WINCHESTER — Eli Clark sacrificed a scholastic running career in order to run his window-cleaning business after graduating from James Wood High School in 2025.
Saturday showed he still means business when he does choose to run, though.
The Winchester Star’s 2024 Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year was the fifth-fastest man and the top local runner in Saturday’s Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival Valley Health 10K that begins and ends on Handley Boulevard. A total of 1,471 people started the sold-out race.
Clark navigated the course in 33 minutes and 20.9 seconds. It’s the fastest time for a local runner since former Millbrook and current Loudoun Valley High School cross country and track & field coach Kevin Shirk of Stephenson placed third overall in 32:26 in 2022.
Global Mbio Racing (based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) brought back the two people who broke the men’s and women’s records at last year’s Apple Blossom 10K, which was first held in 1982. On a windy morning in the mid 40s, Global Mbio came up just a bit short of shattering the records again.
Sosten Kipchirchir — a 28-year-old from Kenya — ran the second-fastest time in event history to beat the man with the fastest time, fellow 28-year-old Kenyan and Global Mbio teammate Peter Mwaniki Njeru. Kipchirchir finished in 28:45.3, 8.4 seconds ahead of Njeru this year (28:53.7) but 4.8 seconds behind Njeru’s time last year (28:40.5).
On the women’s side, defending champion Werkuha Getachew won by 4:32.1 and had the second-fastest time in event history. She finished in 33:01.5, 21.7 behind her record-breaking time from a year ago.
The 19-year-old Clark runs Spotless Home S olutions, which he started while still in high school. While the business is based in Winchester, Spotless Home Solutions serves much of northern Virginia. Clark said Spotless Home Solutions is growing and he’s working on developing a separate product business company.
A lot of college programs would love to have Clark. His job keeps him busy, but he still finds a way to run just about every day before or after work. For the last month, he’s been running about 40 miles a week after running 60 miles a week the previous month. Clark has also run at some college meets as an unattached athlete, including a recent 3K and 5K.
“I want to keep getting faster,” Clark said. “I want to run some track 5Ks and stuff. I’m excited for the Loudoun Street Mile [on Memorial Day].”
Clark said road races like the Apple Blossom 10K are an adjustment for him given that he always ran on trails or tracks for events in high school.
“The road is not flat,” said Clark with a laugh. “It’s different every race. It’s definitely a learning curve. Today, based on my training, I was thinking I was going to be around 32 [minutes] or under 32. But it’s just not the same at all. If you look just look toward [Handley], you can see the big hill. It’s definitely different, but I would say I’m happy with where I’m at.”
The recipients of prize money include the top five finishers and the top local male and female. Clark received two checks totaling $500 for his efforts.
Clark’s high school cross country coach Matthew Lofton (taking photographs) and track coach Danielle Koelker (competing in the event) were among the many people who bumped his fist or gave him a high five after he finished running. Clark also appreciated the support during the race.
“That last mile was so epic, because there’s just a horde of people that you know that are running [in the opposite direction],” Clark said. “[Today’s performance] makes me proud, and I hope it makes other people proud.”
In finishing sixth overall (Getachew was fifth), Clark led a wave of runners with local connections who rounded out the top 10. The rest were former Handley soccer star Seth Bridgeforth (seventh, 33:50.5, Winchester, 28 years old); former Sherando cross county and track standout Thomas Shea (eighth, 33:51.8, McLean, 28); and two current high school runners from Winchester in Millbrook sophomore Samuel Lapp (ninth, 35:58.3, 16) and Sherando freshman Noah Farringer (36:45.6, 10th, 15).
Among male runners, there was no contending with Kipchirchir and Njeru. As fast as they ran, longtime Global Mbio manager and coach and former University of Virginia All-American Ben Kurgat said dealing with strong winds prevented them from running a 2:51 kilometer or 4:35 mile pace, which is approximately what was needed to break the race record and earn a $5,000 bonus. Kipchirchir broke away from Njeru with 1,000 meters left to win the race.
Kipchircir is in his fourth year with Global Mbio, but Saturday was his first time running in Winchester.
“The course is nice,” said Kipchirchir through Kurgat. “Without the wind, it’s a great course.”
Getachew enjoyed being back in Winchester, even if she didn’t reach her goal.
“I’m so grateful to be here a second time,” she said. “I wanted to break my own record, but sometimes, things don’t happen the way that you plan.”
Going forward, Global Mbio will compete in the Bank of America Chicago 13.1 (a half marathon) on June 7. Kipchircir will also soon do a 30K pacing run for others in Canada.
The top local female finisher agreed with the Global Mbio contingent that the wind was problematic on Saturday morning. But that didn’t stop Courtney Thompson of Boyce from running 41.3 seconds faster than last year. The 34-year Thompson was the fifth-fastest female overall in 38.50.7, earning her the same prize checks as Clark.
“When you know it’s going to be a windy race, you just have to set your mind that you’re going to stay tough,” Thompson said.”If you can find someone to draft off of, you do that. Otherwise, you just have to maintain the 10K effort. The wind’s going to do what it’s going to do, and the pace is going to shake out how it’s going to shake out. You can’t change the weather.”
In 2018, Thompson placed 30th out of 12,603 women in the Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 54 minutes and 41 seconds over the 26.2-mile course. After having two children in the last five years, Thompson no longer has the time to train for marathons. But she still makes time for the Apple Blossom 10K each year — she first competed in it about a dozen years ago.
“This race is always awesome,” Thompson said. “It’s local. There’s great crowd support, which makes it a fun one to run in the area. [Frederick County Parks & Recreation director] Becky McGraw does a great job directing this race, so it’s always a pleasure to come out and get to run with some really fast ladies.”
Thompson said most of the top female finishers on Saturday are mothers, and she often runs with other local mothers.
Her running group includes Megan Hansen (sixth among all females, 39:07.5, 46, Middletown), Koelker (seventh, 39:24.2, 35, Winchester), Candace DeLong (36, Winchester, the top local runner in 2017 and the top Virginia runner at the 2017 Boston Marathon, when she took 56th), and Zanny Arey, 33, of Round Hill in Loudoun County. Arey placed second among all females in 37:33.6. Hansen was also the top female Master runner (40-plus).
“We run together as much as we can,” Thompson said. “It’s a really awesome support group to have in the area. In Winchester, it’s really cool that there are so many moms that are running at a high level with young kids. It’s been a real gift to run with those ladies.”
Koelker also enjoyed supporting and giving her support to her James Wood family in the race.
“I got to race with some of my athletes today,” Koelker said. “That’s always fun just to cheer them on along the way. It’s cool to see past athletes and current ones that I’m coaching.”
Koelker’s time was just seven seconds off last year’s pace, when she was the top local female.
“Last year I was still kind of in shape from the half-marathon that I did,” Koelker said. “I had an injury over the summer, so I kind of lost that base a little bit. Then coaching indoor track, I didn’t get to train as much as I would like. But now that I’m in the distance crew, coaching in the spring, I’m able to run a lot more and get some solid workouts in. Considering the shape I thought I was in, I’m happy with my time.”
For full results, go to https://www.runatthetop.net/apple-blossom-races .
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com