Clyde's 10K Race Results
Presented by the Howard County Striders
Columbia, MD
April 18, 2004

Awards | Complete Results (Gun Time) or (Chip Time) | Photo Page

"I never look back," said Annapolis' Jill Hargis, winner of the 26th Annual Clyde's American 10k in Columbia. But if she had looked back, she might have seen Julie Thienel of Columbia gaining on her. Hargis, who had never run in Columbia before, had taken an early lead on the hilly course and didn't know who was behind. Over the last two hills, Thienel had cut the lead from nearly a minute to 30 seconds and then 20 seconds in the last half mile. But she couldn't quite make up the time and finished 12 seconds behind, nevertheless running her best-ever time at Clyde's. Both women noted that the warm, sunny spring weather adversely affected their performances. "Yes," said Hargis, "It was a good day for a party."

The men's race saw John Supsic repeat his winning performance from last year's Clyde's. This time, he took the lead near two miles, but then had to reckon with the long uphill at four miles. "That hill on Route 108 is NOT my favorite hill," John stated. After surmounting the hill, Supsic had gained 23 seconds on second place Eric Estrada who could not close the gap in the remaining two miles. In fact, Supsic extended his lead and finished a minute ahead of second place, running five seconds faster this year than last year. Will he run even faster in 2005? "We'll see," he said.

A struggle for third place developed between Tom Williams and Paul Bourg, who slugged it out for the last three miles of the race. The duel came down to a sprint to the finish, which Bourg won by two seconds.

The good weather prompted a flurry of late entries and a total of 1153 completed the race. Carrie Passmore of Glenelg, MD, found herself right in the middle of the pack, at number 577, and won a special award for being the median finisher. Her time was 55:35.

Charlie Brown and his wife Ellen directed Clyde's 10k this year. They enjoyed assistance from the Howard County Police, who provided traffic control, and from an enthusiastic bunch of volunteers from the Howard County Striders. After the race, Clyde's of Columbia treated all runners and volunteers to a sumptuous brunch by the shores of Lake Kittimiqundi. The lavish spread included Clyde's famous chili, chicken sandwiches, Michelob Ultra low-carb beer, Coca-Cola products, hot dogs, pasta salad, assorted breakfast cereals, and fresh California cantaloupe and strawberries. "They ran out of chili before I got to it!" Charlie said, "But the chicken sandwich was excellent!"

Thanks to Jim Carbary for the article.