Results - 5K
Damien's 5K
Local favorites Karsten Brown and Doug Mock knew they were running for second place when the runner bounded away from the start of the 13th Annual Damien’s 5k last Sunday. “He was gone so fast that we didn’t even see him!” Doug said about the front-runner. With a $300 bonus awaiting anyone who broke the course record of 14:32 (set in 2009 by Tefera Demesse), Birhanu Alemu Feysa of Silver Spring through he would try for the bonus. Unfortunately, he was running all by himself and, in spite of his lightning speed, came up four seconds short of the record mark. Birhanu is another one of the Washingtonian elites who periodically come to Howard County for cash prizes. His recent exploits include winning the Joe Cassella 5k (15:47) and the Run Through History 10k (30:56), and producing a 52:48 at the Army 10 Miler.
Tezata Desalgn Dengersa of Turkey (living in Baltimore and not from Ethiopia!) had similar designs to shattering the women’s course record set (16:37) in 2001 by Naoke Ishibe. Not only did Tezata crush the women’s field, she also beat all but the top three men (sorry, Doug) and finished fourth overall. Unfortunately, she too came up a few seconds short of the record with a time of 16:41.
Even though Mr. Mock got chicked, his time of 16:47 earned him the prize for first master man. Two master women, Robyn Humphrey and Kelly Westlake, waged a spirited battle for third place among the females, and Westlake out-jumped Humphrey at the finish line by 0.26 seconds. The story might have been different except Robyn’s hamstring about snapped when she rounded the last turn. Kelly got the master woman award, while Robyn was given third overall woman.
The first man and woman received cash awards, although not setting the course records diminished their prizes by $300 each. Age group winners received a nice running bag and a stainless steel bottle suitable for either hot or cold beverages. The running bags had secret compartments for smelly shoes.
The race was directed by Ralph Massella and staged by the Howard County Striders at the Columbia Gateway business park. Proceeds benefit Damien’s Recovery Inc, an organization dedicated to overcoming teen drug abuse through education and outreach. The Striders wish to thank the Howard County Police for traffic control on the loop around the Gateway. 247 finished the event this year.
All runners received really nice t-shirts with a blue color-theme. The post-race celebration took place in the parking lot of the COPT Building and featured Ledo pizza, Subway subs, organic fruit juice, and live music by the blues band Thin Air. In addition, runners were treated to fresh home-made cookies baked late at night by Judith Weber. The chocolate ones with white macadamia nuts were really super!
by Jim Carbary