It's just seven weeks until the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon and Half-Marathon comes to town with an expected 1,500 to 1,800 runners from all over the country. It’s not too late to give it a try if you would like to tackle the 26.2-mile challenge. With a two-mile increase per week in mileage - if you have a base of eight miles as a long run - it can be done. Here is an easy schedule to follow to increase you to 20 miles, which will likely get you through the marathon just to finish:  Week 1: Go three easy days of 6 miles and a long run of 8 miles; Week 2: three easy days of 6 and a long run of 10;  Week 3:  three easy days of 6 and a long run of 12; Week 4:  three easy days of 6 and a long run of 14; Week 5:  three easy days of 6 and a long run of 16; Week 6:  three easy days of 6 and a long run of 18; Week 7:  three easy days of 5 and a long run of 20.

Registration for both events is still open; register at the Rehoboth Beach Running Company on Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach or go to lin-mark.com.  See you Saturday, Dec. 8!

Vikings and Ravens race in separate invitationals

The Cape Vikings traveled north Oct. 12 to Lums Pond State Park for the University of Delaware’s High School Invitational in Bear. John Mascioli of Archmere won the individual top honors in a good time of 16:10 to lead his team to the title. Cape junior Austin MacElrevey was fourth overall in 17:19, while sophomore teammate Ryan Thornburg ran a great race to finish fifth overall in a season best of 17:20. Other Cape finishers and their times: Amir Conley 18:59, Sean Sheehan 19:05, Ben Velasquez 19:10; Dylan Brown 19:24, Lance White 20:21. As a team the Vikings finished with 154 points, placing them fifth overall in the standings.

On the girls' side, sophomore Madison MacElrevey finished 24th in 21:16, followed by sophomore Keren Rams in 22:39. Other Cape finishers and their times: Grace Brokaw 22:46, Alyssa Mocci 23:02, Maggie Heffernan 23:09, Rachel Best 23:18, Riley Wagner 24:10. The Cape girls scored 216 points for eighth overall.

The Ravens of Sussex Tech swept the Delaware Tech Bowl, which comprised the six tech schools in the state. Sussex Tech easily won both titles led by Victor Rueda in 16:57 and senior Bethany Killmon in 20:29. Sophomore Natasha Taylor ran her best race of the season to take second in 21:19 for the girls. In the boys' event, Sam Hete, a sophomore, was second in 17:02, while St. Georges' tough freshman David Hall was third in 17:04.

Strider breaks Chapel Branch record

The Seashore Striders traveled Oct. 13 to the annual Blue Jay Open Cross Country Invitational on the windy and narrow 1.5-mile Chapel Branch course. Eighth-grader Ben Bamforth ran the fastest-ever time on the course of 8:38, breaking the previous record of 8:50 set by Harry Tunnell of the Striders in 1999. For the past 15 years, young runners from all over Sussex County and Kent County have raced and won on the unique Seaford course, but no one has ever raced from start to finish in as fast a performance.

Lindsay Rambo and Blake Hundley got the meet going for the Striders with a double win for the team in the fifth-grade and under lead-off races.

Upcoming Races

9 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 28, 23rd Sea Witch Fall 5K Classic, Grove Park, Rehoboth Beach.

9 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2nd Nevaeh Bishop Memorial 5K Run & Walk, Salisbury, Md.

1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 4, 10th Mariner’s Bethel 7-Mile & 5K, Bethany Beach.