The birthday boys of summer at the Firecracker 5K

Birthday boys - July 1 was the birthday of local runners Bill McArthur, 77, and Troy Senft, 60. I talked to both of them together after the running of the Firecracker 5K race in Rehoboth Beach. Bill is a workout and competing machine, a retired professor from Shippensburg University, who served three years in the Army after college - or before, I’m not his biographer, just a friend. Troy retired from the military after 21 years. He told a story of how he and his son served at the same time in a hostile area - Troy in Iraq and his son in Afghanistan. Troy’s  dad was a military guy and so was his grandfather, having served in World War II. “Thanks for your service” doesn’t do justice to the gratitude we all feel for those who paid a price and sacrificed for our independence.   

Years ago - Give or take nine, I wrote a column paragraph about the 50th wedding anniversary of Marge and Rich Warshauer, who I know from the road racing scene. And although they often win their age groups - Marge is 78 and Rich is 82 - they don’t run to race, it’s more for the social aspects, as they both really seem to enjoy people and each other, which is good, as the couple just celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary. “You know you’re getting old when one of your children retires,” Rich joked. Marge and Rich are both tall and built like dancers, and they’ve been walking in rhythm for 59 years.     

The Mule kicks it - Alexander Geiersbach, 19, a graduate of St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, was a freshman at Colby College (the Mules) last school year, where he was a member of the swim team. He was first out of the water at the Dave Reynolds Biathlon July 2. He then hung on, running a 19-minute 5K, to win the overall championship. He is a rookie on the Rehoboth Beach Patrol. Alexander can run and swim, and he plans to concentrate on being a triathlete.

Step up and out - Shannon Lord, the injured Sussex Tech softball player, took some steps unaided Sunday - no exoskeleton and no walker - and her left foot taps to the music. I think the tune was “Dirty Laundry”? I was sent the video via Facebook. So I’m just sharing, as we say in the world of social media.   

Backward glance - July 2 was the 27th annual Rehoboth Biathlon that took on the name Dave Reynolds after the 25-year-old coach and athlete died in a surfing accident April 25, 2003, in Ocean City, N.J. Dave was head lacrosse coach at Wesley College at the time, and in 2002, he was state Coach of the Year after leading Saint Mark’s to the state finals, where the Spartans lost to Cape 8-4. Dave was all-state football, wrestling and lacrosse at Caesar Rodney, and in 2002, he was Rehoboth Beach Lifeguard of the Year. It’s fitting that the Dave Reynolds Rehoboth Biathlon is staged in front of the Tommy Coveleski plaque - two of the greatest guys to ever wear the red trunks of the Rehoboth Beach Patrol.

Posers - There comes a time in life to stop posing and a time to stop competing and comparing. Grandmom Rose: “I am more comfortable around people who fail, whether they are fat or out of work, drink or curse too much.” Group contests, in my opinion, are the worst, whether it’s high-mileage runners, record-setting deadlifters or anorexics on treadmills going for 0 percent body fat; some behaviors just should not be reinforced. Going into slug mode is a specialty of some people who honestly don’t know if they are depressed or just plain lazy. It’s a question of being in balance and not being off balance. 

Snippets - The slower the sport, the lazier I feel watching it on television. The Senior PGA tournament ranks right up there with a flounder fishing tournament or watching the Phillies. Bixler and Boyce sound like a law firm, not a biathlon swim-run team. Ryan Bixler and Greg Boyce won the male relay division at the Rehoboth biathlon, with Bixler doing the half-mile swim and Boyce closing out with a 17:31 5K. Rising juniors at Cape, both athletes played lacrosse, while Bixler was a swimmer and Boyce a cross country and indoor track runner. Enjoy Independence Day, go wrestle an avatar. Go on now, git!