By Brenda Barrera
Williamsburg, VA
May 19, 2012
For the Washington Running Report
“Yup, I’m 40,” the message on overall champion Kevin Castille’s shirt said it all. It was an impressive day for the 40 and older crowd at the Run for the Dream 8K in Williamsburg VA which also served as the USA Track & Field Masters 8K Championships. A total of 1,536 runners completed the 8K race on the rolling course on the historical Colonial Williamsburg and College of Williams & Mary. And 143 national-class runners competed in the separately scored Masters Championship division.
Having just turned 40 this past March, Castille is having an exceptional year. The Louisiana-native now residing in Kentucky is tearing up the roads and also the track. He captured the masters crown at the Carlsbad 5000 (14:57), set a U.S. Masters 10K record at the Stanford University Invitational (28:57) and set a new course record at today’s race with his 24:19 finish.
“The conditions were ideal,” said Castille who led the whole race and had set a goal to run faster than 24:00. “But it’s hard to get into a groove when the course has a lot of turns like this.” Alexandria’s Chris Juarez, 41, was second in 25:16 followed by Mark Andrews, 41, from Rochester, NY. Ray Pugsley, 43, from Potomac Falls, VA and racing for the Baltimore Washington Athletic Club took the fourth spot in the Masters competition in 26:02.
The women’s masters competition was almost a repeat of last year. Chris Kimbrough, 42, from Austin, TX and the 2011 USATF Club Cross Country National Masters Champion defended her 8K Masters title. She took the crown in 28:08 but as with 2011 was challenged by former William & Mary All-American Sonja Friend-Uhl who now resides in Brentwood, TN. Friend-Uhl finished in 28:19. The margin was closer than last year when they finished 1-2 in 28:18 and 28:56, respectively.
“I felt pretty good for the first 3 miles and didn’t pass Sonya until 3 1/2 miles,” said Kimbrough who received extra motivation from her uncle who drove up from Suffolk to cheer his niece.
Susannah Kvasnicka from Great Falls, VA has been on hiatus the past few years due to injuries but it is hard to sit on the sidelines when you turn 40. Kvasnicka said she is excited to get back into racing shape and kicked off her return with an overall win at Cassidy Turley Race for Hope 5K on May 6 and in today’s contest she took the third spot with her 29:35 finish.
Charlottesville’s Thomas Adam, racing for the Ragged Mountain Racing Team, finished fourth overall with his 25:55. The youngster in the talented field at just 25-years old, is not going to be competing in the masters category for awhile but he drew inspiration from competing with the older crowd.
“I liked seeing more experienced runners still competing and still enjoying the sport,” said Adam.
Among the finishers was Andy Scales, 45, who completed the 8K in a kilt. He admitted last year at this time he was sitting on his couch and weighed 330 pounds. The accountant and volunteer fireman decided it was time for a change and adopt a new lifestyle which included walking in the evening.
“It took me a month before I could even run a mile,” said the Saluda resident who now weighs 285.
Actor Joe Mantegna, in town as the guest host for Colonial Williamsburg’s special “A Salute to the Nation” made an appearance at the awards presentation. Afterward, several of the participants mentioned they were eager to get off their feet as they would be returning to the starting line again for Sunday’s half marathon, part of the Patriot’s Challenge.
By James Moreland
Washington, DC
March 20, 2011
For the Washington Running Report
Below Gurmessa Megerssa breaks the tape.
In typical Washington Metro the weather juked us better than scoring guard in a NCAA March Madness tournament. Colder than normal most of the winter we were torched by nearly eighty on Friday. Saturday racers were greeted with wonderful spring weather in the mid sixties. Then as the real spring dawned at Freedom Plaza the temperatures dipped below freezing.
No matter; this race was all about awareness of a deadly cancer that can, in many cases, may be prevented by vigilant screening. The race was about raising money to find a cure. Just as with the other major “Cure” events, 05-01-11 Race for Hope – DC Presented by Cassidy Turley to benefit the Brain Tumor Society and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (Washington, DC) and the largest of all the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure set for June 4, 2011 in Washington, DC, this event brings caring, sharing people who want to find a cure.
The event had close to 2,000 finishers and nearly twice as many men as women. Nearly all of the runners that moved down Pennsylvania Avenue after crossing the ChronoTrack starting mats were there to celebrate survival of loved ones and the determination to move forward to a cure.
There were some top flight racers there as well. Three women had been ranked first in the area. Two of the men had as well. At the start Bert Rodriguez, 31, of Arlington, VA looked over the field but he already had a plan to break 15:00. The weather was perfect and the flat course was, “almost like a track.” He was advised that the overall went just one deep and top ranked Gurmessa Megerssa was standing close by. Megerssa had finished a solid third overall at the Van Metere 5M in 24:49 just 24 hours ago.
Rodriguez, known as an 800M specialist, could not wait. The start was a 1-2-3 countdown by visiting Redskin Cheerleaders and he was off. He quickly took the lead, following by Adam Condit and Megerssa, who loped along after him like a dog playing in the park.
The race runs down to the Capitol and then does a loop on the eastern side before returning home. As runners approached that loop, many gasped and one shouted out in surprise as these two racing titans were already heading home, racing neck and neck. The wind was pretty mild. Still, Rodriguez lamented later that maybe he should have let Megerssa take some of the lead duties. At mile 2.25 Megerssa made his move which Rodriguez could not quite cover. Megerssa scored another overall win for the year in a very nice 14:55. Rodriguez broke the magic 15:00 barrier by a second.
Almost forgotten Condit (in photo) had a nifty 15:08 to take third overall and first in his age group. Fourth place is a former rankings champion who had won the St. Patrick’s Day race three times back when it was a 10K. Philippe Rolly, 38, of Arlington, VA has been training mega miles and is gearing up for next weekend’s National Marathon. He even ran the last year’s JFK 50.2 mile in a very credible 6:52:15. He lamented that he does not have much speed right now. His time of 16:42 would make most of the rest of us very proud. With abbreviated age groups, he settled into second behind Rodriguez.
Another Frenchman took the top masters spot. Jean Christophe Arcaz, 50, of Rockville, MD was a mortal lock in the traditional 50-54 division. Today the expanded set up with 45-59, he had his work cut out for him. He succeeded in 17:14 with a close battle from Robert Denmark, 45, of Arlington, VA flying home next in 17:26.
For the women, Susannah Kvasnicka, 36, of Great Falls, VA has had 34:30 10K speed. She might have been a co-favorite with Samia Akbar,28, of Herndon, VA the Army 10M record holder from 2009 with 55:25 or Claire Hallissey, 27 of Arlington, VA (below) who had won it all at the winter’s biggest 10K, the Jingle All the Way 10K in 35:17.
Kvasnicka has been absent and healing and is pretty much starting over. Her last race was sixth overall at the Kaiser Permanente Pike’s Peek 10K in April 2010 with 35:57. Akbar had finished second overall in the Fall Runner Rankings with her 27:00 overall win at the HCS 8K in the fall. Still it was clear Kvasnicka was just getting her feet wet and Hallissey only had to hold off Akbar which she did 17:52 to 17:56. Neither were ecstatic with their times but the season has just begun. Both will be faster than 17:00 by Memorial Day. Shortly after that Kvasnicka will be there too.
In the masters division, Lisa Chilcote, 40, of Oakmont, PA keeps moving up. She took the masters division by more than two minutes, finishing in 19:02. She was ninth in the fall Runner Rankings when she was listed as from Bethesda, MD. In the winter she moved up to fifth. He time today is her best masters effort…so far.
The stream of blue race T-shirts continued on for more than an hour. After the race, there were many nice refreshments for all of the participants.
Awards Listing
MALE OVERALL
Place Num Name Age City Gun T Net T Pace
===== ===== ====================== === ===================== ===== ===== =====
1 5 Gurmessa Megerssa 31 Washington DC 14:55 14:55 4:48
FEMALE OVERALL
Place Num Name Age City Gun T Net T Pace
===== ===== ====================== === ===================== ===== ===== =====
1 2329 Claire Hallissey 28 Arlington VA 17:52 17:51 5:45
MALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 19 (NET TIME)
1 1962 Jack Beecher 19 Washington DC 17:24 17:22 5:36
2 1075 Joseph Giammittorio 18 Falls Church VA 20:08 19:52 6:24
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 1 - 19 (NET TIME)
1 2604 Gillian Kramer 16 Cheverly MD 22:55 22:48 7:21
2 2519 Christine Downie 18 Arlington VA 26:09 23:32 7:35
MALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 29 (NET TIME)
1 747 Adam Condit 27 Ashburn VA 15:08 15:08 4:53
2 263 Neal Hannan 29 Washington DC 17:09 17:08 5:31
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 20 - 29 (NET TIME)
1 3 Samia Akabar 29 Oak Hill VA 17:56 17:55 5:46
2 1950 Nikeya Green 28 Centreville VA 19:11 19:10 6:10
MALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 44 (NET TIME)
1 2050 Bert Rodriguez 31 Arlington VA 14:59 14:59 4:50
2 1105 Philippe Rolly 38 McLean VA 16:42 16:42 5:23
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 44 (NET TIME)
1 2474 Kristin Murphy 30 Newton MA 18:19 18:19 5:54
2 1560 Lisa Chilcote 40 Oakmont PA 19:02 19:01 6:08
MALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 59 (NET TIME)
1 19 Jean-Christophe Arcaz 50 Rockville MD 17:14 17:14 5:33
2 2172 Robert Denmark 45 Arlington VA 17:27 17:26 5:37
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 45 - 59 (NET TIME)
1 1998 Patti Galleher 53 Denver CO 21:06 21:03 6:47
2 2334 Cathy Grable 45 Charlotte NC 21:21 21:17 6:51
MALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 99 (NET TIME)
1 2609 Bill Ference 60 Clifton VA 23:38 23:35 7:36
2 153 Michael Loney 60 Silver Spring MD 24:18 24:14 7:48
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 60 - 99 (NET TIME)
1 906 Deborah Schnabel 61 Fairfax VA 33:03 31:52 10:16
2 573 Stephanie Dalton 67 Washington DC 36:41 35:29 11:26
With the football season far away, Redskins Cheerleaders take a look at the new Washington Running Report.
