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The Runner’s Rite of Spring ®

2003 (April 6) shortly after the 8 a.m. start, prompting all the aforemen-
For the third straight year, race day dawned with the Tidal tioned items to be taken down for safety reasons. The men’s
Basin and West Potomac Park awash in a blaze of pink and times reflected the conditions, with unknown Kenyan
white cherry blossoms. Race officials were glad simply to be Nelson Kiplagat winning in 48:12 – the slowest men’s win-
in West Potomac Park at all. Three weeks before the race, ning time since 1982 when Terry Baker bested Bill Rodgers
the War in Iraq had raised security levels in Washington in similar near-gale force winds. Rodgers was in this year’s
to “Code Orange,” one step down from “Code Red,” which field, placing 3 in the men’s 55-59 division in 1:02:55. But
rd
likely would have meant cancellation of the event. The race track-trained Kenyan Isabella Ochichi ran the performance
committee scouted out an alternative site in Poolesville, of the day in winning the women’s title in 52:07 – the 4
th
MD, 25 miles outside of Washington, as a contingency. John fastest women’s winning time ever. Boston Marathon prep-
Korir and Reuben Cheruiyot, who else, were at it again, ping Catherine Ndereba finished a distant second in 53:00.
and when the dust settled, Korir had evened the score at 2 Both women would go on to claim silver medals in the
victories each with a 46:56 to 47:03 triumph. Russian Olga Athens Olympics, Ochichi in the 5,000-meters and Ndereba
Romanova bested pre-race favorite Ashi Gigi of Ethiopia in the marathon. With the National Park Service allowing
for the women’s title. Through the efforts of the event and an increase in the number of finishers, the race had 8,057
the Credit Unions, over $190,000 was raised for the Chil- people go the distance. For the first time, over 50% of the
dren’s Miracle Network. Bethesda’s Ben Beach continued his entrants were women, although more men finished (4,157
streak as the only runner to have finished all 32 editions of to 3,900).
the race with a time of 1:02:15. The perfect day produced
the largest number of finishers ever at 7,488. 2005 (April 3)
Kenyan John Korir collected his third win and established
a streak of winning the event in odd-numbered years only.
His other two wins came in 2001 and 2003. With the victory
Korir moved into second place among male repeat win-
ners, just one victory shy of Bill Rodgers’ four consecutive
titles between 1978 and 1981. Does anyone know how to
say “2007?” Korir employed the same wait and kick strategy
which had made him the most feared road racer compet-
ing on the U.S. roads over the last six years, passing runner
up Reuben Chebii in the final 400-meters. Romanian Nuta
Olaru took the opposite tack and ran away from the wom-
en’s field to earn her first title in 52:01. Her time was the
fastest performance since Colleen DeReuck’s world record
time of 51:16 in 1998. The event established a reciprocal
relationship with the Himeji Castle 10 mile in Japan. Three
Japanese runners from the top 10 came to participate here,
while top American Michael Wardian traveled to Japan to
run the Himeji race the following February. Under cold and
blustery conditions a record number of 8,630 participants
finished the event. Alexandria’s Hedy Marque, 87, was the
oldest finisher (1:57:38), and Ben Beach of Bethesda main-
tained his status as the only finisher in all 33 editions of the
race with a 1:10:08 time.
Bethesda, Maryland’s Ben Beach has finished every
edition of the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile.
2006 (April 2)
After the race, Event Director Phil Stewart handed out spe-
2004 (April 4) cial t-shirts to the organizing committee members that said
The blossoms greeted the runners for the fourth year in “The Year of Many Changes.” The entire staging area of the
a row, but so did howling winds with gusts in excess of race was redesigned to make it resemble a small city com-
40-miles an hour. A pelting rain and winds pummeled the plete with two roadways named “Gary Dr.”, after longtime
staging area about 5:30 a.m. on race morning, followed logistics coordinator Gary Ceponis, who had just retired,
by an eerie calm almost like the eye of the storm during and “Brian Blvd.,” after Brian Laush, who undertook the
which the organizers decided to go ahead and put up the changes. There was a big change up front as well, as the elite
tents, overhead scaffolding and signage. The winds returned women started 10 minutes ahead of the men. The new for-

58 2019 Credit Union Cherry Blossom Media Guide