Pierpoint, from Palo Alto, had a bit more fun during this year's event on April than he did last year. Despite running a blistering 19:29.3 in 2004 and crossing the finish line first, race officials determined Pierpoint had finished second in the race. The decision was later overturned and Pierpoint was determined the winner.

Although Pierpoint's recent romp down Highway 9 was 42 seconds slower than his pace of a year ago, there was no doubt as to who the winner was.

Pierpoint finished as the overall winner of the 4-mile road race in 20:11.3, outrunning 1,346 other runners and reaching the finish line 32.3 seconds before runner-up Eddie Alaniz of San Jose. Alaniz, 23, an outstanding track and cross country runner for Mt. Pleasant High School and San Jose City College before competing for Northern Arizona University, finished in 20:43.6. Carlos Siquieros of San Jose placed third in 20:47.9. Fourth-place Daniel Filip (21:31.2) of San Jose was five places better than 2004. Campbell resident Robert Pickens, sixth a year ago, was fifth in 21:37.7.

Mike Matthews of San Jose placed sixth in 21:47.3 and Rob Nast of Saratoga earned seventh in 21:51.4. George Dombroski nosed out Pete Kain of Cupertino, as both were timed at 21:54.5. Another Cupertino man, Kurt Kuckein was 10th in 22:02.

Becky Lavelle of Cupertino won the women's competition with a time of 23:32, edging Maria Trujillo Rios of Los Gatos by 13 seconds. Only 18 men finished ahead of Lavelle, and Rios was 22nd overall. Last year's top woman, Stephanie Bambury of San Ramon, placed third this time around in 24:12.9.

Erica Sahli, 18, was fourth in 24:18.5, a stride or two ahead of Campbell's Yvonne Lund (24:19) and Julie Rohloff (24:19.04) of Los Gatos. Tiffany Hall of Vacaville was seventh in 24:43.6, and Saratoga 13-year-old Katie Nast ran 25:12 to take eighth. Rounding out the woman's top 10 were San Jose runners Danielle Zelinski (25:14) and Barb Acosta (25:24.7).

Male age group winners included: 2-13--James Eldredge of Los Gatos, 24:49.6; 14-18--Chris Vargas of Fremont, 24:20.9; 19-29--Pierpoint; 30-39--Matthews; 40-49--Filip; 50-59--Bill Dunn of Sunnyvale, 24:09; 60-69--Robert Schmitt of Sunnyvale, 26:16.1; 70-79--Ed Singleton of Hollister, 36:20.7; and 80-and-over--Bill Cilker of Los Gatos, 1:03:09.2.

Female age group winners included: 2-13--K. Nast; 14-18--Sahli; 19-29--Bambury; 30-39--Lavelle; 40-49--Rios; 50-59--Honor Fetherston of Los Gatos, 26:33.1; 60-69--Georgia Riley of Campbell, 35:15.4; 70-79--Joy Johnson of Los Gatos, 41:04.

There were 1,347 registered participants in this year's Great Race, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Los Gatos. Among the participants were the mayors of the three communities the course runs through--Mike Wasserman of Los Gatos, Kathleen King of Saratoga and Curtis Wright of Monte Sereno.

Wasserman, running his first race ever, finished in 38:36 and King ran 47:20. Wright walked the course in a leisurely 1:17:18.

For complete race results, visit www.losgatosrotary.org.

Top 20 Overall Finishers

1--Kevin Pierpoint (Palo Alto), 20:11.3; 2--Eddie Alaniz (San Jose), 20:43.6; 3--Carlos Siqueiros (San Jose), 20:47.9; 4--Daniel Filip (San Jose), 21:31.2; 5--Robert Pickens (Campbell), 21:37.7; 6--Mike Matthews (San Jose, 21:47.3; 7--Rob Nast (Saratoga), 21:51.4; 8--George Dombroski, 21:54.4; 9--Pete Kain(Cupertino), 21:54.5; 10--Kurt Kuckein (Cupertino), 22:02.2; 11--Andrew Apfelbaum (San Francisco), 22:37; 12--Michael Whitney (Lodi), 22:46.0; 13--Anthony Dayitt (San Jose), 22:47.0; 14--Tom Gardin (San Jose), 22:47.2; 15--John Hale (Atherton), 22:49.4; 16--Dave Leroy (Los Gatos), 23:01.6; 17--Matthew Ziering (Pebble Beach), 23:22.6;18--Jeff Rohrer, 23:29.0; 19--Becky Lavelle (Cupertino), 23:32.0; 20--Danny Hernandez (Los Gatos), 23:35.3.

Top 20 Female Finishers

1--Becky Lavelle(Cupertino), 23:32; 2--Maria Trujillo Rios (Los gatos), 23:45; 3--Stephanie Bambury (San Ramon), 24:12.9; 4--Erica Sahli, 24:18.5; 5--Yvonne Lund (Campbell), 24:19; 6--Julie Rohloff (Los Gatos), 24:19.4; 7--Tiffany Hall (Vacaville), 24:43.6; 8--Katie Nast (Saratoga), 25:12; 9--Danielle Zelinski (San Jose), 25:14; 10--Barb Acosta (San Jose), 25:24.7; 11--Lisa Renteria (Los Gatos), 25:28.3; 12--Allison Stiller (San Jose), 25:50; 13--Lisa Lord (Los Gatos), 26:08.7; 14--Debbie Leale (San Jose), 26:13.8; 15--Honor Fetherston (Los Gatos), 26:33.1; 16--Kirsti Cangiamilla (Saratoga), 26:40.4; 17--Stephanie Barnett (San Jose), 26:54; 18--Courtney Coates (Los Gatos), 27:03.3; 19--Liz Nast (Saratoga), 27:23.8; 20--Lindsay Bryant (Bakersfield), 27:26.

Age Group Finishers

Girls 2-13

1--Katie Nast (Saratoga), 25:12; 2--Amanda Speedy (Saratoga), 29:00; 3--Kendra Higgins (Morgan Hill), 29:17; 4--Gabby Soknanvari (Los Gatos), 29:21.1; 5--Claudia Barnett (San Jose), 30:42.4.

Girls 14-18

1--Erica Sahli, 24:18.5; 2--Stephanie Barnett (San Jose), 26:54; 3--Lindsay Bryant (Bakersfield), 27:26.2; 4--Suzanne Hancock (Los Gatos), 27:31; 5--Allison McGuire (San Jose), 29:41.1.

Women 19-29

1--Stephanie Bambury (San Ramon), 24:12.9; 2--Tiffany Hall (Vacaville), 24:43.6; 3--Danielle Zelenski (San Jose), 25:14; 4--Lisa Renteria (Los Gatos), 25:28.3; 5--Allison Stiller (San Jose), 25:50

Women 30-39

1--Becky Lavelle (Cupertino), 23:32; 2--Debbie Leale (San Jose), 26:13.8; 3--Melinda Dinapoli (Saratoga), 27:44.9; 4--Anne Lynch, 28:17.9; 5--Trisha Carbajal (Campbell), 28:18.6; 6--Sharon Robinson (Los Gatos), 28:20.4.

Women 40-49

1--Maria Trujillo Rios (Los Gatos), 23:45; 2--Yvonne Lund (Campbell), 24:19; 3--Julie Rohloff (Los Gatos), 24:19.4; 4--Barb Acosta (San Jose), 25:24.7; 5--Lisa Lord (Los Gatos), 26:08.7; 6--Liz Nast (Saratoga), 27:23.8.

Women 50-59

1--Honor Fetherston (Los Gatos), 26:33.1; 2--Rhoda Mirabeau (San Jose), 32:25.9; 3--Nejleh Abed (San Jose), 33:31.8; 4--Mary Hayahshi (Los Gatos), 33:38; 5--Terri Lafollette (Scotts Valley), 33:46.9.

Women 60-69

1--Georgia Riley (Campbell), 35:15.4; 2--Trudi Hofmann (Millbrae), 35:18.5; 3--Carol Turner (Newark), 35:53.7; 4--Judith Levin (Los Gatos), 39:34.4--Barbara Pearce (Campbell), 39:39.2; 6--Marge Howell (Los Gatos), 39:52.7.

Women 70-79

1--Joy Johnson (San Jose) 41:04.

Boys 2-13

1--James Eldredge (Los Gatos), 24:49.6; 2--Nicholas Olsen (Saratoga), 24:52.7; Ryan Stillwell,25:56.5; 4--Reed Thornburg (San Jose), 26:09.7; 5--Justin Koh (San Jose), 26:17; 6--Kyle Borch (Saratoga), 26:59.

Boys 14-18

1--Chris Vargas (Fremont), 24:20.9; 2--Xavier Gaeta (Sunnyvale), 24:23.7; 3--Marcos Gaeta (Sunnyvale), 24:49; 4--Alan Menezes (Saratoga), 24:52.2; 5--Darryl Motooka (Campbell), 24:55.0; 6--Michael Beam (Saratoga), 24:55.

Men 19-29

1--Kevin Pierpoint (Palo Alto), 20:11.3; 2--Eddie Alaniz (San Jose), 20:43.6; 3--Carlos Siqueiros (San Jose), 20:47.9; 4--Kurt Kuckein (Cupertino), 22:02; 5--Matthew Ziering (Pebble Beach), 23:22.6.

Men 30-39

1--Mike Matthews (San Jose), 21:47.3; 2--George Dombroski, 21:54.5; 3--Michael Whitney (Lodi), 22:46; 4--Jason Calvillo (Los Gatos), 23:37; 5--Scott Bang (Campbell).

Men 40-49

1--Daniel Filip (San Jose), 21:31.2; 2--Robert Pickens (Campbell), 21:37.7; 3--Rob Nast (Saratoga), 21:51.4; 4--Pete Kain (Cupertino), 21:54.5.

Men 50-59

1--Bill Dunn (Sunnyvale), 24:09; 2--John McSorley (Los Gatos), 25:26.5; 3--Bo Bochantin (Los Gatos), 25:41; 4--Cary Segall (Madison, Wis.), 26:00; 5--Jim Howe (San Jose), 26:10.3; 6--Mike Clark (Los Gatos), 26:22.

Men 60-69

1--Robert Schmit (Sunnyvale), 26:16.1; 2--Bill Bengiveno (San Jose), 26:31.0; 3--Jo Hurtado (Sunnyvale); 4--Steve Lorenz (Los Gatos), 27:40.2; 5--Tim Rostege (San Jose), 27:47.6; 6--John Peterson (Saratoga), 28:42.

Men 70-79

1--Ed Singleton (Hollister), 36:20.7; 2--Dan Tellep (Saratoga), 36:22.7; 3--Robert Meyer (Los Gatos), 36:25.4; 4--Stratos Guiliotis (Los Gatos); 5--Don McCleve (Los Gatos), 41:50.1.

Men 80 and Over

1--Bill Cilker (Los Gatos), 1:03:09.2; 2--John Gowen (San Jose), 1:06:09.