Bunny Palooza attracts 700 runners to Bethany Beach
On the morning of April 7 in Bethany Beach, I directed the Bunny Palooza 5K and 10K, a debut of what is planned as an annual event. It attracted nearly 700 finishers to the small resort town. I teamed up with co-directors Rick Hundley and Ernie Felici, which proved to be a great threesome as I handled the course setup, marking, measuring, timing and results while Rick planned a team that did a great job with registration, awards, quality tech T-shirts and overseeing the post-race ceremony. Ernie was the man when it came to signage, promotion, finish-line setup, photos, sponsors and many other jobs that were completed for the race to go off. I do know that the three of us would not have been able to put on a successful event without the many volunteers who worked with us, sponsors that contributed to the event, participants who showed up in hundreds to take part, the Bethany Fire Police and Bethany Beach Police, DelDOT, and of course, the support of a great post-race party hosted by Mango's. The 10K went off first with Sean Nagomy of Jacksonville, Fla., easily running away with the title in a time of 35:40, while Ashley Fought of Philadelphia, Pa., won the female title in 42:10. Mike Sewell of Camden captured the masters male title in 38:54, while Susan Cull of Fanwood, N.J., won the masters female title in 46:45.
In the 5K event, with more than 400 participants, Michael Longoria of Dagsboro was first across the finish line in a time of 18:31, while Cindy Conant of Kensington, Md., won the female title in 20:39. Piers Bocock of Tacoma Park, Md., won the male masters in 20:38, while Debbie Pelegrin of Kennett Square, Pa., won the female masters in 22:05.
“I am very happy and extremely grateful to be a part of such a great event," said Hundley. “Without the support of the runners, volunteers, vendors, and Town of Bethany Beach, having an inaugural sellout event and raising thousands of dollars for Quiet Resorts Charitable Foundation would not have been possible.”
The event was the first official chip-timed race by Seashore Striders Event Productions Inc. with results found at www.seashorestriders.com.
Bethany Beach Sprinternational Triathlon
The Sea Colony Triathlon has been a mainstay in Bethany Beach for nearly 30 years with the popular Make-A-Wish attached as the charity, and people everywhere relate the Sea Colony Tri to Bethany just as they relate Nicola's to Rehoboth Beach or Surf Bagel to Lewes. I am honestly not sure about the what and the why, but I do know that there is no more Sea Colony Triathlon and the Make-A-Wish charity is now attached to the Cambridge Triathlon. I also know that my company, Seashore Striders Event Productions Inc., will now be a part of producing the inaugural Bethany Beach Triathlon on Sunday, Sept. 23, in downtown Bethany Beach, and I will again team up will Rick Hundley of Baja Beach House Grill and Ernie Felici of Creative Resource Group to produce this event.
“We are not starting a new event; we are just keeping a great event going and doing it our way,” said Hundley. Proceeds of the triathlon will be donated to the first responders in the fire and emergency medical services of Bethany Beach.
The event will include a triathlon with distances of a 1K swim, 30K bike north on Route 1, and a 7K run south on Route 1. We will also have a duathlon event of a 1K beach run, 30K bike, and 7K run for those non-swimming participants.
For information on what will be a great first triathlon event, go to www.bethanybeachtri.com.
Kitty Hawk running and skating
I am writing this column outside a skatepark in the Outer Banks of North Carolina as my son Jake and friend Timmy Vitella grind, shred, ollie and catch air or whatever else skaters do in a small concrete park in Kitty Hawk. This is the third park the community has, and two are situated with other activities for the family to do, while the third is at a YMCA. One park, just outside a complex of schools called First Flight elementary, middle and high schools, is located across from the Wright Brothers Monument. It has open space for athletics complete with an eight-lane tartan surface red track we found for a workout of six 400-meter repeats that my son Jake, mom Monique, and Beacon Middle School record holder Logan Shuttleworth tackled on April 10 morning. The park also has restrooms, a playground, a quarter-mile path with fitness stations and an enclosed street hockey rink where the parents beat the kids 5-4 in triple overtime after Claudia Ratner and Kira Vitella were removed from the friendly game after mistaking it for rugby.
In the other park - only five miles away - a playground, a pavilion, walking trails and a dog park surround the skate park. The point I am trying to make here is that this is a beach resort with basically one north-to-south highway with businesses on each side that all look to be doing well, similar to our community in Lewes and Rehoboth Beach along Route 1. I spent a few hours every day at the skateparks, each taking about 75-by-150-feet of area, and I did not notice any graffiti, bad language, trash, trash talking, smoking, bottles or profanity. The parks are not patrolled, and they are a part of the parks and recreation system. What I saw was kids on skateboards trying to perfect tricks and watching each other do what has become a sport. I personally just think it is a shame that our area is missing such an easy opportunity to give kids and families healthy activities to do with a piece of land that could be made into a park.
Upcoming race
8 a.m., Sunday, April 15 - Seashore Half-Marathon & 5K, Irish Eyes, Lewes.
