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2016 Spring Regional Runner Rankings Largest Spring Ever (March 5, 2016 – May 30, 2016) Maryland RRCA State Championship Series 50 Plus Club Best of 2016 By James Moreland The Regional Runner Rankings is looking for more sponsors and contributors. We want to acknowledge the help, support and financial contributions from the Friends of the Rankings: Potomac River Running Patricia Kelbaugh Dance Studio Michael Mason of Horizon Landscape, established in 1969 in Silver Spring, serves Montgomery, Prince George's, and Howard counties. Horizon provides specialized gardening, clearing, forest improvement and landscaping services throughout the year. If you need assistance with your property, contact us online or at (301) 421-1800 and we will send you a landscape gardening expert to help create or maintain your outdoor paradise. Alice Franks Dan Devlin Patricia Kelbaugh Dance Studio 1976-2016 OPEN HOUSE Saturday, July 23rd 12:00 Noon to 5:00 p.m. • Ballet • Tap • Jazz • Lyrical • Pointe Ages 3 to Adult All Levels: Beginner to Advanced 301-840-1849 E-mail: [email protected] www.pkdances.com 2 Professional Drive, Suites 218/219, Gaithersburg, MD 20879 Member of Dance Masters of America, Inc. Certified by test to teach, B.S. Degree The Runner Rankings in its current format has been going on for two full decades. As the third decade begins, the numbers are rebounding again. Even though the total number of racers is now a little bit lower than the past four years, there were still 509 races run with a ranked runner and another 113 more that had no ranked times as well as nearly 300 more races for which results could not be found. The highest number of races before was 385. Already as of June 22, there are more than 900 races which is more than every year previous to 2009. As all road racing is on different courses and conditions, the human touch is definitely more accurate than a pure numbers content from a fully computerized model. The goal of any objective rankings system is to have the fewest surprises. A runner generally knows their own pecking order and can exalt the rewards when they have a special race that catapults them above their normal place. Women increased to 58% of the 5,543 ranked times reached. In the four years before, there were more than four thousand ranked times, cresting at 4,652 in 2014. Now there are nearly nine hundred more. Additionally, 582 of the 1,050 ranked runners are women. Perhaps it is time for a Men’s Distance Festival series. The elite women’s division, running faster than a 41:15 for a 10K equivalent, stays easily the largest with 99 women qualifying, just off the record 103 from 2013. The men climbed to seventy-four, one off their record of seventy- five, also from 2013. There are a record eighty-seven major races (500 runners or more). Though the Pike’s Peek 10K is a little more challenging with the updated course, eight times it was the best race for a division while Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile had three and the Reston 10 Mile had two. The open division consisted of 173 ranked runners, just shy of the record which is 178. Thirty-six came from other divisions. Kendall Tata was the oldest woman at 53 and Patrick Kuhlmann was the oldest man at 45. Forty-one races had more than 1,000 finishers and sixteen races had more than 2,000 finishers. More than 90,000 racers participated in the top ten races. The two biggest races, Credit Union Cherry Blossom and Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K, combined for 39,400 finishers, about five thousand fewer than last year. Nevertheless, they had 765 qualified racers, nearly three more than ever before. The Townebank 8K was the largest with its 8,207 finishers. Even with the new Semper Five and the One City 8K and their two thousand total finishers, the Townebank 8K had 133% of all the other five milers combined. Eleven 10Ks had more than five hundred finishers. Of the 55 10Ks raced in the spring, 55% of the ranked times were run at the monster Ukrops with 372 ranked times. Pike’s Peek had the second largest amount of ranked runners (152) with 1/11 as many finishers. Clyde’s, Carytown, Capitol Hill, and Apple Blossom also had more than 40 ranked runners, but the Elizabeth River Run 10K, with 54, had nearly 10% of its runners ranked. There were more than four hundred 5Ks, 21 with more than 1,000 finishers, including all five Crystal City Fridays 5Ks, and 41 with more than 500 finishers. The largest 5K, Kelly’s Shamrock 5K, dominated with the second most ranked runners at 65. The Run for the D. O. G. 5K nearly doubled in quality to lead with 67 ranked runners. Twelve more races had more than 20 ranked runners. There were sixteen 10 mile races and with the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile back to full length, it had 61% of the combined totals for the distance. The event dominated again in size with 393 ranked times, tops for all races and more than three times as many as the next biggest ten mile race. Cherry Pit was the percentage leader for ranked times, with 12.17% of their 337 finishers with ranked times. Two other races had more than 11% ranked finishers. Also, Charlottesville had 75 ranked times with only 1,775 finishers, while the GW Parkway excelled with 118 of 5,326 runners. There were ten marathons, with Rock ‘n’ Roll (2,477) and Yeungling Shamrock Festival Marathon (1,884) dominating. At the half marathon, production was more than 41,600 with the Rock ‘n’ Roll again leading the way with 14,470. Shamrock moved to sixth in ranked runners with 110. Rock ‘n’ Roll was third with 155 ranked runners. Thirteen of the 26 halves were major races. Runners who win the race or win their division in a race earn an asterisk beside their name. Open runners only get an asterisk for an overall win. The Speed Alone, cited at the start of each division, is the fastest qualifying time run for each division. In red, it means the division champion ran it. Now let’s see who made the top. Open Men Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile 48:50, 10K = 29:23 A champion finds a way to prevail, making head-to-head so important. Carlos Jamieson held off fourth place Andrew Brodeur by a mere second at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon with a 1:07:53 finish. Sixth place Mynor Lopez was next there in 1:08:07, but well ahead of Girma Bedada’s 1:10:35. Indeed, Graham Tribble earned 17th place beating Girma in 1:10:13. Next up was the Shamrock Festival. Tenth place Charlie Hurt was marvelous, running the 8K in 24:44. Tyler Andrews was third overall at the Anthem Shamrock Festival Half Marathon in 1:08:26 to take eighth in a mob of runners at the 5:00 10K pace. Fifth place Girma Gebre would add to his Apple Blossom 10K in 31:06 with an overall win at the Frederick Half Marathon in 1:08:11. Now enters the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile and nearly everyone was there. Our champion Jamieson takes down Andy Weaver, again by a mere second, 51:17 to 51:18. Brian Flynn knifes his way home two seconds later to pass Brodeur who struggled home in 52:01 into third place. Can you say that about a runner who had four overall wins, including two in the same morning when he held off Tribble in the St. Patrick's Day 10K 31:53 to 32:08 and held off Ryan Witters 15:16 to 15:29 in the 5K? Bedada improved to 52:07. Eighteenth place Gary Mariano edges Graham Peck, 53:08 to 53:13. Then James Luehrs takes 21st in 53:16, followed closely by Matt Deters 53:22 and 23rd place Jerry Greenlaw in 53:28. Lopez adds gravitas beating 11th place Richard Morris (31:34) and 16th place Dustin Meeker (31:50) with his Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K in 31:15. Then the big day arrives and Andy Weaver races Pike’s Peek to confirm his runner-up spot with a runner-up placement 30:39. Bedada rises even further to seventh with his 31:00, catching Tyler who lingered back a ways in 31:28. Thomas Bean outlasts Carlos Renijifo for 12th place, 31:28 to 31:31, with Peck finishing in 31:58. Later that morning, Jamieson leads all runners to the finish at the George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Mile in 51:03 and to show the depth, ninth place Matt Barresi finishes just two seconds behind him. Fourteenth place Samuel Luff finishes next in 52:21. Greenlaw improved to 53:16, just behind Renijifo’s 53:14 at Cherry Blossom. David Angell is somewhat back at Cherry Blossom but he has the fastest 5K, running the Vinton Baptist Church Dogwood 5K in 15:10 to earn the 15th place. Top master Christopher Shaw was 20th, winning at Pike’s Peek in 32:06, the first masters runner of only five. Girma Bedada was first from another division. The division rebounded to seventy-four qualifiers. PL Name Age Hometown 10K= 1 Jamieson, Carlos* 28 Washington, DC 30:48 2 Weaver, Andy* 26 Baltimore, MD 30:39 3 Flynn, Brian* 32 Rockingham. VA 30:53 4 Brodeur, Andrew**** 25 Bethesda, MD 30:48 5 Gebre, Girma* 23 Washington, DC 30:56 6 Lopez, Mynor 32 Falls Church.

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