Ethiopians Demesse Tefera and Hirut Mandefro Sweep St. Patrick's Day 8K Titles

Ethiopians Demesse Tefera and Hirut Mandefro co-opted the Irish theme by winning the men's and women's titles at the 21st St. Patrick's Day 8K downtown yesterday.

Tefera, 27, twice New York Road Runners runner of the year and currently living in Silver Spring, led from the start and was alone by a mile and a half; he broke the tape in 24 minutes 19 seconds, nearly half a minute ahead of runner-up Will Viviani. Mandefro, who lives in Silver Spring with the same Ethiopian contingent as Tefera, ran 27:06 and beat training partner Muluye Gurma (28:40) by a quarter-mile.

The winners earned $300 for their efforts and have set their sights on Saturday's National Half Marathon, which awards $1,000 for first place.

"They're both full-time runners," said the group's agent and coach, Jonas Mekonnon. "It's not an easy way to make a living." Gurmessa Kumsa, also in the group and the race winner two years ago, started yesterday but was not among the 4,319 finishers because of an injury.

Viviani, a Yorktown High School graduate who returned to Arlington after seven years in Eugene, Ore., shared hugs with friends and family after his 24:44 second-place finish. "I was by myself after halfway," Viviani said, "so that was hard. I'm a 5K guy, trying to move up to 10K. So this was a good race for me."

Bert Rodriguez, from Arlington and Viviani's Pacers Racing teammate, finished third in a personal-best 24:53.

Danielle Russell, 44, from Ashburn, took third among the women and was the first masters (over 40) runner in 29:24. Russell, once an elite competitor, has returned to racing after nearly six years and the birth of her son, now 4. "It's like starting over," she said. "All my expectations have changed. Last year, it was too much, too soon, and I got hurt. But now, it's coming back. It's fun."