WRR 2009 Rankings

Reprinted withOUT permission from the Washington Running Report . This end of the year report details the top runners in the Washington DC area (which covers Virgina Beach/Richmond north to Baltimore) for 2009. Granted, if you took the 50 runners below, shot off a gun and asked them all to race 10k, I doubt I'd place 14th (I'd place much further back). Not to mention there are plenty of runners NOT on the list that would also school me on any given Sunday. That being said, the rankings reflect race wins, places in certain races and the number of races one runs. In any case, this provides a great glimpse on who my competition is for 2010. Kudos to WRR for putting it together.

It was an amazing year with some fantastic races.

The open champion, Demesse Tefera, had the top five qualifying times. Of Tefera's top three, he finished third overall once and fifth overall twice. In March, he won it all at the SunTrust National Half Marathon in 1:05:15. A week later he blazed the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K in 28:55 behind a Virginia state record 28:21. Then, in April, he finished third at Pike's Peek 10K in 28:57 behind a Maryland record 28:30. In his 22 races with 13 wins, his worst placing was fifth at the Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon in 1:04:16.

Former champion Gurmessa Megerssa bested runner-up Abiyot Endale at Pike's Peek 10K 29:28 to 30:03. After that, Endale returned the favor at the Capitol Hill Classic 10K, winning it all in 30:50 against Megressa's 30:56 second best race. Endale also had six other much faster races and head-to-head wins at the Capital Running Company Veterans Day 10K 30:11 to 30:57 and at the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF) Half Marathon where he was second overall in 1:06:22. He also had the Best of 2009 4 mile at We've Got Your Back 4 Mile in 18:48, ahead of fifth place Abiyot Abebe's 19:17. Steve Crane lost to Abebe at the Alexandria Turkey Trot 5 Mile to start the year 24:02 to 24:28. That was Abebe's best race. Crane would come back and defeat Abebe four times including a special Van Metre 5 Mile in 23:52 versus 25:17.

Mouchine Outaleb gets his sixth place spot with seven overall wins and a second place finish to champion Tefera at the George Washington Birthday Classic 10K in his eight tries. His Moreland Racing Factor (MRF) score was 135, but he passes by seventh place Daniel Too with two close wins. It was down to the wire at the International 5K Run for Celiac Disease 15:40 to 15:42 and the BWI Airport 4 Mile 19:37 to 19:40. He also bested eighth place Tim Young at the YMCA Turkey Trot 5K in Fredericksburg 14:39 to 14:43.

The next two had virtually the same top six races. Too had four overall wins including a powerful near event record 23:52 at the Rockville Rotary Twilight 8K. Tim Young's two big wins were the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon in 1:06:57 and the Hartwood 10 Mile in 50:55. Too passed a lot of runners in Rockville to defeat him with an MRF of 149 to 117.

Long distance man Michael Wardian is next with his 2:22:15 second place finish at the SunTrust National Marathon. The next four are razor close. David Cheromei finished third at the SunTrust National Marathon in 2:23:40, adding four overall wins and a 14:53 Galax Autumn Days 5K. Bert Rodriguez comes on strong to edge 13th place Kyle Smits at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile 51:07 to 51:11. Normally, that would make a good case for Rodriguez to catch 11th place Seth Hutchinson's 51:06 at the George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Mile. However, it was a slower day for Rodriguez as he finished there in 52:33. Hutchinson also had an excellent USA Cross Country Championships 12K in 38:52 ahead of Rodriguez, as well as Wardian and Jake Klim.

1 Tefera, Demesse *13 27 Silver Spring, MD
2 Endale, Abiyot *6 26 Silver Spring, MD
3 Megerssa, Gurmessa **** 31 Washington, DC
4 Crane, Steven *** 28 Alexandria, VA
5 Abebe, Abiyot *7 22 Washington, DC
6 Outaleb, Mouchine *7 31 Baltimore, MD
7 Too, Daniel ***** 33 Elkton, MD
8 Young, Tim *** 22 Fredericksburg, VA
9 Wardian, Michael *6 35 Arlington, VA
10 Cheromei, David **** 30 Marion, VA
11 Hutchinson, Seth ** 25 Charlottesville, VA
12 Rodriguez, Bert ** 30 Arlington, VA
13 Smits, Kyle * 30 Baltimore, MD
14 Klim, Jake * 29 North Bethesda, MD
15 Bitok, Kipchirchir *** 29 Baltimore, MD
16 Wade, Robert ***** 27 Arlington, VA
17 Church, Aaron *6 33 South Riding, VA
18 Barresi, Matt ** 26 Falls Church, VA
19 Alton, Guy *** 25 Richmond, VA
20 Carroll, Ryan *25 27 Portsmouth, VA
21 Berdan, Dave *** 28 Parkville, MD
22 Mance, Steve ** 25 Alexandria, VA
23 Viviani, Will * 27 Arlington, VA
24 Pugsley, Ray *** 40 Potomac Falls, VA
25 Zeleke, Birhanu ** 27 Washington, DC
26 Reaves, Patrick * 24 Silver Spring, MD
27 Mehmedovic, Izzy ** 25 Columbia, MD
28 Burke, Edmund 40 Burtonsville, MD
29 Shirk, Kevin * 29 Winchester, VA
30 Hunt, Patrick ** 31 Virginia Beach, VA
31 Bray, Derryn 24 Poquoson, VA
32 Tepovich, Danny ** 30 Virginia Beach, VA
33 Duncan, Andrew ** 42 Bethesda, MD
34 Angell, David *6 33 Blue Ridge, VA
35 Ingram, Benjamin * 32 Baltimore, MD
36 Schaefer, Tim * 31 Gaithersburg, MD
37 Fritzins, Justin *6 25 Purcellville, VA
38 Fahey, Tim 35 Arlington, VA
39 Blasiak, Sam * 29 Gaithersburg, MD
40 McCabe, Brian 23 Washington, DC
41 Renjifo, Carlos *** 26 Columbia, MD
42 Miller, David * 27 Leesburg, VA
43 Fortin, Matt ***** 25 Crofton, MD
44 Belford, Luke * 27 Nottingham, VA
45 Sheaffer, Chris 24 Purcellville, VA
46 Green, Jake ** 25 Arlington, VA
47 Probst, George *** 35 Blacksburg, VA
48 Tompkins, Mark *7 34 Williamsburg, VA
49 O'Hara, David 33 Washington, DC
50 Saunders, Richard *** 21 Richmond, VA
51 Askey, Billy 26 Arlington, VA
52 Stenholm, Pekka * 36 Columbia, MD
53 Jacoby, Bert *6 26 Fredericksburg, VA
54 Ingham, George * 24 Herndon, VA
55 Wright, Andres 42 Frederick, MD
56 Mock, Doug 42 Ellicott City, MD