Locals Get High Rankings in the Washington Running Report

By Rick Platt
What two cities had more No.1 age-group rankings in the Washington Running Report’s Runner Rankings “Best of 2011” in their latest March-April 2012 issue? The WRR is published out of the Washington, DC area, and covers road racing in the Maryland-DC-Virginia region. It publishes four seasonal runner rankings for age groups from 19-and-under through 80-and-over, and one combined annual rankings for the entire rankings year, which goes from mid-November of one year to mid-November for the next year.

Not surprisingly, Washington, DC was one of the two cities with three No. 1 age-group rankings for 2011. The other city with three No. 1’s was none other than small Williamsburg and its competitive Colonial Road Runners team, beating out major metropolitan areas like Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Richmond, Arlington, Alexandria and Baltimore.

The three No. 1’s from Williamsburg were John Piggott (men 45-49), Steve Chantry (men 55-59) and Rick Platt (men 60-64), with two of the three (Piggott and Chantry) Lafayette High School assistant coaches.

As written in the WRR, “John Piggott likes any race that has the word ‘marathon’ in it.” The WRR mentioned two marathons and seven half marathons for their rankings purposes, but Piggott actually runs many more long races outside of the Middle Atlantic region, but which don’t count in the rankings. Races the WRR used to justify Piggott’s No. 1 ranking were the Lower Potomac River Marathon (2:44:20), the Lower Potomac River 10 Miler (57:41), the Dismal Swamp Half Marathon (1:15:33), and the Surf-n-Santa 10 Miler (57:49), but the two key races for the “always-smiling Piggott” for his No. 1 ranking were his 1:14:12 for second overall at the Hidden Treasures Half Marathon (good for a 33:40 equivalent for the 10K distance, the best in the 45-49 age group), and his 2:37:27 at the Baltimore Marathon.

For the men’s 55-59 division, the WRR said, “There are four big dogs in this division. Stephen Chantry won the title as well as the first two seasons on the strength of the four fastest 5Ks of the year. His best race was the always fast Governor’s Land 5K in 16:57 [a 10K equivalent of 35:21, best for the age group]. In the spring he ran the Queens Lake 5K in 17:07. The course is not all that flat.” The other three “big dogs” in this age group were Maurice Pointer of Baltimore (with a 60:17 for 10 miles), the CRR’s Pete Gibson of Murfreesboro, NC (with a 28:33 for 8K and a 1:19:39 for the half marathon), and Chuck Moeser of Sterling (with a 35:56 for 10K).

For the men’s 60-64 age group, the WRR reported, “Rick Platt struck first with Governor’s Land 5K in 19:02. In December [2010] he decided he needed more in the bank and took down the division, winning the Surf-n-Santa 10 Miler in 1:04:47 [a 10K equivalent of 38:59, best in the age group]. He continued to race all year with 18 wins but never matched up again with these title-winning efforts.”

Other CRR and area runners in the rankings (including their 10K equivalent times) were Dylan Sydnor (5th, men 19-and-under, 35:30), Mark Tompkins (6th, 35-39, 33:27), Daniel Shaye (13th, 40-44, 35:24), Greg Dawson (10th, 45-49, 35:28), Henry Gleisberg (13th, 50-54, 37:44), Jim Thornton (9th, 55-59, 38:58), Jim Goggin (13th, 55-59, 39:46), Dale Abrahamson (7th, 60-64, 41:24), Joseph Day (11th, 60-64, 42:08), Kenneth Mitchell (3rd, 65-69, 43:21), Ben Dyer (4th, 65-69, 43:53), Robert Wright (3rd, 70-74, 44:34), Winston Collins (4th, 70-74, 45:28), John Essery (6th, 75-79, 56:19) and the late Tom Ray (8th, 75-79, 56:57).

For the women, ranked CRR and area runners were Darcy McDonald (7th, overall women, 35:47), Jennifer Quarles (10th, 35-39, 39:11), Arlyne Spalla Benson (15th, 40-44, 41:16), Pamela Lovett (6th, 45-49, 40:19), Connie Glueck (10th, 45-49, 41:15), Carol Talley (9th, 55-59, 47:41), Rose Crist (12th, 55-59, 48:33), Joan Coven (8th, 65-69, 53:34), Pauline Ely (5th, 70-74, 1:09:18) and Ann Manciagli (3rd, 75-79, 1:12:21).

The March-April issue of the WRR had Colonial Half Marathon race winner Ricky Flynn on the cover, and a feature on the CRR’s Nora O’Malley, a William and Mary student, who combined marathon running with world-class Irish dancing, on her way to a 3:14:02 at last November’s Philadelphia Marathon.