Piggott defends Lower Potomac Marathon title

Friday, March 17, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff Photo by Angela Breck John Piggott won the Lower Potomac River Marathon for the second straight year Sunday. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

One hundred seventy-two runners from 26 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada — including St. Mary’s County Commissioners President Thomas F. McKay (R) — came to compete in this year’s Booz Allen Hamilton Lower Potomac River Marathon and Michelob Ultra two person relay Sunday at the Paul Hall Center at the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship in Piney Point.

Last year’s champion John Piggott, 40, of Williamsburg, Va., defended his title. Piggott finished first with an overall time of 2 hours 37 minutes 25 seconds.

Piggott has never lost a Chesapeake Bay Running Club event in which he has competed. He has won both the Booz Allen Classic and the Potomac River Run in Alexandria, Va., twice each.

‘‘This is an excellent marathon. ... I love coming down here; it’s a beautiful course,” Piggott said. ‘‘It’s a great tuneup for my marathon next week.”

The most inspiring story of the day might have come from Chuck Engle, 35, of Jackson, Miss. Engle finished with a time of 2:39.50, second overall behind Piggott after almost dropping out of the race around mile 20 from the exhaustion of what has been a long marathon season for him.

This calendar year Engle is defying conventional wisdom by attempting to run more than 50 marathons, almost one every week.

‘‘Running this year has become a total spiritual thing for me,” he said.

Engle is attempting to run each marathon in under 2:50. He is using his marathon goal to raise awareness and support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which conducts research and treats thousands of children with pediatric cancer and other childhood illnesses each year.

Victor Papagno of Hughesville was the first Marylander to cross the finish line. Papagno finished fifth overall with a time of 3:13.27, good enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon, while Eugene Milder, 30, of Lexington Park took seventh (3:19.10).

‘‘I couldn’t be happier with the race. My goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon and I did,” Papagno said.

Papagno started training for Sunday’s marathon about four months ago with others from the Chesapeake Bay Running Club. Papagno ran 40 to 55 miles a week, including individual runs of 16, 20 and 23 miles in the weeks leading up to the race. He has been running with the club for almost a year and plans to continue to be an active runner with the club.

‘‘They’re a lot of fun to be around,” Papagno said.

The overall female champion of the day was Julie Porter, 46, of Natrona Heights, Pa. Porter finished 1 minute 23 seconds ahead of last year’s champ, Francesca Conte, with a time of 3:19.56.

Awards were also given to first-place finishes in each respective age group.

The 19-and-under male winner was Nathaniel Bastian, 19, of West Point, N.Y., who finished in 3:40.46.

In the 20-29 age group, Dane Rauschenberg, 29, of Arlington, Va., was the male winner, while Annely Richardson, 25, of Bethesda was the female winner. Like Engle, Rauschenberg is running one race every weekend for L’Arche Mobile, which is dedicated to the well being of those with a mental handicap and those who can help live, work and share their lives.

Steve Kimball, 37, of Bolton, Mass., and Andrea Keane-Myers, 36, of Bethesda finished atop the 30-39 age group. Kimball posted a time of 3:09:49 (fourth overall) to win on the male side and Keane-Myers a time of 3:43:11.

T.J. Hawk, 48, of Concord, Ohio, and Lisa Brawyn Holroyd, 42, of Kingston, Ontario, received first place in the 40-49 age group with times of 3:19:58 and 3:50:05 respectively.

In the 50-59 age group, Wisconsin native Jeff Johnston, 51, blew away his competition and finished 38 minutes ahead of his next competitor (3:13.39), while Erin McGuire, 55, of Tennessee, had a closer race but ended up comfortably ahead in 4:16.22.

Another Marylander, Bill Fornoff, 62, of Jarrettsville, took home the gold at 4:03.32 for the 60-69 male age group.

The Michelob Ultra relay, which consisted of a first leg of 14.2 miles and a second leg of 12 miles, saw many locals atop the leader board.

The ‘‘Spring Chickens,” a team of David Luigi Walser of Lusby and Porter Schiavone, a student at St. Mary’s College, finished first in the coed division in 3:15.49.

Eric Higgins and Paul Serra of team ‘‘Half Life” became the first male team to cross the finish line with a time of 3:03.48.

The female winners, Cathy Friedel and Trish Lane, finished a full 5 minutes 45 seconds ahead of their next closest competitors at 3:24.14.

All proceeds from the race will be donated to the Piney Point Lighthouse Museum and Chesapeake Bay Field Lab. Complete race results and information about the Chesapeake Bay Running Club can be found at www.cbrcmd.org.