09 April 2006

Mike Colaiacovo, 2005 Howard County Strider of the Year, was no stranger to Ethiopian Dawit Andeta when the two toed the line at this year's Clyde's 10k.  A native of Addis Ababa, Dawit had thoroughly beaten Mike (and everyone else) at the Grapevine 8k last November, so Mr. C. expected he might be racing for second place.  However, Dawit was slowed by a knee injury, especially on the uphills, and he wasn't even in the lead when the front-runners went through the first mile (all uphill) in around 5:25.  But then Andeta "opened it up" and took the lead on the ensuing downhill.  Mike and Richard Harris followed Dawit up the long hill on Route 108, gaining steadily on him.  "I was counting the cones," Colaiacovo related.  Andeta held on to a slim lead through the last couple miles, although Mike claims he actually "pulled even with him" just before they turned onto Little Patuxent Parkway about a half mile from the finish.  "Then he made his move and sprinted away."  Mike finished in second place, 10 seconds behind the fleet Andeta, and was lucky to hold off that Harris by about four seconds.
        The first place woman had no such problem with her competition.  Feng Sun had little trouble handling second-place Kelly Dworak of Carlisle, PA, or local favorite Vicki Lang, who finished third.  A native of Beijing, China, Sun lives in Columbia not far from the Clyde's race course and often trains on parts of it.  Eye witness Joe Esposito, Jr., ran the first mile with Feng in 6:15, and managed to hang on through the second mile.  "But I couldn't keep up with her!" he confessed.  While junior faded, Feng cruised to the women's victory in 39:40, the only woman to break 40 minutes on the hilly Clyde's course.
        The first master runner (over 40) to cross the line was the legendary Virginian Ted Poulos, who clocked the 10k in 36:32.  He might have gone faster except for the hills.  He started in the front row of the race and pretty much stayed near the front, coming in 9th overall.
        Howard County Strider Vanessa Cox claimed first among the women's masters.  For much of the race, she chased Vicki Lang and Katie Sacker (1st, 15-19 female) and couldn't quite close the gap.  Cox was the fifth woman overall in 41:29.
        Given the difficulty of the course, a surprising number of runners set personal records.  Greg Schuler and his son Eric (1st, 14 &U male) both set 10 kilometer person records, although it was only Eric's second 10k.  Junior Esposito (2nd, 15-19 male) set a PR trying to catch Feng Sun, and so did 48-year-old John Chall (2nd, 45-49 male).  Chall also set a personal record the week before at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  Not only did Karsten Brown run a personal best, but he was also the "first one to the beer— for the second year in a row!"  He said he had to run fast to get to the Michelob Ultra.
        The top three runners in each age 5-year age group won Clyde's bags, jackets, or sweatshirts, and the top overall runners received gift certificates from Feet First.  A total of 1196 runners finished, and so many were registering on race day that there was concern about the supply of race "chips."  After the race, runners and volunteers gathered on the shores of Lake Kittimiqundi for a fabulous post-race brunch hosted by Clyde's of Columbia.  The brunch featured chicken sandwiches, Clyde's signature chili, pasta salad, fresh California strawberries, hot dogs, bagels, soft drinks, Powerade, and that Michelob Ultra.  "It's just too early in the day to drink beer," said Bill McCormack, sipping his Ultra.
        The Howard County Striders wish to thank race directors Charlie and Ellen Brown for organizing the event, to the Annapolis Striders for providing the ChampionChip timing chips and timing mats, and to Howard County Police for safe and effective traffic control during the race.

-- by James Carbary