teammates and even his former college coach were there to see him race.

Llano hoped to crack the top five, but “I’m just confident that my fitness is still coming along,” he said.

Thomas Jefferson High School graduate Christopher Landry, who now trains in Ann Arbor, Mich., finished fourth to cap a USARC season that also included top five finishes in the national championships for the marathon and 25k.

The College of William and Mary graduate wasn’t sure how he would fare at 12k six weeks after a marathon. But today’s race – “a homecoming,” he said, with his family there supporting him – wasn’t one he wanted to miss.

“This exceeded all my expectations,” he said.

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RunWashington’s story on women’s race.

 

 

The size of the women’s elite field, impressive as it was, didn’t matter at the inaugural .US National Road Racing Championships. Within a half mile, it was down to two — Shalane Flanagan and Molly Huddle, dueling side-by-side over 12k of winding roads in Old Town Alexandria. Shortly after 10k, split in 31:38, Huddle got a few steps on Flanagan and widened her lead to eight seconds to win in 37:50 in an American record.      Results

Though Huddle won the $20,000 prize for first place, both were well under Deena Kastor’s 38:24 American record for the infrequently-run distance, a record Kastor ran en route to the Berlin Half Marathon in 2006. Race announcers declared it a world record, though the International Association of Athletics Federations doesn’t certify 12k road records.

“It’s a bit long distance for me, so I just wanted to be patient for 10k,” Huddle said. “We knew we were on record pace so I thought no need to surge and fade. I figured I could hold on for two more kilometers so I pushed it.”

Shortly after making her move, Huddle opened up some lateral space from Flanagan, moving to the other side of Fairfax Street shortly before the seven-mile mark. Shortly after, Flanagan subtly eased up and Huddle put ground on her.

“I was saving a little bit in case she had a kick, but with 600 left I didn’t hear her, so I started focusing on the record,” Huddle said.

It was a few blocks from where the two of them had put their pursuers away. Early in the race, by the time the pair climbed the short, steep hill on Gibson Street, even early pursuer Lindsay Scherf had fallen off. They passed the first mile in 5:03 and had a 10-second lead on the pack.

“I didn’t hear anyone after the mile, so I figured it would be just us two the whole way and we’d end up with a fast couple kilometers,” Huddle said. “We knew 5:05 was American Record pace so we both had it in our mind to try it for half way and see how we do.”

The looping course featured an average of three turns per mile, with a 180-degree turn in mile five.

“I wouldn’t have anticipated it being that fast, but obviously it was,” Flanagan said. “I thought the turns would slow us down but we actually gained momentum by trying to compensate for it. It was a great setup for fast times.”

Despite losing, Flanagan was upbeat. Huddle came in on a hot streak, having won the New York Road Runners 5k two weeks prior when she outleaned Emily Infeld, the former Georgetown star, in 15:27. Flanagan had finished 11 seconds back.  Sunday, she was eight seconds behind on a longer course.

“I didn’t really have a plan,” Flanagan said. “I don’t really know my fitness because I’m just getting back into shape, I’m pretty pleased by how fast I ran. I knew Molly would be tough, but I didn’t anticipate her being there that late.”

Infeld sat the race out with a back injury that has not been diagnosed yet. Huddle also edged Infeld at the USATF 5k championships in late September.

Kellyn Johnson, a frequent racer in the D.C. area, finished fifth in 39:48 seven days after winning the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon in 1:13:02. She flew back and forth between her home in Flagstaff, Ariz., but didn’t feel like the trips took too much out of her.

“I wasn’t too sore, wasn’t too beaten up from it,” she said. “I was just basically running and did some strides. I was pretty drained by the last mile but I have felt that way at the ends of all kinds of races.”

Runners specializing in “all kinds of races” showed up for the race,  which invited top 10 finishers from USA Running Circuit — USATF championships in cross country, the mile, 5k, 10k, 15k, 20k, half marathon, 25k and marathon, with bonus points for the marathon and 12k. Huddle had won the 5k and Flanagan cross country, with Meghan Peyton (ninth for the 12k in 40:32 ) winning the 20k and Annie Bersagel (eighth in 40:27) the marathon.

Renee Tomlin showed up after getting notice she had qualified thanks to her performance at the mile championships in April.

“I wrote back and asked if it was a mistake,” she said with a laugh. “I’m definitely a miler so a 12k is kind of a stretch, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought.”

She’s never raced more than four miles, but figured the race would be an opportunity to do a hard long run.

“This is a marathon for me,” she said. “But it was fun to work with (fellow Georgetown alumnae) Kristen (Kasper) and Liz (Maloy). Kristin was my workout and training buddy in college.”

Kasper, a redshirt senior at Georgetown, had run one 10k on the track, but dipped into longer racing in October, finishing fifth in 57:14. At Army, she split 35:23 for 10k; during the 12k, she split 34:56.

“I just wanted to have fun, run with Renee and that’s what I did,” she said. “I was in awe of the field, being able to step on the line with record holders and Olympians was incredible.”

Maloy( 19th ,41:33) Tomlin (20th, 41:43) and Kasper (21st, 41:47) ran consistently between 5:30 and 5:35 per mile.

“We kept trying to raise the intensity, but didn’t swing the pace too much,” Kasper said.

Army Ten-Miler champion Kerri Gallagher, a 1500 meter specialist based in Arlington, tried the 12k as a medium distance and finished 14th in 40:59.

“I was a little disappointed with how I finished, but I got out the way I wanted to,” she said. “There are a lot of great runners in this race so it was a tossup whether I was going to be able to hang or not.”

She hung in the pack for 2.5 miles, stuck off the back for 1.5 more, and ran alone for the rest of the race trying to stay focused, with mixed results.

“I was trying to keep it in my head that the race wasn’t gone yet,” she said. “I don’t think it really was at any point; I just never started gaining places back.”

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RunWashington’s story on men’s race

Halloween has come and gone, but last Saturday Reston Town Center was full of Chippendales dancers, shirtless superheros, and other barely clad runners ready for the third annual Nearly Naked Mile.

Thankfully, no one ran completely au naturel (this is a family-friendly event, after all), but a few racers pushed the limits with skin-tone bodysuits or Speedos. Some bib numbers took up more real estate than clothing.

The fun setting aside, Saturday’s perfect weather made for some serious competition. In the men’s elite race, Moise Joseph, Baisa Ktesa, and Kevin McNab broke away from the field by the half-mile mark, with Moise (4:20) barely holding off Ktesa (4:21) and McNab finishing a second later. But it was 24-year-old Nahom Mesfin of Alexandria, starting farther back in the pack, who claimed the fastest “chip time” of the day with 4:19. The following day, Mesfin placed third at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon, in 1:05:16.

The women’s elite race also came down to the wire, as Desta Tadesse outkicked Kristin Swisher of Alexandria for a 5:00 finish. Susanna Sullivan of Falls Church took third in 5:01. Tadesse finished second (1:13:54) in Sunday’s Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon. Sullivan, preparing for next week’s Richmond Half Marathon, is a member of the Capital Area Runners, which took home the team prize.

Swisher used the short race to gear up for next week’s USATF 12K road race championships, but also recognized the good cause behind this event thanks to a friend who is a volunteer firefighter. Runners agreed to shed their layers on a breezy November afternoon to support burn victims and show what it means to be comfortable in one’s skin.

The first two Nearly Naked Miles raised $15,000 for the Burn Center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, the only adult burn treatment center in the Washington metropolitan area. Now in its third year, the event is bigger than ever. So big, in fact, that Potomac River Running expanded the field from two to four “open” divisions grouped by time.

Jason Kuehler volunteered for the event alongside fellow firefighters and members of the Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society (FOOLS), a fraternal organization for firefighters. A burn victim himself, he saw this event as an opportunity to give back. He explained that burn victims often feel self-conscious about their looks, so the race’s message was a valuable one.

Austin Bigdely, Secretary and Treasurer for the Northern Virginia FOOLS chapter, explained that this race is their banner charitable event and that it illustrates how local companies and groups can become involved in their mission. According to Bigdely, future partnerships might involve Wounded Warriors, which supports severely injured veterans, and Second Watch, an organization that provides services for firefighters in need.