The run of the geeks — their term, not mine

This weekend was the inaugural Run! Geek! Run! 8K road race along the Potomac River here in DC. More than 600 runners participated and proceeds benefited the Equal Footing Foundation, a nonprofit focused on youth development and education.

For those keeping score…

The overall men’s winner, Peter Silverman of Washington D.C. finished in a time of 25:31 for a pace of 5:08 per mile. Second place was Pat Murphy of Washington D.C. who finished in 26:29 (5:20 pace) and third was Dylan Keith of Arlington, Virginia in a time of 26:45 (5:23 pace). For the women, the overall winner was Laurel Jefferson of Bethesda, Maryland who finished in a time of 29:42 (5:59 pace). In second place was Julia Smith of Tappahannock, Virginia who ran a 30:38 (6:10 pace) and in third was Dionis Gauvin of Alexandria, Virginia who ran a 31:40 (6:23 pace). In the Masters (40 and over) competition, William Bray of Fairfax, Virginia took first place in 28:42 (5:47 pace) and Betty Blank of Falls Church, Virginia finished in first place with a time of 34:03 (6:51 pace).

IBM’s Anne Altman was one of the runners. Congratulations to her… and the other 600.

The event was organized by Welz & Weisel Communications.

Get more details… more photos… after the break.

Peter Silverman of Washington D.C. crossing the finish line as Tony Welz & Evan Weisel holding the tape for the overall winner

You can get many more photos here.

Here is the full release:

Inaugural  Attracts Over 600 Runners to Raise Money for the
Welz & Weisel Communications Brings Local Geeks Together; Plans for Second Annual Event Underway

Fairfax, VA – November 3, 2008 – Welz & Weisel Communications, a strategic public relations firm focused on creating awareness and credibility campaigns for information technology companies, today announced that the first annual Run! Geek! Run! 8K (www.rungeekrun.net) was an overwhelming success with over 600 individual registrants and more than a dozen teams competing for the title of fastest geek. The event took place on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 8am EDT in West Potomac Park, Washington DC and was created and put on by Welz & Weisel Communications. All proceeds will go to support the Equal Footing Foundation, a Virginia based 501(C)(3) nonprofit focused on youth development and education and is the charitable arm of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC).

The overall men’s winner, Peter Silverman of Washington D.C. finished in a time of 25:31 for a pace of 5:08 per mile. Second place was Pat Murphy of Washington D.C. who finished in 26:29 (5:20 pace) and third was Dylan Keith of Arlington, Virginia in a time of 26:45 (5:23 pace). For the women, the overall winner was Laurel Jefferson of Bethesda, Maryland who finished in a time of 29:42 (5:59 pace). In second place was Julia Smith of Tappahannock, Virginia who ran a 30:38 (6:10 pace) and in third was Dionis Gauvin of Alexandria, Virginia who ran a 31:40 (6:23 pace). In the Masters (40 and over) competition, William Bray of Fairfax, Virginia took first place in 28:42 (5:47 pace) and Betty Blank of Falls Church, Virginia finished in first place with a time of 34:03 (6:51 pace).

In the team competition, it was Georgetown Running Company coming in first place followed by Georgetown University Running Club, Georgetown Team MBA, Team CEA, Turtle Slugs, PerformTech, Team GDC, Apex Systems, GULC, and Team Worm rounding out the top ten.

Full results can be found at www.runwashington.com.

“It was a perfect day for running and we could not be more pleased on how the event turned out,” said Evan Weisel, Principal and Co-Founder of Welz & Weisel Communications. “We wanted a way to bring the technology community together in a unique manner to raise money for the Equal Footing Foundation. The support and interest in this first-year event surpassed our expectations and we look forward to building off of this momentum for 2009.”

Run! Greek! Run! 8K started and finished in West Potomac Park, a national park in Washington D.C. and home to famous monuments such as the FDR Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool. This is a flat, fast, out-and-back course and is a chip-timed event supported by the Capital Running Company.

Sponsors included 1105 Government Information Group, American Eagle.com, Apex Systems, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Georgetown Running Company, NVTC, Panera Bread, PerformTech, Potomac Tech Wire, Thomas Temin Associates, The Tower Club, Young Design, Welz & Weisel Communications, and ZyLAB.

Organization’s interested in becoming a sponsor in 2009 should contact Evan Weisel at 703-218-3555 or at evan@w2comm.com.