RunWashington Spring 2016

Time to race!

RUNNER RANKINGS NATIONAL-CLASS HIGHLIGHTS OLYMPIC TRIALS QUALIFIERS

Or not...

HASHING RUNNING WITH SHELTER DOGS

Cover: Brenton Arnaboldi (left) edges Drew Lefkof at the end of the Four Courts Four Miler. Photo by Brian W. Knight/ Swim Bike Run Photography

EDITOR’S NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OFF THE BEATEN PATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MILITARY RUNNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2015 FINAL RUNNER RANKINGS . . . . . . . . . . . .

COMING SOON: A SMOOTH BEACH DRIVE . .

GREAT RUNNERS COME THROUGH D.C.. . . . .

MEGAN CRILLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF RUNNING . . .

BRINGING WOMEN’S RUNNING TO JORDAN. UPCOMING RACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

RUNNING FOR THE DOGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS QUALIFIERS . .

CELEBRATE RUNNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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SPRING 2016

PUBLISHER Kathy Dalby RunWashington Media LLC EDITOR IN CHIEF Charlie Ban charlie@runwashington.com SENIOR EDITOR Dickson Mercer dickson@runwashington.com CREATIVE / PRODUCTION AZER CREATIVE www.azercreative.com SALES DIRECTOR Denise Farley denise@runwashington.com 703-855-8145 CUSTOMER SERVICE office@runwashington.com BRANDING ORANGEHAT LLC The entire contents of RunWashington are copyright ©2016 by RunWashington Media, LLC. All rights reserved, and may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, results, or other materials are welcome but are not returnable and are preferred via electronic communication to charlie@ runwashington.com.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF RICH MENDELOWITZ (PICTURED)

I’ll get this out of the way early — this issue is going to be heavy on competitive running. We have the largest group of Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers in local history heading to Los Angeles for the Feb. 13 race, and they all have compelling stories heading to the starting line. Our local high school runners accounted for two national cross country championships and a slew of state titles. And elite runners who train here or have passed through the area during their careers had a spectacular 2015.

The world’s eyes might not have been glued to the IAAF Championships in Beijing the way they are for the Olympics, but dedicated track fans saw Georgetown alumna Emily Infeld kick like crazy to the finish line of the 10,000 meters to win a bronze medal.

It’s a little surreal to see the same person my mom would talk about from her Beaumont School alumnae newsletters a decade ago progress to that point, and I’m excited to see what Rio, with any luck and skill, holds for her, local 1,500 meter runner Kerri Gallagher and steeplechaser Stephanie Garcia, who grew up in Northern Virginia.

We have our annual runner rankings summarized starting on page 12, and I’m hoping everyone who wanted was able to get enough races in to be ranked. Given the snow last year, we gave people some leeway if they were short on first-half races, since a few were cancelled or postponed.

To balance all of the competitive running news, Mollie Zapata offers us a respite with her tale of hashing, a decidedly more casual approach to sport that keeps everything in a different perspective — that running should be about having a good time, while celebrating the fact that runners can be delightfully eccentric.

As I write, we’re still digging out from a monumental snowstorm, and by that I mean I couldn’t tell the difference between the snow and the monuments on my run Saturday morning. I was still able to get a solid long run Sunday morning on an eerily empty Rock Creek Parkway, something I haven’t been able to do since Hurricane Sandy shut the road down in 2012 or I unwisely ran ahead of a pack of runners in the 2014 Rock ’n’Roll D.C. Half.

That does bring me to a point I hope people will take to heart. When the city is shut down because of snow and you have to run outside (and believe me, I am one such runner), if you’re running in the streets, defer to cars whenever there’s any chance you’ll be hit. Jump in a snow bank, get out of the way, but don’t get territorial. You can see them a lot better than they can see you, and you won’t win if a car hits you. Safety first.

Don’t forget to vote in the Best of Washington Running finals, through the end of March. Find it on our website at www.runwashington.com.

And lastly, someday, I want to start a race, sponsored by a furniture store, called Chaz’s Chaise Chase… Thanks, folks, I’m here all week! Try the veal!

See you out there, Charlie

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By Mollie Zapata I wasn’t approaching a normal running club.

That much was clear as I cautiously approached a group of runners convening near a D.C.-area metro station. No one glared down at a Garmin, willing it to load data. I saw no race t-shirts and no new shoes (sporting either is a punishable offense with this group).

And instead of a 40-person group stretch, a chorus of raucous voices sang an unprintable song while doing what might be considered, generously, a silly dance.

Yep, after five years of running in the D.C. area — a hashing hotbed and location of the first hash in the United States — I finally went out for a run with the Hash House Harriers. A local group was generous enough to welcome me, a “race-ist” (as in, I run races) and member of the media, to their 1,651st weekly hash, and I’m happy to report that I lived to tell the tale.

The Hash House Harriers, if they chose to identify as a running club, would be one of the oldest and largest running clubs in the world. “We identify more as a social group, not an athletic one,” commented one D.C. member as he took a sip of beer on a mid-run break. “It’s exercise, but don’t say that word too loud,” noted another.

Hashing originated in 1938, when a group of British expats and military members posted in Kuala Lumpur got bored enough to start a scavenger hunt-style game in which a pack of “hounds” chased a “hare” leaving a trail.

Hashing groups today are called “kennels,” as in a kennel of hounds. The Hash House was their nickname for a local restaurant with terrible food, where they ended the game with drinks. Their founding tenants were: “to promote physical fitness among our

members…get rid of weekend hangovers… acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer… [and] persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel.”

After taking a break for WWII, hashing picked back up first in Italy then Singapore.

By the 1970s there were over 30 hashes in 14 countries, and today there are approximately 2,000 kennels worldwide, including two in Antarctica. Hashing has become the sport of choice for many military and foreign service members and provides an accessible social network for those abroad. Not surprisingly, with its military and internationally-minded population, the greater D.C. area has become one of the largest hashing communities in the US. It started in 1973 with a men-only kennel that still hashes in the area, but has expanded and diversified to include somewhere between 12 and 18 kennels (depending on how widely you define the D.C. area) and well over 1,000 participants. A search for hashing in D.C. yields a schedule of hashes almost every day of the week, year-round. “Yep, we’re out here rain or shine,” one man boasted during the hash. “We hashed during Snowmageddon, during Hurricane Sandy,” proudly declared one couple. “The hash is pretty adaptable, all it takes is a couple people saying, ‘let’s do it!’”

Though they share a name and some hashing lore (they even have a patron saint, one of the original hashers who was killed as a POW in WWII), each group’s traditions vary. For example, a visiting hasher from Abu Dhabi noted that her group cannot do the Red Dress Run, a hashing tradition in which everyone wears red dresses, because a man wearing a dress is a crime in the UAE. One hasher I met (“we’re huge travel hashers!” she said of her and her husband) has hashed in Panama, Austria, Germany, and all over the

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US. “Each kennel is different, but they all have the some things in common: frivolity, drinking, trails,” she explained. “And one thing I’ve found universally is acceptance. Hashers are very welcoming people.”

“I tell my friends it’s an uninhibited crowd,” noted an avid hasher who first hashed in Ukraine in 1996, then went on to try it in Armenia and eventually D.C. “Double life” and “alter ego” were terms he used to describe his hashing self. “When I’m at work I’m much more buttoned up of course, but at the hash it’s a little different.”

“This isn’t a ‘family-friendly’ environment,” he went on to explain. “But there are a couple kennels in the area that do family-friendly hashes. You can bring your kids to this, but we’re not going to tone it down.” One woman, carrying her infant for the walking hash, cautioned that “Hashing is not for everyone.

It’s raunchy humor and we like to make fun of ourselves and make fun of each other. But it’s all in the spirit of acceptance and getting together for a good time.”

The hash I attended was definitely not of the family-friendly variety. As the mostlycostumed members of the group milled about, my trusty accomplice and I approached a woman with a sign-in sheet. “First timers!? You’re both virgins! That’s great! Who made you come?” she exclaimed as she marked a large “V” next to each of our names. Regulars sign in with their hashing names — all double-entendres, mostly unprintable — while I was “Just Mollie” for the day.

This is definitely not an activity for the sensitive or prudish.

Before the hash could begin, we gathered in a semi-circle around a member of the “mismanagement” team for the “chalk-talk.”

He called up virgins and visitors in two groups to be sung scandalous songs and mocked (I was heartily but not hurtfully booed for my association with this competitive-oriented magazine.) Then with a brief explanation of the rules, we were off!

The normal drill is for one or more “hares” to mark the approximately four-mile running and two-mile walking routes in advance.

They sprinkle chalk or flour in symbols on the ground for the group of hashers (or “hounds”) to follow. The route is designed to keep the faster runners searching for the trail while the slower runners catch up because, though this may sound crazy to many readers of this magazine, it’s not a race! According to participants, it’s about fun, not competition, and anyone trying to “win” the hash is called out as an “FRB,” which is a derogatory hasher term for the frontrunner. To keep the group together, regular hashers carry whistles around their necks to signal the trail, and or shout “On! On!” as they find the way.

It is no mean feat to put on a scavenger hunt for 40-plus people, both walkers and runners of varying speeds, every week. “When you’re the hare, you pick an area you want to explore and go out scouting,” said one hare. Hashes can take place in urban settings, or off the road in mud and reeds. Off-road trails are known as “shiggy”

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hashes, for these hashers wear tall socks to protect their legs from briars and brush. “The challenge is to try to time it out so that runners and walkers break and finish at the same time,” she explained. Some kennels have runners and walkers on the same trail, but “I like that our kennel has a shorter trail for the walkers. We try to keep the running pack together and make sure that the runners and walkers all get to the checks and the end at the same time.”

About halfway through there is a “beverage check,” and there also might be one or more “shot checks” along the way. Running and drinking are activities I usually enjoy in a very specific sequence. But for hashers, running and drinking followed by more running and more drinking is par for the course. “I mean really, it’s not that different from having a Gatorade before you run,” explained one hasher as he jogged alongside me. “Raceists drink beer after their runs; we’re just one step ahead and do it during the run!” Though drinking is encouraged, this isn’t a fraternity — if you prefer to stick with water no one objects.

“I was in the Army when I first heard about hashing,” one woman started her story.

Some of her fellow Marines suggested she try hashing, “but I hated running, I said no way would I ever run for fun.” Years later she was again asked to hash and at first she demurred, afraid of embarrassing herself. “But they said, ‘no problem you can walk,’ so I said ok why not.” Now, five years later, she has progressed from walking to run-walking to running six half-marathons. “Even as slowest runner in the pack, I’d never be alone. I don’t feel compelled to run, but the more you do it, the further and faster you want to go.”

The hash ends with a circle, which can better be described as a communal roast. The hashing virgins are brought up to be temporarily named, mocked, and sung raucous and ribald songs reminiscent of hashing’s rugby roots (I promised the hashers that their lyrics would be kept off the record). Visitors are given the same treatment, while hares are made to explain why their trail was so bad. Then the hashers begin calling out one another for “violations,” all in the most friendly and welcoming way possible, considering the jokes are 100 percent scandalous. However, I’m happy to report that the hashers are equal-opportunity slanderers — both men and women are the butt of lewd sexual jokes — as long as you’re ok with dirty humor it is good silly unclean fun.

“This is a group of very serious people who don’t take themselves too seriously,” seemed to be the theme. The ages ranged from a couple teenagers to people in their 40s and 50s — from what I could tell the usual DC mix of government, military, non-profit, and consulting employees, but a decidedly unusual lack of suits and seriousness. Said one man at the finish, beer and a cup of potato chips in hand, “The great thing about hashing is the diversity. You can have a general, an ambassador, and you know, whatever, the janitor, and we don’t care about that stuff at all, we’re just here for the hash.”

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ALEX HETHERINGTON at the 2015 Marine Corps Marathon.

PHOTO BY CHERYL YOUNG

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by Charlie Ban Being a runner never mattered so much to Alex Hetherington until he was doing it all alone.

Throughout high school in Buffalo and college at Kenyon, he put in the miles and raced with his classmates, and liked it. But where his connection to the sport meant the most was when those teams were gone and he was adjusting to his new life after college.

In the marines.

“It gave me an identity beyond being a marine,” he said. “You think being a Marine is an identity in and of itself, but you’re in a squadron with a bunch of other pilots who are just like you. That’s who you work with day in and day out, and running was sort of a way to be a little bit different. It was my persona.”

And it continued to be, up to the point where he was a credit to the branch of service.

Over a 20 year career, Lt. Col. Hetherington was on the All-Marine Marathon Team 11 times, and captain eight times.

Enlisting in 1990 was a professional deferral, like going to grad school as a way of dodging a career choice.

“I had no idea how I would make my history major into a profession,” he said. “I figured I would do the initial commitment and that would be it. It would be a good place to start. Then I enjoyed it and stuck around.”

But not only did he stick with it, retiring in 2010 after several deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq as a twin-engine attack helicopter pilot; he still works at Quantico as a consultant. These days, he’s developing gender-neutral training standards for integrating women more completely.

“Previously, the Marine Corps didn’t have occupation-specific standards, they just had basic fitness and combat fitness tests,” he said. “They involved high strength requirements, which were disadvantageous to women but also unnecessary for what they were doing in some of these jobs.”

The end result, Hetherington and the Marine Corps hope, will be women who are matched well for jobs who can avoid injury and have full careers in the military.

While in the service, Hetherington competed on All-Marine teams, racing 20 Marine Corps Marathons, finishing as the

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first Marine finisher three times. It wasn’t an assisted athletic career; nothing like the Army’s World Class Athlete Program.

“The Marine Corps doesn’t have those kinds of athletes anyway,” he said. “And the Marine Corps isn’t going to tolerate that kind of approach. You have to be productive in your career first. You’re here to be a marine first. You do your running on your own and if you’re good, they’ll send you to competitions.”

Work did end up playing to Hetherington’s advantage in 1998, when a posting in boiling hot Okinawa, Japan left him acclimated for an unseasonably warm marathon Oct. 30, where he was the inaugural Inter-Service Marathon champion.

“The other services quickly found much faster guys” to compete in later years, he said.

He also enjoyed the cross country races he ran in England as a guest of the Royal Navy/Marine Corps.

“You’d run straight through the woods, through chest-high water crossings and on beaches with rocks the size of softballs,” he said. “Some of those races were 20 miles long.”

Running helps him stay in touch with his active military days, particularly at the Marine Corps Marathon. He’s a 2009 inductee in the race’s hall of fame.

“It’s like a reunion at this point, seeing people from all walks of life who show up to this race year after year,” he said, One of the old friends is Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Cucuzzella, now owner of the Natural Running Center in Shepherdstown, W.V. “I probably raced him in 15 Marine Corps Marathons, and we usually end up running together for at least part of it,” he said. “It’s neat to have that, year after year. That kind of competition makes it really fun, especially when you stop thinking about your overall finish and start focusing on your age group finish.”

Hetherington lives in Vienna now, and maintains a robust racing schedule. He won 2015’s Runner’s Half Marathon of Reston in March and the Navy Federal 5k in October. And his wife Karen works as a senior case manager for the Semper Fi Fund, an organization that provides financial assistance to wounded marines.

“I was fortunate to not suffer any kind of injury like a lot of marines, but the work my wife does reminds me of that all the time,” he said.

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BY CHARLIE BAN After two years as the second-ranked overall runner, behind Claire Hallissey in 2014 and Susanna Sullivan in 2015, Chris Kwiatkowski took top honors in the 2016 RunWashington Runner Rankings.

The 26-year-old Arlington resident, who is running in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (see page 44), not only won three of his six local ranked road races (St. Patrick’s 10k, Lawyers Have Heart 10k and the Crystal City Twilighter 5k), but with a half mile to go in the Army Ten-Miler, he had as good of a chance as anybody in the lead pack to take home the win. He matched up well with professional runners at the Cherry Blossom race and .US National 12k Championship. He’s the only runner to have finished in the top 10 each of the past three years.

RunWashington’s Runner Rankings calculates performance on roughly 100 certified road race courses between 5k and the half marathon. This, of course, is a disadvantage to runners who pursue a track season in the Winter and Spring or a cross country season in the Summer or Fall, but in the end, the rankings evaluate road race performances.

This year’s heavy snows in February and March forced the cancellation and rescheduling of many races and last-minute all-clears — early March had a few races

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that were gun-time decisions. The Runner Rankings have traditionally required three races before July 1 and three after, but with those weather issues in mind, we opened the final rankings up to runners who completed at least two races before July 1 and four afterward.

Points earned per race comes from comparing your finishing pace to the pace determined by three elements — course difficulty, the race’s historic competitiveness and temperature extremes that could figure into distance running performances. See the rankings primer for more detail.

Behind Kwiatkowski (in the rankings and at the Lawyers Have Heart 10k), Chris Sloane, of Gaithersburg, continued his steady career progression, his strongest race coming in the July 4 Autism Speaks 5k in Potomac, where he won in 15:24 on a muggy, hilly course. Two weeks later, he was a close second to Abu Kebede at the Rockville Twilight in 25:04. At 32, he’s making significant progress at a time of life when most amateur runners have put their competitive days behind them.

Carlos Jamieson, another marathon trials qualifier, thrived in the Rock ‘n’ Roll D.C. half marathon’s rain to win. He later improved on his 1:07:43 later in the year in Philadelphia, but a few weeks later ran 37:11 for 12k (5:00 pace) at the .US National 12k Championships and then 24:02 for five miles (4:49 pace) 11 days later at the Alexandria Turkey Trot, to finish third.

D.C. resident Tripp Southerland’s road racing highlight came at the Clarendon Day 5k, where he broke 15:00 for the first time, but his solo 15:54 at the Metropolitan Branch Trail 5k, a 92-second victory, is no slouch, comparing the two courses’ difficulty.

Arlingtonian Kieran O’Connor, the third marathon trials qualifier in the rankings, raced heavily in September, picking up runner-up finishes at the Parks and Navy-Air Force half marathons and the Clarendon Day 5k, before heading back up the hill and winning the 10k a half hour later.

On the women’s side, 23-year-old Michelle Capozzi and 44-year-old Perry Shoemaker went head-to-head in six ranked races, with Shoemaker coming out on top in the second half of the year and pulling away, including two head-to-head wins at the South Lakes 10k and the Run for the Parks 10k. But Capozzi, who graduated from La Salle University in 2014, had a stronger first half of the year, racking up wins in six ranked races, and she ended up fifth overall. Her highest score came from the Firecracker 5k in Reston on July 4.

She took a relaxed approach to her racing schedule, with no particular buildup and with a goal primarily to win the Potomac River Running trophy series, which she did.

“I wanted the freedom of running whatever pace I felt like that day,” she said, still soon after the grind of three collegiate seasons a year, for four years. “I know it

surprises people when I say I haven’t done any formal speed workouts since college. I’ve done a few tempo runs here and there, but I’ve pretty much been able to maintain decent fitness by just simply running at a comfortable pace and doing core.”

Shoemaker came on strong in the Fall on her run up to the Philadelphia Half Marathon, and shortly before won the masters division at the .US 12k National Championships.

Emily Potter, yet another trials qualifier, ran 17 ranked races, winning eight of them.

Rachel Clattenburg had a great summer, thriving in the hot and hilly Fairfax Four Miler, but also at the Firecracker 5k and the Crystal City Twilighter. She also tackled the Rock ‘n’ Roll DC and Navy-Air Force halves on her way to sub-3 performances at the Ottawa and Philadelphia marathons.

Trish Stone raced all over the place: Reston, D.C., Rockville, Annapolis, Kensington, and wound up our second-ranked master.

Like Capozzi, her best race was at the Reston Firecracker 5k, run in significant humidity.

Age Groups We set aside the top 25 men and women into an overall category and highlight some of the age-group-level competitors.

Donovan Foley won the 19 and under age group, and was the only teenaged boy

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to be ranked. He ran track for James Madison High School in Virginia and kept up a rigorous road racing schedule in the fall, with his best performance coming at the Run for Santa 5k in Reston, where he broke 17:00. Another Warhawk, 14-year-old Kathleen Brewster, joined him atop the age group rankings, with her best race coming at the Turkey Day 5k, where she ran 23:01.

Silver Spring’s Schlomo Fishman raced well in D.C., his top ranked race coming at the St. Patrick’s 5k, but he also came back from the Philadelphia Marathon to run as well for 5k at Jingle All the Way as he had before the marathon at the Veterans Day 10k.

He led the twentysomething men. Breanna Gawrys raced steadily throughout the year, distributing her 11 ranked races throughout eight different months. Her top performance came at the Crystal City Twilighter in July, but she didn’t do too badly in December’s Jingle All the Way 5k or March’s St. Patrick’s 5k.

Mark Walchinsky missed the second Crystal City Friday 5k, but hit all the rest, plus the Twilighter, and kept his racing to the west side of the Potomac River. He completed the Clarendon Day Double, and his best race of the year came in the 5k that kicked the event off.

Fishman’s Dojo of Pain training partner Laura Jennings led her age group, running her strongest race at the Lawyers Have Heart 10k, but like Fishman, rebounded well from the Philadelphia Marathon at the Jingle All the Way 5k.

Centreville’s Keith Freeburn raced often, recording 12 ranked races. He ran two doubles — St. Patrick’s Day 5k and 10k and Clarendon Day, running his best race at the Clarendon Day 5k. Miriam Mintzer tried, but there was no messing with Angela Messing, who thrived in the sleet at St. Patrick’s 10k to power a 40-49 age group win.

Marylander Mark Neff recorded a variety of ranked race distances — 5k (Autism Speaks and Kentlands), 8k (Rockville Twilight), 10k (Pike’s Peek), 12k (.US National), 9.39 miles (Cherry Blossom) and the half marathon (Riley’s Rumble) to come in first among men in their 50s. His female counterpart, Anita Freres had her best races in the spring — Cherry Blossom and the Mother’s Day 4 Mile.

Clyde Rollins also sampled distances, more so even than Neff. He ran the Firecracker 5k, Mother’s Day 4 Miler, .US National 12k Championships, Army Ten-Miler, Leesburg 20k and Runner’s Half Marathon of Reston. Betty Blank had her best race at the Clarendon Day 5k, with the Lawyers Have Heart 5k not far behind.

Abbot and Costello had a field day figuring out who won the men’s 70-79 age group: Noone. Jim Noone. He raced consistently well throughout the year, recording similar scores in the spring at Cherry Blossom, Mother’s Day

14 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

and the Run After the Women 5k and the fall’s Turkey Day 5k and Run With Santa 5k.

Pat Welch traveled a bit to race on her way to winning her age group—the For the Love of It 10k in Reston and the Annapolis 10 Miler.

Jack McMahon was the top-ranked 80+ man, with his best race coming at the St. Patrick’s 5k.

Race Numbers · In 2015, 599 local races recorded more than 306,190 total finishers · In 2014, 607 races accounted for 328,272 finishers · In 2015, 53% were women, 44% were men and 3% weren’t specified or data was missing in results · In 2014, 42.8 % were men, 55.7 % were women and 1.4 % weren’t specified or data was missing in results · The finishers accounted for 2,438,099.43 miles of racing in 2015 · 22 races in 2015 had equal numbers of men and women finish · 98 races were within 5% of a gender balance among finishers · 312 races had finish lines in Virginia, 144 in Maryland and 120 had finish lines in D.C. Two races’ absences can account for a large chunk of the 22,082 fewer finishers in 2015: The Nike Women’s Half Marathon did not return to D.C. in 2015, a year after 14,244 women and 477 men finished; and, the weathermotivated cancellation of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon and 6k accounted for 2,898 fewer total finishers than in 2014.

Biggest races by number of finishers Army Ten-Miler Marine Corps Marathon Cherry Blossom “10 Miler” Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half Marathon MCM 10k Navy-Air Force Half Marathon George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Miler Alexandria Turkey Trot Jingle All the Way 5k Arlington Turkey Trot

Biggest 10ks MCM 10k Bethesda Turkey Chase Capitol Hill Classic Lawyers Have Heart St. Patrick’s 10k

26,312 23,183 17,935 15,325 7,779 5,546 4,990 4,835 4,471 4,387

76 total races 7,779 3,709 2,561 2,047 2,032

RunWashington Rankings Primer Biggest 10 Milers

Army Ten-Miler

Cherry Blossom “10 Miler” George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Miler

Reston Ten Miler

Perfect 10

23 total races 26,312 17,935 4,990 964 470

Biggest 5ks 345 total races Jingle All the Way 5k

4,471 Arlington Turkey Trot

4,387 SOME Trot for Hunger

3,397 Arlington 9/11 Memorial

2,851 Virginia Run Turkey Trot 2,603 Biggest 8ks/5 Milers Alexandria Turkey Trot Navy 5-Miler National Race to End Women’s Cancer Rockville Twilight Kensington 8k

43 total races 4,835 2,029

1,320 1,264 558

Biggest Marathons

13 total races Marine Corps Marathon

23,183 Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Marathon 2,521 North Face Endurance Challenge 188 Abebe Bikila International Peace Marathon 162 Potomac River Run Marathon

132

Half Marathon 23 total races Rock ‘n’ Roll DC Half Marathon 15,325 Navy-Air Force Half Marathon 5,546 Parks Half Marathon

1,952 North Face Endurance Challenge 942 Alexandria Running Festival

857 Largest growth since 2014 Marine Corps Marathon Navy-Air Force Half Marathon Arlington Turkey Trot Alexandria Turkey Trot

Crystal City Fridays 5k #4

3,494 1,830 1,043 880 641

The 2015 Boston Marathon boasted 670 local finishers. Here’s how that broke down and who led each portion of the D.C. area: DC: Blake Whitley Sam Reocker

166 finishers 2:37:40 2:53:52

Maryland: Jatin Narang Chrissy Graham

154 finishers 2:40:13 3:06:05

Virginia: Michael Wardian Kara Waters

350 finishers 2:27:29 2:54:30

If you ran more than three ranked races between January and June and three between July and December, you have a ranking. You also have one if you ran two ranked races before July and four after.

There were 136 qualifiers for a year-end ranking in 2015. In 2014, 654 runners qualified under the 3+3 criteria. In 2013, 9,451 runners ran at least three ranked races to qualify — before the ranking system was in place and advertised ahead of the start of the year.

We ranked performances from roughly 100 races, between 5k and half marathon. All courses had USATF-certified courses.

Some races had to be thrown out, either because of cancellation, if the race did not collect specific ages for runners, or if the course was not run as certified.

We follow the USATF rule that if you’re 59 during the year, that age counts all year. For better or worse.

Your top three scores in each half of the year are considered; the rest are tossed out.

Each race is assigned a baseline pace, a composite of three measures, evaluated by our panel of experts: Competitiveness: George Banker, one of the region’s foremost running historians examined races’ histories to determine reliably competitive winning times.

Course difficulty: Bob Thurston, an experienced course certifier, evaluated the courses for degree of difficulty.

Race conditions: Alex Liggitt, a meteorologist who maintains the Running Weatherman website, evaluated weather conditions on race day to determine if they negatively impact running performance.

If you run the baseline pace, you get 1,000 points. If you run faster than the baseline pace, you get more; if you run slower, you get less.

Why this is worthwhile: By establishing baseline paces for men and women in each race, the rankings reflect a runner’s overall level of competitiveness more than raw speed. In the overall top 10 for the yearend rankings, there are seven men and three women. Among masters, Perry Shoemaker edged Patrick Kuhlmann.

You can still easily compare yourself to your peers, pals, rivals, what have you. The rankings allow you to search within each 10-year age division and break it down among males and females.

You can even compare yourself against other runners and see how you matched up when racing head-to-head. For example, if you compare Rachel Clattenburg, who ranked fourth among women, with fifth-place Trish Stone, you will see they had three races against each other, and that Clattenburg won two duels.

All rankings are based on information in our system as of Jan. 21. If you suspect an error or omission, please contact rankings@ runwashington.com

Rankings were compiled by Justin Azoff of the Albany Running Exchange and Chris Farley of Pacers Running Stores

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 15

OVERALL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Chris Kwiatkowski Christopher Sloane Carlos Jamieson Michelle Capozzi Tripp Southerland Kieran O’Connor Emily Potter Perry Shoemaker Charlie Ban Sean O’Leary

26 32 27 23 30 28 36 44 33 23

1011.39 1001 1000.25 996.5 996.5 996.02 994.25 994.45 991.585 990.165

6 8 6 12 6 6 17 10 10 14

1011.39 1001 1000.25 996.5 996.02 991.585 990.165 988.915 988.5 988.7 986.31 983.135 979.915 978.5 973.9 973.475 971.25 968.74 968.585 968.11 966.415 962.335 960.915 960.835 960.41

6 8 6 6 6 10 14 8 9 8 6 6 7 16 10 12 7 6 10 9 8 6 12 12 8

996.5 994.45 994.25 978.85 979.085 974.915 970.19 968.25 962.585 957.835 958.415 951.825 952.75 951.295 950.285 951 950.65 949.41 947.865 945.795 943.12 943.1 938.57 936.925 934.335

12 10 17 8 10 6 11 10 13 11 8 6 8 13 9 6 9 6 6 11 7 10 7 7 8

OVERALL MEN

CHRIS KWIATKOWSKI PHOTO BY SWIM BIKE RUN PHOTOGRAPHY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Chris Kwiatkowski Christopher Sloane Carlos Jamieson Tripp Southerland Kieran O’connor Charlie Ban Sean O’Leary Matt Deters Nicolas Crouzier Paul Balmer Jerry Greenlaw Patrick Kuhlmann Zak Miller Jack Dasilva Gregory Swiatocha Kyle Pfohl Marty Mccormick Josh Sohn Brian McMahon Vinnie DeRocco Martin Lanz Karsten Brown Keith Freeburn Todd Bibb Steve Gabris

26 32 27 30 28 33 23 30 30 25 27 44 29 30 29 20 35 34 32 36 41 41 41 44 36

OVERALL WOMEN

MICHELLE CAPOZZI PHOTO BY POTOMAC RIVER RUNNING

16 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Michelle Capozzi Perry Shoemaker Emily Potter Rachel Clattenburg Trish Stone Molly Ritter Jillian Pollack Tatiana Sheptock Erin Masterson Hannah Pearson Calesse Cardosi Tiffany Hevner Sarah Wear Jessica McGuire Veronica Tinney Laura Ramos Cristina Burbach Christina Guzzo Dawn Gillis Margaret Klimek Jessica Zdeb Cathy Ross Toni Diegoli Mandana Mortazavi Monique Rico

23 44 36 31 40 28 26 39 32 28 24 34 30 35 28 36 41 31 30 32 33 43 36 51 47

19 & UNDER MEN 1

Donovan Foley

16

942.085

11

19 & UNDER WOMEN 1 2 3

Kathleen Brewster Lauren Rutzen Andrea Farinelli

14 16 18

869.44 841.11 657.335

7 7 7

23 29 29 28 29 27 25 29

958.915 932.335 926.47 908.66 884 881.075 861.275 846.4

6 6 6 13 11 7 6 8

929.5 910.035 883.71 862.465

11 9 6 14

20-29 MEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Shlomo Fishman James Parker Shawn Rumery Milon Chakrabarti Andrew Majcher Timothy Choi Sayyad Kyazimzade Karthik Krothapalli

20-29 WOMEN 1 2 3 4

Breanna Gawrys Katherine Gomer Emma Cutrufello Megan Behrle

28 27 29 27

30-39 MEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mark Walchinsky Exavier Watson Jeremy Lynch Amos Desjardins Nick Grossi Ning Rui Craig Shearer Taylor Williamson Jonathan Ferguson Michael Pryce-jones

MARK WALCHINSKY

36 36 35 34 34 30 34 33 34 38

959.25 958.335 956.29 952.75 952.5 951.74 951.165 948.415 949.025 947.835

8 12 12 13 7 6 7 7 9 12

933.11 931.165 923.865 921.3 921.415 919.905 917.035 911.4 896.835 889.89

6 9 6 6 8 8 14 6 8 8

PHOTO BY SWIM BIKE RUN PHOTOGRAPHY

30-39 WOMEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Laura Jennings Mia Burki Birte Wachtel Kelly Dillon Erika Miller Elizabeth Clor Kelly Buroker Taylor Coffey Kathleen Pryce-Jones Colleen Miller

34 34 32 37 34 36 34 32 35 38

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 17

40-49 MEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Keith Freeburn Alexander Hetherington Brian Szabos Antonio Eppolito Jeffrey Hiott Stephen Crago Dave Cahill Michael Naff Anthony Drake Howard Frost

41 48 42 47 41 47 43 44 45 49

960.915 954.085 950.325 948.63 947.585 943.835 941.165 941.615 931.415 929

12 10 6 6 7 12 10 11 11 11

43 47 44 49 40 43 44 48 48 46

932.74 931.575 927.72 923.75 920.695 915.985 914.575 911.585 907.25 899.085

8 7 12 6 6 9 9 7 13 8

53 52 54 55 50 50 51 56 56 51

950.05 941.915 932.085 931.5 925.335 922.025 920.335 916.425 908.25 903.1

7 12 11 14 14 7 13 6 6 10

929.61 906.85 892.75 871.835 848.585 846.065 843.25 841.745 835.195 831.25

9 8 7 9 7 6 19 11 10 7

40-49 WOMEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Angela Messing Miriam Mintzer Wendy Bibb Shannon Smith Jennifer Sample Yuko Whitestone Julia Taylor Paige Waterman Luz Blakney Carole Kammel

50-59 MEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mark Neff Paul Jacobson Ted Poulos Brian Daugherty Craig Greene Lee Firestone Kevin Boyle Christopher Ryan Elias Tinta Christopher Johnston

50-59 WOMEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

18 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

Anita Freres Mary Lowe Mayhugh Ida Draim Paula Galliani Liza Recto Margaret Kuhn Hunter Benante Linda Kennedy Myra Washington Daniela Micsan

50 59 59 55 59 53 51 54 58 56

60-69 MEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Clyde Rollins James Moreland Gary Morgans Chris Dettmar Kenyon Erickson Paul Bousel John Kehne Michael Conroy Dennis Patrick Jay Jacob Wind

60 63 62 61 61 62 60 61 63 65

898.915 870.94 862.585 858 852.31 849.25 848.915 833.58 831.665 813.915

6 15 7 7 8 9 8 9 13 16

62 67 61 60 61 66 63 66 60 61

887.5 872.665 858.25 854.165 842.085 828.75 821.25 812.735 786.785 769.335

14 15 7 15 14 7 8 6 10 12

71 72 70 79 71 76 78 73 73 78

863.415 795.275 775.635 771.835 769.085 759.25 740.5 714.585 709.835 681.585

7 7 8 11 7 10 15 7 10 6

70 76 75 71 74

737.06 695.25 663.25 602.085 571.18

6 13 23 12 6

84 80 81 89

676.415 555.335 454.165 300.585

8 17 6 6

60-69 WOMEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Betty Blank Alice Franks Marcy Foster Merrilee Seidman Carol Hansen-Vessa Mary Kessler Maria Nusbaum Lizzie Sadoff Pamela Sutey Diane White

70-79 MEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Jim Noone John Churchman Gregory Chaconas Maynard Weyers Walter Brown Bill Sollers Ken Quincy Earle Fingerhut Jim Verdier Philip Hager

GARY MORGANS PHOTO BY SWIM BIKE RUN PHOTOGRAPHY

70-79 WOMEN 1 2 3 4 5

Pat Welch Ecris Williams Mandy Whalen Jeanette Novak Betty Smith

80+ MEN 1 2 3 4

Jack McMahon Robert Gurtler Robert Smith Dixon Hemphill

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 19

BY CHARLIE BAN Runners and bicyclists rejoice, because the teeth-rattling run and ride on Beach Drive will be over, eventually.

The pockmarked surface is getting its first overhaul in 24 years starting in March.

For those outside of the District, Beach Drive is Rock Creek Park’s main road north of Woodley Park, and a runner’s and biker’s haven on weekends and federal holidays, when it mostly is closed to traffic.

A 2–3-year reconstruction project will close alternating portions of the 6.2 miles of the road. In process, pedestrians will have carte blanche to try out the brand-new pavement in the process.

The paved Rock Creek Trail between Peirce Mill and Shoreham Drive will also be rebuilt and widened to 8-10 feet, and the sidewalk inside the tunnel near the National Zoo more than doubled in width.

The rebuilding will give the road a 25year lifespan, with appropriate maintenance.

The last reconstruction, in 1991, was intended to last for 20 years. Dramatic freeze-thaw cycles in recent winters have accelerated the road’s degradation.

The road itself will not be widened. A new trail will be paved between Porter Street and Piney Branch Parkway.

Construction is scheduled to begin March 1, contingent on weather, with the southernmost portion of Beach Drive — between Shoreham Drive and Porter Street.

Where there is a paved path parallel to the road, the road will be addressed first. While the path is being repaved, the new road will remain closed to traffic, giving access to pedestrians and cyclists, traffic consultants said at a public meeting Nov. 17.

With few, if any, intersections along the road, each segment of the road will be closed completely to vehicle traffic, which will be rerouted to the west — south of Joyce Road — and to the east to the north of Joyce. Consultants estimated each phase would take between four and eight months, depending on the length of road, additional features and weather and contractor selected for each phase.

The road in the tunnel north of Shoreham Drive will be shifted and the sidewalks, currently 2 feet, will be widened to 5 feet, and a 21-inch-high railing will be installed.

The work will be divided into five phases, and work will begin in the south:

MARYLAND/D.C. LINE

MILITARY ROAD JOYCE ROAD

BROAD BRANCH ROAD

TILDEN STREET/ PEIRCE MILL

PORTER STREET

NATIONAL ZOO

Phase 1: Shoreham Drive to Porter Road ~1.3 miles Phase 2:Porter Road to Tilden Road ~0.5 miles Phase 3: Tilden Road to Broad Branch Road~0.3 miles Phase 4: Broad Branch Road to Joyce Road ~1.5 miles Phase 5: Joyce Road to the Maryland line ~ 2.6 miles

20 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

CALVERT BRIDGE SHOREHAM DRIVE

BEACH DRIVE facing south near the Smithsonian National Zoo in November.

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY CHARLIE BAN

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 21

RUN FOR AN ENTRY IN THE 41ST MCM 1775K REGISTRATION OPENS FEB. 17

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Runners with D.C. ties had a great year

BY CHARLIE BAN The 2015 cross country season was highlighted

by Drew Hunter and Weini Kelati’s titles at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships Dec. 12 at San Diego’s Balboa Park. Both went through their seasons undefeated and took the same approach to the national finals — run fast.

“I wanted to take the race out, make it a tough race for everyone, including myself,” Hunter said.

Hunter, a senior at Loudoun Valley, ran away from the field early and split 4:31 and 9:25 on his way to a 12 second victory in 14:55, only slowing over the last mile. California’s Phillip Rocha was second. He is the second Virginia boy to win since Charles Alexander from Richmond’s St. Christopher’s School in 1981 and the first local boy since Sherwood’s Solomon Haile in 2008. Hunter finished fourth in 2014 and was in contention for the lead during the last mile.

Two miles into the 2015 race, he was two seconds off Reuben Reina‘s record pace, a 14:36 from 1985. Hunter is only the third winning boy from the South, behind both Alexander and Reina. The region includes West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma.

Northern Virginia had been shut out of the individual championship despite runnerup finishes by Chantilly’s Sean McGorty (2012), South Lakes’ Alan Webb (2000) and West Springfield’s Sharif Karie (1995 and 1996).

The lead Kelati built early, including’s early charges when others tried to share the lead, disappeared around halfway, but she kept leading, typically a very risky strategy. In contrast

ANDREW HUNTER leads the field at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships Dec. 12 at San Diego’s Balboa Park.

PHOTO BY VICTOR SAILOR/PHOTO RUN

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 23

to Hunter’s sustained lead, she dragged Illinois’ Maryjeanne Gilbert and Judy Pendergast and North Carolinian Nevada Mareno (whom she had faced in the South regional) up until the last hill near three mile mark.

She got a step ahead of Gilbert and ran to a one second margin in 17:09. Mareno (17:17) and Pendergast (17:20) followed. Annapolis junior Maria Coffin, who won the Maryland 4A championship, finished 27th in 18:22.

Kelati was 20th at last year’s Foot Locker finals. Read more about her starting on page 31.

Lake Braddock junior Kate Murphy finished 16th at Nike Cross Nationals Dec. 2 in Portland, Ore., leading her team to a 13th place finish, one spot behind Blacksburg, the top Virginia team.

The Bruins moved up from 19th place at the mile mark. They won the Nike Cross Southeast meet to qualify. Walter Johnson’s Wildcat Running team finished eighth, Georgetown Day School’s Mighty Hoppers finished 16th and Brentsville District finished 17th.

Paint Branch senior Bethlehem Taye was 14th overall, West Springfield senior Reagan Bustamante was 22nd and GDS senior Katherine Treanor was 24th.

On the boys’ side, Lake Braddock’s Colin Schaefer finished fourth in 15:11, 16 seconds out of first. He went on to finish 79th at the national meet. By virtue of the top five boys being on non-qualifying teams, Richard Montgomery junior Rohann Asfaw (sixth in 15:21) and Our Lady of Good Counsel senior Jack Wavering (seventh in 15:22) did not make it to the national meet, but they came home with solid PRs. Asfaw avenged his 4A Maryland state meet loss to Dulaney’s Eric Walz, who was 10th.

Stone Bridge senior Jack Morton (13th) and W.T. Woodson senior Bobby Lockwood (16th) rounded out the local top five.

The Good Counsel Harriers were the top local team in fifth, ahead of Lake Braddock’s Bruin XC Club in seventh, Stone Bridge in ninth, Brentsville in 14th, the DCXC Club of Gonzaga runners in 20th, We’re the Waldos from W.T. Woodson in 24th, Thomas Jefferson in 27th and the Barons of Bethesda-Chevy Chase in 32nd.

D.C. area teams took four individual crowns and six team titles at the Virginia state meet, one individual title at the Virginia Independent Schools championship, one team title at the Maryland public schools meet and one individual and two team titles at the MarylandD.C. Private Schools Championship.

The hottest races of the season were the Oatlands Invitational for the boys, with nine of 10 All-RunWashington post-season honorees in the race, and the girls’ race at the Glory Days Invitational, featuring five All-RunWashington post-season team members.

On the collegiate level, the D.C. area had three representatives in the top 50 at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Louisville Nov. 21. Georgetown sophomore Jonathan Green finished fifth, Stanford junior Sean McGorty, a Chantilly alumnus, was seventh, and Virginia Tech senior Thomas Curtain, who went to Loudoun County High School, was 22nd.

24 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

A L L R U N WA S H I N G T O N Rohann Asfaw Tristan Colaizzi Andrew Hunter Robert Lockwood Andrew Matson Jackson Morton Kyle Sanok Colin Schaefer Fitsum Seyoum Jack Wavering

JR @ Richard Montgomery SR @ Georgetown Day SR @ Loudoun Valley SR @ W.T. Woodson SR @ Stone Bridge SR @ Stone Bridge SR @ Potomac School SR @ Lake Braddock SR @ Tuscarora SR @ Good Counsel

John Colucci Jacob Floam Tyreece Huff Harry Monroe Will McCann Christian Roberts Jackson Todd

So @ Gonzaga Sr @ Gonzaga Sr @ Phelps Jr @ Gonzaga Jr @ Gonzaga Jr @ Sidwell Friends Jr @ Georgetown Day

Michael Abebe Asfaw Estifanos Ben Gersch Matt Lopez Kevin McGivern Colin Sybing Liam Walsh

Sr @ Northwood Sr @ Northwestern Sr @ Whitman Sr @ Good Counsel Sr @ Good Counsel Sr @ Wootton Sr @ Quince Orchard

Brent Bailey Bryce Catlett Spencer Jolley Conor Lyons Brandon McGorty Joe Valle Saurav Velleleth

Sr @ Centreville Sr @ Osbourn Park Sr @ Lake Braddock Jr @ Lake Braddock Jr @ Chantilly Sr @ Stone Bridge Jr @ Thomas Jefferson

Abigail Green Heather Holt Weini Kelati Casey Kendall Taylor Knibb Page Lester Rachel McArthur Kate Murphy Bethlehem Taye Emma Wolcott

SO @ Walter Johnson So @ George C. Marshall Sr @ Heritage Jr @ Oakton Sr @ Sidwell Friends So @ National Cathedral Jr @ Patriot Jr @ Lake Braddock Sr @ Paint Branch So @ Tuscarora

ALL D.C. A’Ishah Bakayoko Emily Carroll Abigail Doroshow Brennan Dunne Michaela Kirvan Arrington Peterson Katherine Treanor

Sr @ Georgetown Day Sr @ St. John’s Sr @ Georgetown Day Fr @ Georgetown Visitation So @ Georgetown Visitation Jr @ Wilson Sr @ Georgetown Day

ALL MARYLAND Cecily Davy Sr @ Einstein Grace Dellapa Sr @ Wootton Sophie El Masry Sr @ Richard Montgomery Amanda Hayes-Puttfarken Sr @ Sherwood Emily Murphy Sr @ Walter Johnson Julia Reicin Jr @ Churchill Nandini Satsangi Fr @ Poolesville

ALL VIRGINIA Danielle Bartholomew Regan Bustamante Jill Bracaglia Sara Freix Sarah Daniels Emily Schiesl Faith Zolper

Professional running highlights (previous page) Three runners with local connections represented the United States at the IAAF Track and Field World Championships in Beijing last August. (left)Georgetown alumna Emily Infeld earned a bronze medal in the 10,000 meter run. (center)American University assistant coach Kerri Gallagher reached the semifinals of the 1,500 meter run. (right)Broad Run High School alumna Stephanie Garcia finished ninth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Jr @ Osbourn Park Sr @ West Springfield Sr @ Oakton Sr @ Westfield So @ Lake Braddock Jr @ Lake Braddock Jr @ South County

High School State Champions Virginia, 4A - Weini Kelati, Heritage/ Heritage girls, Andrew Hunter, Loudoun Valley/Loudoun Valley boys; 5A - Emma Wolcott, Tuscarora/Tuscarora girls, Stone Bridge boys; 6A Kate Murphy, Lake Braddock/Lake Braddock girls, Lake Braddock boys.

Virginia Independent Schools, Division I - Kyle Sanok, Potomac School.

Maryland, 4A - Walter Johnson girls. D.C., Taylor Knibb, Sidwell Friends School/Georgetown Day School girls, Tristan Colaizzi, Georgetown Day School/Sidwell Friends School boys. D.C.-Maryland Private Schools, Large Schools: Taylor Knibb, Sidwell Friends School/Georgetown Day School girls, Our Lady of Good Counsel boys.

Foot Locker Cross Country Championships San Diego, Calif.

Girls: 1. Weini Kelati, Heritage 17:09. Boys 1. Andrew Hunter, Loudoun Valley 14:55.

Nike Cross Nationals Portland, Ore. Girls: Bruin XC Club (Lake Braddock) 13, 16. Kate Murphy, Lake Braddock 17:27, 41. Rachel McArthur, Patriot 18:04, 106. Samantha Schwers, Lake Braddock 18:55, 120. Sarah Daniels, Lake Braddock 19:03, 124. Emily Schiesl, Lake Braddock 19:09, 152.

Sonya Butseva, Lake Braddock 19:23, 192. Taylor Kitchen, Lake Braddock 20:29, 196. Daly Fergusdon, Lake Braddock 21:01; Boys: 79. Colin Schaefer, Lake Braddock 16:03.

NCAA Division I Championships: Women: 158. Sophie Chase, Jr, Stanford (Lake Braddock); 216. Allie Klimkiewicz, Fr, Princeton (Oakton).

Men: 5. Jonathan Green, So, Georgetown; 7. Sean McGorty,Jr, Stanford (Chantilly); 22. Thomas Curtin, Sr, Virginia Tech (Loudoun County), 55.

Chase Weaverling, So, Virginia (Poolesville); 73. Nick Tuck,Jr, Penn (Lake Braddock); 104. Ahmed Bile, Jr, Georgetown (Annandale); 221. Kevin Monogue, Fr, Penn (Lake Braddock).

Big East Conference: 1. Georgetown men Atlantic 10 Conference: 1. Steven Flynn, Jr, George Mason

Photos by Victor Sailor/PhotoRun

Arlington’s Tyler Andrews finished 12th at the IAU 50k World Championships in Doha Qatar in December.

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 25

BY DAV ID PITTMAN

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY DUSTIN WHITLOW

Our Lady of Good Counsel was 1,000 meters from glory. This was all that separated the Falcons from beating rival Bishop O’Connell for the first time in seven years to win the 2014 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference cross country crown.

But then the squad’s best runner, 16-year-old junior Megan Crilly, started to fade, developing a glassy look in her eyes that had become eerily prevalent throughout her fall workouts. Crilly crashed and ended up collapsing across the finish line. She finished 16th – almost two minutes slower than her individual winning time the year before -- and Our Lady of Good Counsel wound up second.

What was far more troubling, though, was that Crilly, after the race, needed nearly two hours to become coherent enough to know where she was.

Everything was a symptom of thyroid cancer, which was diagnosed a month later, attacking her energy and metabolism the entire fall, crippling her running and putting her life at risk. But rather than feeling sorry for herself, Crilly was determined to make amends for her frustrating conference championship meltdown.

“I felt like I had let my team down because I should have done a lot better than I did,” she said. “That was a source of motivation, to be able to back in shape for my team and come back stronger for my senior year.”

Crilly did just that and more.

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 27

Now a senior, she was not only able to defeat the cancer, but returned to the Our Lady of Good Counsel cross country team running times better than before her run-in with the disease.

Running was more than a distraction. It provided fuel throughout her cancer treatment and recovery to return to cross country.

“She really did an amazing job of getting through this with grace and composure and maturity beyond her years,” her mother, Kim Crilly, said. “She inspires me every day.”

Crilly isn’t your typical high schooler.

She’s a gritty, determined competitor.

Her workouts fall somewhere between impeccable and perfect, according to Tom Arnold, her coach.

“She just didn’t make mistakes,” even as a freshman running on a competitive varsity team, he said. “She just had a maturity you don’t see in many athletes.”

Every summer, she showed up religiously every weekday in the summer for 10 weeks, at 6 a.m., to train and lay a base for the upcoming fall season. That added up to a WCAC cross country individual title her sophomore season.

But in her junior year she started to struggle. She didn’t seem to have the control and dominance she usually had, and it got worse throughout the race season. Megan couldn’t finish some of the team’s harder workouts, the interval and tempo runs, and her times in races were slipping back to freshman-year levels.

“I felt very tired and very sick,” Crilly said, adding that she had trouble breathing.

Doctors first suspected a much more common ailment: anemia. But anemia doesn’t come with a lump on the throat, and a biopsy revealed the truth.

Thyroid cancer is comparably manageable, which was fortunate.

“If you’re going to have cancer, it’s one of those ones one you want to have,” Crilly said.

But it had also spread to her lymph nodes, which had to be treated with radiation that spring. The radiation forced Crilly to stop her medication for hypothyroidism, further complicating her recovery and running.

But in the end, Crilly attacked her cancer with a just-do-it attitude almost as if it were shin splints or plantar fasciitis.

Kim Crilly tries to raises her children with an understanding that everyone is going through rough times and life is sometimes hard. But don’t let that slow you down or hold you back.

Megan Crilly scheduled her surgery on

28 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

New Year’s Eve so she wouldn’t miss school.

Radiation treatments came on long weekends for the same reason.

“Most kids would have milked that for all they could get,” Arnold said. “‘Oh, I’ll get this time off from school and all this attention.’

But she didn’t want anyone to know. She wanted to get through it as best she could on her own.” Just two days after her surgery, Crilly wanted to go on a 20-minute walk that left her exhausted the rest of the day.

“Even when she wasn’t feeling well, she went to practice and just did what she had to do,” Kim Crilly said.

She started running again in late January, wanting to get back to her team and help them. ”Running was one thing that kept me mentally and physically strong,” Megan Crilly said. “It was a great outlet. …. I almost needed running as a way to get through it.”

Getting back to her old self took a few months, but she returned in time for spring track season and ran personal bests in the 400 and 800 meters.

That success late in the season gave her confidence headed into summer workouts that aided her senior cross country season last fall.

She ran four sub-20-minute 5Ks; before her illness she hadn’t broken 20 minutes. She finished second overall at the WCAC meet where she collapsed the year before, although her team came up short of the team title.

Crilly finished sixth in the Maryland and D.C. Private School Championship after running 11th her sophomore season.

“It was the first season where I felt I was up to my full potential,” Crilly said. “It was nice for once to see all my hard work pay off.”

Fighting cancer gave the high schooler perspective about adversity and life that proves valuable to handling tough times in racing.

“It’s great to set goals. However, you might not reach those goals every single race, and that’s OK,” Crilly said. “As long as you keep working as hard as possible and you believe in yourself, your training and yourself, you’ll eventually get there.”

Tests early in 2016 revealed no signs of cancer remaining. She wants to continue running at a local college in Maryland and is thinking about studying engineering.

“After my junior year, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run in college because I was kind of discouraged,” Crilly said. “But after going through this experience, I’ve come out stronger, and I’ve learned to believe in myself a little bit more. I want to pursue running in college.”

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Eritrea native Weini Kelati came out of nowhere to take high school running by storm

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY ED LULL

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 31

BY ASHLEY RO DRIGUEZ She blends in with her classmates at Heritage High School, constantly joking around and texting with her friends and cross country teammates. But Weini Kelati doesn’t share the same stories with her classmates about growing up in Leesburg, having shown up a year and a half ago from a country only her most geographically-astute classmates knew about — Eritrea.

Now a junior academically, the 19-yearold has been making headlines all school year as she nabs win after win, including the 2015 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in December. But her journey to become a champion — which began half a world away on the east coast of Africa — was not easy.

Coming to America Eritrea borders Ethiopia and Sudan on the Horn of Africa. The first race she ever ran, she recalled, was in her sixth grade physical education class, and she hated it. But soon enough, her natural talent took over. At age 12, she already was a top-ranked runner in Eritrea, racing well outside of her age group and mixing it up with professionals in their 20s.

She competed at international meets across Europe as a teenager, but she was mostly unknown in the United States. In July 2014, at 17 years, Kelati ran 9:12.32 to finish eighth in the 3,000 meters at the at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, Ore. Then, she didn’t go home. She applied for asylum and moved to Leesburg to live with her third cousin and now guardian, Amlesom Teklai, also an Eritrean immigrant and former competitive runner for West Potomac (Alexandria) in the late 1990s. Teklai, who first approached Heritage cross-country coach Doug Gilbert, didn’t know he had a distant relative in Kelati until another family member in Texas asked him to take her in. “[Amlesom] told me he just enrolled his cousin [at Heritage] and she loves to run. He mentioned she had just gotten back from the world championships,” Gilbert said. “It was at that point I Googled her name and very quickly found out who she was. It’s been a pretty large whirlwind since then.”

Kelati’s Eritrean Roots Kelati doesn’t volunteer much about leaving Eritrea, spinning any question into a chance to talk about how excited she is to be in the United States, but it’s easy enough to find any number of reasons she’d be motivated to leave behind all she knew, her family, her friends Human Rights Watch calls the country’s record “dismal,” and the numbers — the United Nations estimates 5,000 émigrés flee the country every month — back that up.

Eritreans now make up the third-largest migrant group — behind Syrians and Afghans — trying to reach Europe. It’s a dangerous journey that requires crossing the borders

32 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

into Ethiopia and Sudan, then on to Libya and across the Sahara. Finally, they must make the treacherous trip across the Mediterranean.

Many are leaving the country because of its forced military conscription. Eritreans are required by law to serve in the country’s military for 18 months when they reach 18 years of age, yet many remaining conscripted for 10 years or more while earning incredibly low pay that places an undue financial burden on their families.

Kelati shares a heritage with American Olympian Meb Keflezighi, whom she got to meet at the Foot Locker championships. But the two didn’t spend much time talking about the old country. “We both know about Eritrea so we didn’t need to talk about it,” she said, matter of factly.

That sums things up.

It’s been difficult, of course, to be thousands of miles removed from her family and friends. While Washington, D.C., has the second-largest African-born immigrant population in the U.S., the Eritrean community is undeniably small. But what she lost when she left Eritrea, she gained as part of a new family at Heritage.

A Strong Start Fresh off an impressive finish at the World Junior Championships, Kelati had a strong start to her first cross-country season at Heritage. Despite stopping to tie her shoe not once, but twice, during the Oatlands Invitational in September 2014, Kelati maintained a 5:52 pace to win in 18:12.

“She was doing what I thought was like, ‘Wow, this is incredible stuff.’ I’ve had some incredible distance runners, but no one ever touched what she was doing,” Gilbert said.

But later in the season, her momentum began to fade. Battling a language barrier, Kelati struggled to explain the level of training she was accustomed to in Eritrea — and her fitness level suffered. She had been conditioned to run on Eritrea’s mountainous terrain, a drastic change from Northern Virginia’s grassy, rolling hills. Despite their best efforts, Gilbert and Kelati could not get aligned on her training. Though she made the national finals, she finished 20th. Given the excitement that surrounded her debut, it was a letdown, and to nobody more than Kelati.

“She speaks Tigrinya, a language most people probably never heard of. It was pretty nerve-racking. I did a lot of big arm motions and speaking loudly, which is not the right approach,” Gilbert said, laughing. “We could look at times and paces all day, but in terms of explaining why we’re doing certain workouts … it was tough last year.”

It wasn’t until they were returning from the state championships that November that Gilbert finally understood Kelati needed to be pushed harder than the rest of the team for her to stay on top.

“Everything was intense in Eritrea. There really was no such thing as a recovery day

PHOTO BY VICTOR SAILOR/ PHOTO RUN

for her. Even on easy days, she was intense.

I told her if we could get things together and work hard she could be the best runner in the United States,” Gilbert said. “I love how she races. I love the aggressiveness. She makes it a guts race. [But] her fitness level last year just didn’t suit that racing strategy.”

Becoming a National Champion Over the next year, Kelati’s coach and teammates rallied around her, upping her training and helping her to learn English.

“This year, a major goal of ours was to tailor everything [Kelati] did, so she could race the way she wanted to,” Gilbert explained.

Teammates like Georgie Mackenzie used their workouts as an excuse to teach Kelati English. Others brought her an English dictionary and practiced with her during their lunch period, Kelati said.

“She’d teach me phrases in Tigrinya,” Mackenzie recalled. “And we just kind of got along like that. As soon as I met her, I automatically wanted to help her.”

Once Kelati’s English flowed more easily, so did her gradual return to the top of the leaderboard. In her second cross-country season at Heritage, she once again placed first at the Oatlands Invitational, though this time even faster than before (17:11), blowing past the second-place finisher, the same runner as the year before, by 72 seconds.

Then in October, Kelati took home the title at the Glory Days Invitational, dipping under 17 minutes for the first time and leaving Lake Braddock junior Kate Murphy, who later won the state 6A title, in her wake.

Here is how she summed up her strategy: “I don’t think about who I am running

against, if they want to come with me they can,” she said after Glory Days. “I just want to run fast.”

“She’s just going to hammer,” Gilbert added. “I can try to tell her to do something else, but she’s just going to do it.”

Nowhere was that more apparent than at the Foot Locker meet, a race she came into undefeated.

Opening a several-seconds lead early on, Kelati was eventually swallowed by a chase pack. Even then she refused to let anyone else dictate the pace — she was going to run the race on her terms, and that did not include drafting and saving her energy. She fought back to the front and ahead of Illinois’ Maryjeanne Gilbert to win by less than one second.

She was a national champion of a country that was still new to her.

The Road Ahead As Kelati prepares to enter her final year of high school this fall, she wraps up her last year of eligibility to compete for Heritage. She plans to focus on academics and getting into college — a goal echoed by Keflezighi.

“He told me to just be strong,” Kelati said.

“And to get a good education. And after, when I’m done [with college], I could become a faster runner. But first I have to get my education.”

Kelati will undoubtedly make appearances in the Washington-area racing scene throughout the year to stay in shape, but will continue to focus her training on the 5k and 10k. Eventually, she wants to transition to competing in half marathons and marathons — maybe even gunning for a spot on the Olympic team.

“My dream is to run the marathon in the Olympics,” she said.

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 33

Nina Brekelmans (top left) with friends in Jordan. Coutesy of Rob Brekelmans

34 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

BY MAGGIE LLOYD Ibrahim Abu Asbeh was driving on a sunny day in Amman, Jordan, when he first saw Nina Brekelmans running.

“Wow, she is really good,” the running coach thought to himself. “I need to know her.”

Seeing a female runner in that country was rare, something Nina hoped to change.

She was in Jordan through the Center for Arabic Study Abroad while a graduate student at Georgetown and Abu Asbeh just happened to see her during one of her training runs along Amman’s Sport City trails.

After picking up running at the insistence of a friend, she had competed for Dartmouth and kept it up after moving on to grad school.

As the General Secretary of the Jordan Athletics Federation, Abu Asbeh became a valuable resource for Nina when she looked to connect with the local running community, coaching her during her year abroad. She returned to D.C. in 2014 to finish her masters, but planned to work with her friends researching Jordanian women’s distance running under her Fulbright fellowship. Sadly, they never had the chance.

That excitement turned to grief when Brekelmans was killed in June 2015 in an electrical fire in her building near Dupont Circle.

But her work is still far from complete.

Also in Amman, Nina’s advisor from Georgetown, Fida Adely, discovered that the news of her death was already spreading among Nina’s friends at Georgetown. Adely had coached her through the Fulbright application.

“She wanted to learn more about the experience of Jordanian distance runners, especially women,” Adely said. “She was hoping to put this knowledge toward programming for females and running in Jordan and beyond.”

Nina’s proposal was simple: to interview female distance runners about their experiences as women and as runners. But she wondered if, in the end, it would be substantive enough.

“We talked about how her interviews with these runners could be a step toward designing some kind of program or project for female runners in Jordan, ” Adely said.

Finding Jordan Nina’s interest in the Middle East largely stemmed from her passion for languages, which grew from her family’s move to Mexico while she was in high school, according to Nico Brekelmans, Nina’s father.

“In Mexico she realized that you need

to learn the language to really appreciate the local culture,” he said, noting that her interest in Arabic also took off quickly. She took Middlebury College’s summer language program in 2010 and spent a semester abroad in Alexandria, Egypt, that fall.

Nina often told friends how she was happiest when she was studying abroad in the Middle East. In one email from her time in Egypt she casually listed visiting a mosque with orphans, playing Scrabble in Arabic, and cooking with an Egyptian chef as “cool things I’ve done.”

“Time flies and I’ll be on a plane heading home before I know it,” Nina wrote in an email to classmate Elizabeth Harmon at the end of her trip. “But I’m already trying to figure out when/how I’m coming back!”

She didn’t have to wait long. After her first year in Georgetown’s Arab Studies masters program, she was back in Egypt — this time in Cairo, but it was short-lived. As Egypt crumbled from a military coup, travel warnings from the State Department meant Nina’s federally-funded scholarship wouldn’t allow her to stay in Cairo, so she finished her year in Jordan.

“She was definitely upset to leave Cairo,” her brother Robert said. “I remember proofreading a long-winded, three- or fourpage note to her senator, pleading that this program was ideal for her goals and that it was totally safe for her to stay.”

But she made the most of her relocation, and started putting down roots. She met her new contemporaries in the capital Amman, and continued her dedication to cultural immersion, speaking Arabic as much as possible. Michael Brill’s first conversation with her in English was at a classmate’s dinner party, several months after they had met.

“She was so smart that she made it hard for the rest of us to keep up,” Brill said, noting her intensity and frustration when her classmates didn’t keep up was mainly in the interest of pushing the quality of learning higher for herself and others.

On top of that, she was still running.

“She’d be out the door at sunrise. Her ability to brush aside the harassment, the heat, and the pollution and just focus on her running was extraordinary,” said study abroad classmate Alice Gissinger.

Nina ran in baggy capris pants instead of shorts, out of respect for the culture’s dress norms. Her options for running, in both Egypt and Jordan, were limited. But she got in enough training to win the Dead Sea Half Marathon.

“Nina always said it was her best day in Jordan,” Gissinger said.

She noted the cultural dissonance.

“I am a bit of a tourist attraction here,”

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 35

Nina wrote to Harmon while in Egypt. “A few catcalls and some creepy stalker-like types here and there, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Nina and running were inseparable,” Robert said. “It was never really a question whether she would take running with her to the Middle East. Nina naturally made connections and friends in the local running community in Amman just by proactively exploring for her own routines.”

In Jordan, passions for running and Arabic culture blended, giving her and friends a roadmap when they were ready to work to preserve her memory.

As news of her passing spread, in Amman, Abu Asbeh arranged a small run with friends and classmates at the trails she loved most. Back in D.C., friends gathered to search for their direction going forward.

The group, which included Mary Grace Pellegrini, Brill, and Gissinger, started to talk about a running camp in Jordan for young girls. The idea evolved over time, but with the help of Nina’s family and Abu Asbeh, it grew.

The funding came from the Fulbright’s own memorial fund to commemorate Nina.

“We are striving to continue the work that Nina began in Amman and to honor her legacy of commitment to and support for women’s empowerment through running,” said Summer Forester, a Fulbright fellow in Jordan working with about five other fellows to plan the camp.

According to Abu Asbeh, the camp is designed for young girls between the ages of 8 and 14 to not only encourage them in athletics, but also teach them about health and teamwork. The camp will meet on Saturdays for five weeks for practice and presentations by guest speakers, culminating in a kids race the same weekend as the Dead Sea Ultra Marathon in early April, the same race where Nina won the half marathon in 2014.

When they needed a coach to lead the camp, Abu Asbeh called Mohammad Sweity, a premier Jordanian distance runner. Within five minutes of hearing their idea, he agreed to help.

Abu Asbeh sees the camp as a fitting tribute: “Nina would have loved to teach the girls how to be strong and determined because that was Nina. She was mentally very tough.”

“Nina was one of us,” Abu Asbeh said.

Her humility and kindness, along with what he described as her amazing ability to speak Arabic, broke barriers between her and the runners in Jordan. “I saw her exercise daily with the army athletes in the mornings, and every one considered her Jordanian!” he said.

In addition, the Nina Brekelmans Scholarship at Georgetown will fund an Arab Studies masters student who demonstrates interest in promoting women’s empowerment in the Middle East.

“We hope to support a student with this interest in a summer language program, internship, or research project that might not

36 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

otherwise have been possible,” Robert said.

“These were Nina’s goals, and she was always keeping busy in her summers with language programs or internships, and always looking for funding to do so.”

Contributions to the fund poured in through Georgetown’s website from all the different communities Nina’s life had touched.

BicycleSPACE collected donations for four months after her death, according to staff from Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS). Nina, ever full of energy, had been a regular patron. CCAS also worked with Nina’s former running club teammates to organize a 5k race on campus this spring on March 19, the proceeds of which will support the scholarship.

Throughout her life, Nina’s activities were difficult to keep track of. She volunteered with Girls on the Run, interned at the Muslim chaplaincy and worked with Georgetown Women in International Affairs during her Masters, she served with Reclaim Childhood — an organization promoting sports activities for young lower-income girls — in Jordan.

“Nina was quite humble and served others without seeking recognition,” said Pellegrini, one of Nina’s best friends and teammates. “Much of her volunteerism in Jordan was revealed to me after her passing.”

“It’s been amazing to hear from other friends of Nina’s just how involved she was in other fields of her life,” Gissinger said.

“I first learned from Nina’s running friends that she had walked onto her college team.

Everyone around her in Jordan assumed she’d been running since high school. It wasn’t necessarily because she was a born Olympian that she stayed on the team, it’s because she trained hard as heck.”

Back in the US, Brill and Nina shared a course in the 2014 fall semester. Nina was often the one wearing running shorts in class.

They kept in touch during spring, meeting at cafes just like they would during their time in Amman.

The last time Brill saw Nina was over cups of tea less than a week before the fire.

Nina had graduated Georgetown and was deciding how to spend her summer before taking off for Jordan again in the Fall. “Relax” wasn’t exactly in her vocabulary, so it was odd for Brill to hear her describe travel plans in Europe not for work or academics, but for vacation.

Gissinger, too, met up with Nina that week. “When she saw me, she did her usual greeting to good friends of screaming: ‘HABIBTI!’ (‘my friend!’ in Arabic) and giving a bone-crushing hug.”

They talked for hours. Nina, energetic as usual, was excited about going back to Jordan, but a little unsure about what would happen after her Fulbright.

Thanks to the friends she made when she gave herself to her pursuits, her work abroad continues.

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38 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

Upcoming races is not a comprehensive listing of road races, but are chosen for their proximity to the Washington, D.C. area. Listings are based largely on information provided by race directors on the free online race calendar at WWW.RUNWASHINGTON.COM. Race directors should be advised to add their races to the calendar as soon as possible to aid inclusion in this lsiting. It is wise to confirm event details with organizers before registering for an event. Date and times are subject to change.

FEB. 6 LANGLEY 8K

BURKE LAKE 12K FAIRFAX STATION, VA

MCLEAN, VA

APRIL 2 NATURE HOUSE 5K RESTON, VA

MARYMOUNT 5K ARLINGTON, VA

APRIL 30 LOGAN’S RUN SILVER SPRING, MD

RUN AWARE BETHESDA, MD

SPRING BACKYARD

FEB. 7 FIRST DOWN 5K AND PACERS COMBINE WASHINGTON, DC

BURN #1 LORTON, VA

MARCH 12 FOUR COURTS FOUR

PREGAME 5K LEESBURG, VA

FEB. 14 RUN YOUR HEART OUT 5K FAIRFAX, VA LOVE THE RUN YOU’RE WITH 5K ARLINGTON, VA GEORGE WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY MARATHON/

MILER

17.75 MCM SERIES

APRIL 22

CAPITAL FOR A DAY 5K

DUMFRIES, VA

CRYSTAL CITY FRIDAYS 5K

OLNEY, MD

ARLINGTON, VA

RESTON, VA ROCK ‘N’ ROLL DC MARATHON / HALF MARATHON WASHINGTON, DC

MARCH 13 FORT HUNT 10K ALEXANDRIA, VA

PARK TO PARK HALF

MAY 14

APRIL 17

MARATHON

RESERVOIR RELAY

ARLINGTON, VA

LOUDOUN HALF & 8K

WAYNESBORO, VA

TRAIL RUN

SPRING BACKYARD BURN #2

FEB. 27 PANTHER PRIDE 5K RESTON, VA

LORTON, VA

MARCH 19 NINA BREKELMANS

FEB. 28 RRCA CLUB CHALLENGE COLUMBIA, MD.

MARCH 5 SENECA CREEK TRAIL

MEMORIAL

APRIL 9 NORTH FACE ENDURANCE CHALLENGE

MARCH 6

RESTON 10 MILER RESTON, VA

SPRING BACKYARD

RESCUE1RUN 8K AND

BURN #3

KIDS AMBULANCE

CLIFTON, VA

CHASE BETHESDA, MD

STERLING, VA FAIRFAX, VA PRISON BREAK DASH FLYING PIRATE HALF MARATHON KITTY HAWK, NC

APRIL 10 RED SHOE SHUFFLE BALTIMORE, MD HORIZONS AT NORWOOD 5K BETHESDA, MD

ASHBURN VILLAGE FIESTA 5K/10K

ASHBURN, VA

ASHBURN, VA

HERNDON MIDDLE HERNDON, VA

MAY 15 ATOMS 5K

10K/5K/1K LORTON, VA

FAIRFAX, VA

SCHOOL 5K

EVERY HEART COUNTS 5K VAN METRE 5 MILE RUN

ADAM’S ANGELS

SPRING BACKYARD

ANNANDALE, VA

BURN #4

APRIL 23

RESTON, VA

LOUDOUN LYME 5K ASHBURN, VA

HEALTHY STRIDES 5K/10K

MAY 7

BURKE LAKE, VA

ETHIO-AMERICAN

MAY 21

MOTHERS DAY 8K

GERMANTOWN 5 MILER

WASHINGTON, DC

GERMANTOWN, MD

RACE FOR THE CURE 5K

SEMPER FI 5K

WASHINGTON, DC

WASHINGTON, DC

BEST KIDS SUPERHERO 5K WASHINGTON, DC

APRIL 24

WASHINGTON, DC

RUN FOR JUSTICE 5K

GEORGE WASHINGTON

FAIRFAX, VA

PARKWAY CLASSIC 10

KIDS ON THE RUN

RUN TO BREAK THE

MILE/5K

GAITHERSBURG, MD

SILENCE ON OVARIAN

RACE FOR EQUAL JUSTICE WASHINGTON, DC

MARCH 20 PIECE OF CAKE 5K/10K GAITHERSBURG, MD

ST. PAT’S 5K/10K WASHINGTON, DC

MAY 1

SCHOLARSHIP 5K

MARATHON/50K GAITHERSBURG, MD

CENTREVILLE, VA

ASHBURN, VA

RELAY GREENBELT, MD

WILMINGTON, DEL

CRYSTAL CITY FRIDAYS 5K

APRIL 8

ARLINGTON, VA LUCKY LEPRECHAUN 5K

DELAWARE MARATHON

APRIL 1 CRYSTAL CITY FRIDAYS 5K ARLINGTON, VA

SPIN IN THE WOODS

LA MILLA DE MAYO

MCLEAN, VA PIKE’S PEEK 10K

APRIL 15

APRIL 16 ORAL CANCER FOUNDATION 5K SILVER SPRING, MD

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD

GAITHERSBURG, MD

ROCKVILLE, MD

MAY 8

CRYSTAL CITY FRIDAYS 5K ARLINGTON, VA

CANCER 5K

ALEXANDRIA, VA

MAY 22 FOUR HILLS RUN -

SUPERHERO 5K

MOTHER’S DAY 4 MILER

4M/5K/1K

LEESBURG, VA

RESTON, VA

OCCOQUAN, VA

TYSON’S CHAMBER

FREDERICK RUNNING

MAY 30

CHARITY 5K

FESTIVAL HALF

JEREMY’S RUN 5K/10K

MCLEAN, VA

MARATHON AND RELAY

OLNEY, MD

FREDERICK, MD

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 39

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By Elton Hayes For a shelter dog, the chance to run is nothing short of bliss. For eight years, volunteers have been helping Washington Humane Society dogs make it happen.

In 2008, Spike, one of many pit bulls entering shelters that year, caught the fancy of two employees, who decided to bring him along for a run. That was the start of the People and Animal Cardio Klub (PACK), which pairs local runners with dogs from area shelters. And each week, they meet for an hour of fun. The benefits, according to one of the club’s volunteers, are twofold.

“After a long week, no matter what has happened, Saturday mornings with a dog who really gets a lot out of it gives me a chance to recalibrate and start the weekend off right,” said volunteer leader Heather Kelly, of Arlington. “I call Saturday mornings with PACK my reset button.”

Each week, Kelly and a group of volunteers head to Rock Creek Park’s Beach Drive, while another group takes over the National Arboretum. On one Saturday early last December, the two groups combined forces.

Kiri Anderer, of D.C., joined PACK two years ago and became a group leader last summer. And while she has two cats of her own, the less-than-ideal square footage of her home prevents her from adding a dog.

“I would love to, but I don’t think it would really be fair,” she said. “So this is my way of getting to have a dog occasionally, which I really enjoy. But it’s really good for the dogs — to get them out for some exercise and socialization.”

Pittsburgh transplant and PACK volunteer Addy Mistick said dogs were a fixture in her home when she was younger.

But pet restrictions at home and frequent work travel preclude it now. She joined PACK in August after reading about the club on the Washington Humane Society’s website.

“I was looking for volunteer opportunities at the humane society and I love running, so this just spoke to me,” Mistick said.

Mistick ferried a six-year-old PitbullBoxer mix named Goldfish from the Washington Humane Society’s Georgia Avenue facility to Rock Creek Park. She

said the process was fairly smooth.

“It’s pretty quiet when you first arrive, until the first group of us get there,” Mistick said. “Once we’re there, we walk over to the kennel and each one of the dogs has their harness and leash right there, so they’re ready for you.”

When the PACK volunteers and dogs were finally situated in the parking lot, a process that unsurprisingly requires a decent amount of patience, the volunteers and their canine partners set off on a threeand-a-half mile jaunt through the iconic park.

Some volunteers ran while others walked.

And judging by the smiles plastered on the volunteers’ faces, it was hard to tell if the dogs or their partners were having more fun.

According to one PACK leader, the program not only offers immediate physical benefits for the animals, but its impact is felt long after the dogs return to their respective shelters.

“The dogs that come back from PACK, a lot of times — not exclusively, but a lot of times — those dogs go straight out to an adoption event,” said Drew Connell.

“We’ve been told that they show a lot better at those events because they’re a little quieter and reserved. They don’t quite have the energy of some of the dogs that have been in a kennel for the past couple of days. When they get out and get their legs stretched they’re much more likely to be adopted.”

Connell owns a dog. He adopted a Labrador-Great Dane mix, which he said prompted him to explore additional humane society volunteer opportunities.

“He’s actually what inspired me,” Connell, who lives in Silver Spring, said. “I’ll continue to do this for as long as I can — until my knees give out. After that, I guess I’ll just be here walking the dogs.”

After just under an hour, the first group of PACK volunteers returned to the parking lot. Others followed. Parched from the early morning exercise, both parties sought water. A volunteer lugged around a large cooler and poured its contents into silver bowls that rested on the asphalt. The dogs devoured the water, only pausing to scarf down treats and acknowledge another dog with a series of barks.

Kelly strolled around the parking lot

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 41

RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY MARLEEN VAN DEN NESTE

RUN

WITH

PACK

W W W.WA S H H U M A N E .O R G / PAC K

snapping photographs of the dogs, which she said the humane society sometimes use for a dog’s profile, and chatted with volunteers.

“At the end of every PACK session, PACK leaders speak with volunteers so that we can get information from them about how the dog they’re paired with has done in the car, on the run and in the meetup area, before and after,” she said. “We give that information to the behaviorists and adoption staff back at the shelter and that helps them to assess the dogs and pair them with the proper adopters.”

The early December session ended as it began, with an exodus of cars filing from the parking lot. PACK volunteers like Mistick shuttled their dogs back to their shelters.

Each Saturday, they will do it again.

That is, however, unless a dog is lucky enough to find a permanent home.

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Sometimes, that luck comes from within the group.

PACK volunteer Jessica Roach invited her boyfriend, Aditya Mandavia, to join her for the group’s special Thanksgiving Day run last November. That morning, Mandavia waited patiently in the couple’s car as Roach signed out a Labrador mix named Pencil. As Roach neared the vehicle, it became apparent that the upcoming car ride would be the first of many with Pencil, who is now named Arlo.

“As soon as I took him out of the shelter and brought him out to the car, both my boyfriend and I had huge grins on our faces,” Roach, who lives in the District, said. “We knew. I got into the car and [Mandavia] said ‘I guess we’re taking our dog home today.’ The next day, we went back and adopted him.”

CHRIS KWIATKOWSKI, EMILY POTTER, TYLER ANDREWS, SUSANNA SULLIVAN, CARLOS JAMIESON, TEAL BURRELL and KIERAN O’CONNOR RUNWASHINGTON PHOTO BY DUSTIN WHITLOW

BY DICKSON MERCER For running fans, the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials are like a cult classic on a four-year loop. Every time the races are upon us, it feels as if we just saw the last one yesterday. We again wonder: who will break through to the Olympics, who could surprise us, and who among our local running scene will be there.

Meanwhile, outside the circle of hardcore running fans, there is some confusion about what the marathon trials even are.

We saw this in 2003. Alexandria’s Heather Hanscom won the Marine Corps Marathon, her debut, fast enough to qualify for the trials and was interviewed by Andrea Koppell on CNN. Koppell asked if Hanscom’s goal had been to make the Olympic team; Hanscom explained she had only qualified for the trials; and Koppell ended the segment by wishing Hanscom luck … in the 2004 Olympics.

So, what are the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, exactly?

The trials — first contested by men in 1968 and by women in 1984 – are both the inspiration and culmination of dreams. There is no qualifying race for the Olympics in which the door is open wider to amateur athletes.

They just have to climb a mountain to go through it.

To qualify for the 2016 marathon trials in

Los Angeles, men had to run a marathon faster than 2:19 or a half marathon faster than 1:05, while women had to go under either 2:45 or 1:15. (In December, both marathon standards were softened slightly — by a minute for men, two minutes for women — but they are still tougher than they have been historically.)

For D.C. runner Jim Hage, the marathon trials was a force that pushed him to go all in. Before his second trials, in 1992, he quit his job to train full time and went on to finish inside the top 10. His eighth place finish in fact matched his prediction for himself in a prerace trials pool with friends — “but that was based on a best-case scenario,” he says, “and I was ecstatic with the finish.”

For Landover legend Darrell General, the trials fueled consistency. He is among a rare few to run in five trials.

And for Hanscom, a physician assistant in Arlington, the trials was an opportunity to put her best fitness on the line and see where it would take her. Coached by Matt Centrowitz, the 2004 race was only her second marathon, and she knew it would be much different than her first, which she won by more than 20 minutes.

As she steeled herself for the next challenge of going toe to toe with the nation’s best, Hanscom’s mantra became: “to be able to walk away from a race, or any experience, and know that I did my best.” She remembers

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seeing her family members and friends who traveled to St. Louis to support her. She remembers feeling the whole time like she would “implode” and the way everything hurt, especially her blistering feet. And as she crossed the line, and as her sixth place, 2:31:53 performance — a seven-minute personal best — came into focus, Hanscom could see that “anything was possible” and, almost immediately, started looking towards the future.

The marathon trials, seen from a national perspective, trace the history of modern road racing: boom after boom after boom. And as we head into the 2016 trials, in Los Angeles, and look at this from a local perspective, we can see our own boom: our running scene has never had more representation.

By our count, ten athletes residing in either D.C. or Northern Virginia will be on the starting line Feb. 13. In the Baltimore area, Andy Weaver, has qualified, too.

Here are some of the storylines we’re following.

The contenders In the women’s race, Shalane Flanagan is the clear favorite. But take note, we have our own Flanagan to cheer for: Lindsay, an Illinois native and recent University of Washington graduate. She moved to Silver Spring last year to join a Mizuno-sponsored training group with Maegan Krifchin and Serena Burla.

Flanagan’s 2:33:12 debut in Houston seeds her at 19th heading into the trials, but her second marathon, though slower, was even more impressive. At last summer’s Pan American Games in Toronto, Flanagan went out with the lead pack and persisted through humid, brutal conditions to earn a bronze medal in 2:36:30. An American woman had not medaled in the event in 20 years.

As of December, when we reached out to their coach, Flanagan and her training partners were out in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In a RunWashington story last fall, though, Flanagan talked about their routine when training in Silver Spring. The trio would meet for workouts at 7 a.m. and in the late afternoon, with Burla commuting in from her home in Stafford.

At the last trials in Houston, Burla, now 33, was in the mix at the front of the pack, but collapsed at 18 miles due to hypoglycemia.

Burla, however, had already conquered tougher setbacks. In 2010, for instance, after finishing second at the USA Half Marathon Championships, she scheduled some tests to figure out why her hamstring was hurting.

Turns out, the pain had been stemming from a malignant soft-tissue tumor that required a radical surgery. Her surgeon was concerned that Burla would never run again.

Burla not only ran again – she qualified for the marathon trials, and after dropping out, came back in her next marathon to chop her personal best down to 2:28:27. She

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has since chiseled her personal best down to 2:28:01, giving her the 5th seed heading into Los Angeles. In 2014, she triumphed at the USA Half Marathon Championships. And last year, a month after Flanagan’s result in Toronto, Burla finished 10th in the marathon at the world championships in Beijing.

Krifchin, too, could factor in the race to make an Olympic team. The New York native and Syracuse graduate’s marathon debut of 2:33, run last year at the Hamburg Marathon, seeds her two spots behind Lindsay Flanagan.

In October, though, Krifchin, a part-time occupational therapist, also won the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in 1:09:50, giving her a faster half marathon than Burla.

Even professionals often approach their debut marathon more conservatively to gain experience, and Krifchin’s was described as a controlled effort (she ran even splits). What’s in store, then, for the 27-year-old’s second attempt at the distance in Los Angeles?

The dreamers Eight years ago, at the women’s marathon trials in Boston, Teal Burrell and her sister hatched an experiment while they were watching from the sidelines. How long, they wondered, could they keep up with America’s best? When one pack came along, they took off sprinting, and just as quickly fell behind.

Some time before this, Burrell had run a marathon in 4:07 and checked the goal off her list of things to accomplish. For a few years, that was enough. But that day in Boston, Burrell was in the early stages of plotting a comeback. In fact, it was this memory she recalled in 2012 in launching her blog, “Miles to the Trials,” which she launched to chronicle her seemingly improbably goal to reach the marathon standard. By then, Burrell had gone from being a recreational runner to going sub-3, but she was a long way from running under 2:45.

Burrell signed off the post, as she typically does, by saying “Dream Big” – and that is exactly what she did, even at times when those dreams seemed unrealistic. Like in 2014 at the California International Marathon, when she lined up with the goal of dipping under the then-trials standards of 2:43. Had Burrell put her recent half marathon best, 1:19:28, into a race predictor calculator, the computation would have read: don’t even think about it. Instead, Burrell, after running 16 miles at goal pace in practice, pressed forward, and believed, and crossed the line in 2:42:13.

Now that moon-shot race is here, and Burrell, who is coming off a half marathon PR that still not does compute to sub 2:43, has yet again attached herself to what she describes as another unrealistic goal. Like usual, the pure marathoner is operating on a combination of confidence and fear.

“I’d say I’m more confident in my abilities since CIM, but I certainly still have many, many moments of self doubt. I think that’s the same it’s been in my entire progression as a runner

— with every new PR I think I can keep getting faster … but I also have days when my new goals seem crazy, and it’s hard to believe I ever ran 2:42.

Meanwhile, one of Burrell’s teammates on the Pacers Running//GRC New Balance team, Emily Potter, of Alexandria, has qualified for her third trials, but this was one was perhaps the least probable.

The 36-year-old’s will was there to train and get in races to advance her preparation.

But Potter also had more on her plate – namely, raising two young daughters, Evelyn, 3, and Adelaide, 1. Potter, frankly, was not sure if she could find the time to train like she has in the past, and she hasn’t. To make it work, Potter is bringing Evelyn and Adelaide along for the ride, logging the vast majority of her miles while pushing them in a jogging stroller.

In August, with qualifying time running out, Potter headed up to the Edmonton Marathon and covered the course in 2:42:56, just under the standard yet 18 minutes ahead of second place. Potter set a course record, too.

Since qualifying for the trials, Potter has been trying to make sure she at least gets to run solo for a weekly workout and long run.

Otherwise, not much has changed.

“Training wise, I’m just trying to fit in as much running as my kids will tolerate. So it’s less mileage and quality work than I did before previous trials, and practically zero recovery time, but that’s life as a mom.”

The debutants As the Jan. 17 qualifying deadline for the trials approached, runners needing the standard flocked to fast half marathons, including the Philadelphia Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Halloween. For those who succeeded, oftentimes the next question became: “Do I really want to run my first marathon at the trials?” Carlos Jamieson, who qualified in Philadelphia, and Chris Kwiatkowski, who notched his second sub1:05 half marathon there, decided the timing was right.

In Philadelphia, Jamieson, 28, a physical education teacher in D.C., qualified by running a three-minute personal, 1:04:27.

The American University graduate had been making a gradual shift up to longer distances, starting with a win at the D.C. Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in March, while he was training for track races. Last spring, he ran 13:50 or 5,000 meters, a personal best.

After track season, Jamieson upped his mileage and lengthened his intervals to gain the strength he needed for longer races. But even after qualifying, Jamieson says he had his doubts about whether it was wise to make his marathon debut in such a high stakes, competitive race.

To gain clarity the self-coached Jamieson consulted with his “advisors.” College teammate Dustin Emrani, a half-miler and

member of Israel’s Olympic team, told him, if he was going to do it, make it count. Colin Eustis, who has the school record in the indoor 5,000, urged him to take advantage of what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So Jamieson again increased his mileage — he’s up as high as 105 miles per week, all in single runs. He says his goal is “to compete to the best of my ability” and meet what he describes as an “ambitious goal.”

Kwiatkowski, an American University assistant coach, competed for the University of Oregon but was limited by a series of injuries. Since settling in Arlington, though, Kwiatkowski has established himself as the top runner in the area, most notably with his fourth place, 48:17 finish at the Army TenMiler in 2013.

Kwiatkowski says his decision to make the leap up in distance came down to wanting to take advantage of a great opportunity. “I had a small debate about whether to run or not, but I decided pretty quickly to compete.

You only get the opportunity every four years, and I felt like it would be a shame not to compete.”

Over the holidays, Kwiatkowski, coached by Matt Centrowitz, returned to his hometown in Bellingham, Wash., maintaining weekly mileage north of 100 miles. “I’ve been feeling good. … I am definitely a little scared of the marathon distance, but I have been approaching it the same as any race: preparing the best I can to get to the starting line healthy and excited to compete,” he says.

The rising star Like Kwiatkowski, Susanna Sullivan was a strong prep runner whose progress in college was slowed by injuries. Sullivan, of Falls Church, ran at George Mason High School and continued at Notre Dame, but has seen her best success on the local roads and at major races around the country. She trains with Capital Area Runners.

Sullivan’s stock shot up in 2014 with a fourth place finish in the national 10 mile championships (none other than the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run) and a nation-leading 26:51 at the St. Patrick’s Day 8k. A month out from the trials, Sullivan, not yet in taper mode, lowered her half marathon personal best to 1:12:56.

The ride hasn’t always been smooth. Sullivan, roughly a year ago, did experience some of her first injuries since college. But the 25-year-old school teacher bided her time, completing tough pool workouts and shifting her marathon debut to last year’s Grandma’s Marathon in June.

Her goal was to achieve the trials “A” standard time of sub-2:37, for which athletes get their race expenses covered, and Sullivan says she was surprised by how controlled the pace felt in running 2:35:37. “I was hesitant to make any moves or press too much because I was just focused on finishing. I wanted to get

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 45

to the finish line with something still in the tank so that I could be excited to really race my next marathon.”

The hard training Our trials qualifiers did not get a respite from training during the holiday season.

Instead of happy hours and cookies and leisurely mornings, they turned to grueling workouts and two-a-days.

On Christmas morning, Tyler Andrews woke up early and set forth on one of his staple marathon workouts: a continuous effort covering the full marathon distance.

He did seven 5k reps at goal marathon pace separated by 1k intervals at a more moderate pace (around 6:00 per mile). The total workout gave the 25-year-old Alexandria resident a full marathon in 2:18, only two minutes slower than his personal best.

There must be a thread on some running message board devoted to the pitfalls of such workouts. But for Andrews, it is clear that workouts like these, and 160-mile training weeks, have led to a transformation: the Tufts graduate, who was never a Division III AllAmerican, is now a 2:16 marathon poised to go further in the trials.

“It’s all relative, and it has never been about big jumps [in training], just finding what works for me and focusing on increasing that specific stimulus from season to season and year to year,” says Andrews, who is sponsored

by Hoka One One and works for Strive Trips, which organizes student service trips.

On one hand, Andrews represents a sea change in marathon training, a new generation of marathoners inspired by new, more intense, more hyper-specific training methods espoused by coaches likes Renato Canova.

But perhaps it’s simpler than that.

Perhaps it goes back to the dream. Consider Kieran O’Connor, who probably does not even know who Canova is.

A couple summers ago, he showed up to a Pacers Running//GRC New Balance practice having dabbled in running in high school and skipping collegiate competition. He had picked running back up after college and, unbelievably, was the 8th American at the brutally hot 2012 Boston Marathon. Except, O’Connor had then spent a brutal hot year in Egypt, for graduate school; and there he was, new in town, doing a track workout in basketball shorts and training shoes.

It soon became clear that O’Connor only had one pair of real running shorts. Prior to joining the club, he raced shirtless. At the Leesburg 20k, he had to be shown how to look up his race bib number. Next he got caught in the bathroom line.

His teammates still do call him “the rube.”

But with each race, and each workout, O’Connor crept closer and closer to where he was before Egypt. Then he surpassed that level, and surpassed more levels. After

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lowering his marathon personal best to 2:20 at Grandma’s in June, O’Connor finished a bit behind Jamieson in Philadelphia to punch his ticket to the trials.

One Saturday morning at the track recently, O’Connor set out on 10-mile tempo with the goal of going under 50 minutes, his teammates flowing in out and out — two laps, three laps, a mile, as far as they could go.

O’Connor was rolling.

And it was all part of the plan. “Even when I was a 2:30 marathoner, I was pretty sure that I could get to the trials, which, I don’t know, maybe that’s crazy,” he says. “Now that I’ve reached this level, I have the same certainty that … I can do more and get better.”

With O’Connor, and all of our qualifiers, at the trials, the bar will be set even higher.

And when the gun goes off, the dream chasing will continue.

Qualifiers with local connections A handful of runners who have passed through the D.C. area in high school college or on the racing scene have hit the qualifying times, though not all will race the marathon trials.

Sara Bard former Leesburg resident and Capital Area Runners member

Andrew Bumbalough Georgetown University

Anna Corrigan Lake Braddock High School

Ricky Flynn

Damascus High School

Everett Hackett George Mason University

Megan Hogan

George Washington University

Christo Landry

Thomas Jefferson High School

Mark Leininger American University

Matt Llano

Broadneck High School

Christine Ramsey former Baltimore resident who raced here often

Katie Sheedy

former D.C. resident and Capital Area Runners member

Andy Weaver

Baltimore resident who won the 2015 Parks Half Marathon

Limbo for one runner In December, Julia Roman-Duval notched a personal best and U.S. Olympic Marathon Trialsqualifying 2:40:55 at the California International Marathon. With the trials little more two months later, on Feb. 13, you could imagine how post-race elation could quickly give way to thoughts on how to recover well and build back up. RomanDuval, though, has the additional challenge of figuring out how to get her name on the list of trial qualifiers — as of press time the 33-year-old Columbia resident’s name was still missing. She is not allowed to compete.

Here’s why: Roman-Duval, native to France, has been a permanent United States resident for five years, but needs to be granted citizenship to compete in the trials. She applied for citizenship in July. But due to backlogs at Baltimore’s immigration office, she has been told that her application will not be processed until March.

Her requests to have the processed expedited — including by her congressional delegation, she says — have been denied.

All is not lost. The USATF has a rule stating that non-U.S. citizens can gain entry into the trials if they can provide proof that citizenship will be granted before the Olympics in August. RomanDuval has sent USATF her best proof, and now the ball is in USATF’s court. As of press time, RomanDuval was still waiting for a response. “[USATF was] supposed to get back to me last week, but have not,” she says. The update should come any time now.”

Roman-Duval has resided in the United States since 2006. She and her husband, who is a U.S. citizen, have three children, and as an astrophysicist, Roman-Duval is part of a team that contributes to the success of the Hubble Space Telescope. A triathlete who did not run in high school or college, she achieved solid marathon results off running just 12 miles a week, and her Howard County Striders teammates convinced her to gradually increase her mileage and intensity. Roman-Duval followed through. Thus, on her recent marathon result, Roman-Duval said: “It was a breakthrough race … but not an expected one.”

McLean resident and fellow native of France Phillipe Rolly knows her frustration. As a permanent resident in 2000, he was forced to sit out of that year’s trials. He never ran the standard again.

Follow the race The race will be broadcast, streaming on NBC Sports Live Extra, Saturday Feb. 13. You can download the app or watch on a connected TV. RunWashington will be at the race posting updates about local athletes to Facebook and Twitter (@RunWashington) and Instagram (also @ RunWashington).

JULIA ROMAN-DUVAL. PHOTO BY SWIM BIKE RUN PHOTOGRAPHY

SPRING 2016 | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | RUNWASHINGTON | 47

PHOTO COURTESY OF HEMPHILL

BY EMILY RABBITT Dixon Hemphill wants a race. At his age, he’s earned it.

But so far, nobody else has signed up for the 90-94 age group mile at March’s National Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque. And Hemphill, at 91, may be alone on the starting line.

“I don’t want to appear that I’m bragging.

People make a big deal about it because I’m in my 90’s and no one else is,” he said. “Frankly, I’d like some competition.”

Over more than 40 years of running, Hemphill has completed more than 1,000 races. Though he competed in the pole vault, long jump, and cross country at Middlebury College in the 1940s, Hemphill didn’t get back into running until the 1970s.

Shortly after moving to the D.C. area, Hemphill entered a Potomac Valley Seniors race, finishing last in the mile. He became immersed in running, opening two Fairfax Running Center stores and directing races. He still oversees the Goblin Gallop, a family friendly race that offers

48 | RUNWASHINGTON | RUNWASHINGTON.COM | SPRING 2016

a 1k for kids and a 5k for all.

His biggest setback occurred in 1999. A bike accident broke his pelvis, clavicle, and ribs, and gave him a collapsed lung. When he was released after more than a month in multiple hospitals, the doctor told him he’d never run again.

“Eight months later I ran the Race for the Cure 5k. It was the happiest day of my life,” Hemphill said. The chronic pain from his injuries persists but Hemphill keeps running.

He anchored record-breaking relay teams in the 4x400 and 4x800 in both his 80’s and 90’s.

While a German team of 80-somethings broke both records two weeks later, Hemphill’s squad of 90-and-up runners still holds the top slot.

Hemphill no longer logs high weekly mileage – he gets out for a mile or so about three days a week – but he continues to race frequently. He ran 22 races last year, and has come to prefer shorter track races over 5ks.

In Albuquerque, he’ll take aim at the national age group record in the mile. He has some work ahead of him. The record is 10:58, and he currently clocks a 12:03.

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