Puac wins Run for the Paws on his daughter Emily’s birthday

Francisco Puac is 33 years old and trains by running three miles twice a week. He is a soccer guy who has an older brother who was a notable runner back in Guatemala.

At the ninth annual Lucy Crowe Memorial Race for the Paws in Dewey Beach Aug. 6, Puac led 292 runners and more dogs than you can shake a stick at to the finish line in 18:03 for a surprising first-place win. He made the sign of the cross, smiled and looked up, dedicating the race to his “princess daughter” Emily on her seventh birthday. Francisco wrote on his Facebook page, “I love you my, Emy, 5K overall champion. I’m happy.”

Shannon Holm, 27, from Philadelphia was the overall women’s winner in 21:00.

Brandt Chi, who brings his dog to work every day at the CF Schwartz car dealership in Dover, was the overall masters winner in 18:49.

Susan Dunn was the overall female masters winner in 21:25.

There was a diversity of dogs from Great Danes to rat terriers and lots of combination rescued mutts from the Australian sheepdog-Welsh corgi mix to a chihuahua named One-Eyed Winkie who wore a monogrammed vest. There were several buckets of water at the finish line.  

The top 13 runners, all male, broke 20 minutes, including Puac in 18:03, Joey Andrisani in 18:06, Brian Diksa in 18:10, Martin Rodriguez in 18:42, Chi in 18:49, Bobby Hutton in 19:07, Moiber Rivera in 19:10, Daren Criswell in 19:18, Paul Monti in 19:19, Chris Stanley in 19:45, James Rubin in 19:45, Andy Gorlich in 19:50 and Justin Garcia in 19:53.

All proceeds from the race go to the dogs, into the integrated rescue network that starts with the SPCA and fans out from there, managed by good-hearted people like Cheryl Crowe and a cast of others who foster and adopt to make sure all critters get a chance at a loving forever home.

The next Seashore Striders race is the 34th annual Dam Mill 5K in Millsboro Sunday, Aug. 13.