This Sunday, May 27, will mark the beginning of the 22nd Seashore Striders Summer Racing Series with the 7:30 a.m. start of the 18th Masser 5 Miler at Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes.  The Masser 5 Miler is named after 70-something racer Dr. Lee Masser, who competes all over the country and completes more than 100 events annually.  Masser, known in the running community as “Doc,” encourages runners to complete one 5 Miler and five 5K events throughout the summer to qualify for the summer racing series. All qualifiers will be awarded prizes at the final event of the summer, the Last Blast Prediction Run, held Labor Day weekend.

The Sunday Masser 5 Miler will open up race-day registration at 6:30 a.m. outside Legends Stadium,  followed by the Kids' I Did It races for runners 12 and under. The event will be the first series event ever chip-timed, and proceeds of the event will go to the Seashore Striders Youth Programs.

Beacon track ice cream social
The Beacon Middle School track & field teams celebrated their season May 22 in the school café with the 5-4 boys' team and the 9-0 girls' team receiving honors from their coaches, Gilbert Maull and me. The Rising Star Awards went to hurdler Garrett Elgin and sprinter Annie Judge, while the Most Improved Awards went to distance runner and jumper Seth DePrince and sprinter/hurdler Dajonte Mackey.   Mike Williams led the boys' team in season points and set school records in the shot put, discus and 100 meters.   Dylan Alves set the school record in the 110m low hurdles and was second on the team in points, followed by 5:19 miler Ben Bamforth in third for the season. Also being honored were Jack Krytsis for setting the school record in the high jump and Chris Chiartas for setting the school record in the long jump. The girls' 400m relay team of Judge, Mackey, Marnea Duffy and Miquaine Hollins was honored for breaking the record, as well as Allison Palmer for being undefeated at 400 meters. Nationally ranked distance runner Logan Shuttleworth led the team in points and ran a 5:38 mile as a sixth-grader, while Hollins and Palmer were second and third on the team in points. The girls received tech T-shirts for their outstanding season to close out the evening.

Ali breaks Cape mile record
Last weekend, at the Delaware State Track & Field Championships, Cape senior Ali Coning broke the girls' 1,600-meter school record held by Rebecca Pepper, running a time of 5:15 and finishing third in a loaded event to advance to the Delaware Meet of Champions. Ali helped her team to the Division I team championship by running the 3,200-meter relay, 1,600m, 800m, and 1,600m relay, closing out her high school career.  Beginning in second grade, Ali ran many years in her youth with the Seashore Striders, traveling to multiple national championships all over the country. She attended Sussex Academy for middle school before entering Cape for her high school career.  The gift that Ali has in her running talent is a combination of speed and endurance - so much speed that coach George Pepper used Ali on his 400-meter relay team this year at the Penn Relays. Cape Henlopen has had a long list of outstanding distance runners who all ran 5:20 or better in the mile:  Marti Shue (Navy), Chris Snarsky (Old Dominion), Sonja Friend (William & Mary) and Rebecca Pepper (Delaware). Ali, who will attend and compete for Towson University, joins an elite group of girls and now has the title of racing the fastest 1,600 meters in Cape Henlopen school history. Congratulations, Ali!

Upcoming races »

5:30 p.m., Friday, May 25, Inaugural Milton Mile, Milton.

7:30 a.m., Sunday, May 27, 18th Annual Masser 5 Miler & Striders Kids' I Did It races, Cape Henlopen H.S., Lewes.

7:30 a.m., Saturday, June 2, Second Annual Lewes 5K Run, Lewes Beach, Lewes.

7:30 a.m., Sunday, June 3, Second Dos Locos 5K Run/Walk, Wilmington Avenue & Boardwalk, Rehoboth Beach.

8 a.m., Saturday, June 9, Ninth DFRC Blue Gold All-Star 5K Run & 1 M Walk, Irish Eyes, Lewes.