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Running

Separate men’s and women’s races July 6 in Rehoboth

July 5, 2013

Several years ago the Seashore Striders were included in a national circuit called the Women’s Distance Festival sponsored by the Road Runners Club of America.  When the sponsorship dried up, we decided to keep our event going and brought Vernon Powell on board to keep the race alive. To this day, we have hosted 22 straight events with the 23rd annual to be held this Saturday, July 6, at Rehoboth Elementary School. New Balance will sponsor the top 10 awards to the female runners as the women's race will kick off at 7:30 a.m. followed by the men's at 8 a.m. The race has no mixing of genders in the field, giving the female champion a chance to cross the line first while the male runners do not have to worry about getting outkicked by Ponytail Patty.

Race note - As a side note, the undefeated Beacon Middle School girls' track team has been invited to participate in the 5K or to volunteer if a runner thinks she can not run three miles. The girls will be presented with their new track jackets that they purchased to celebrate their season as well as free ice cream cones from Chip Hearn.

Strider Swirl

Chipper Dipper Hearn's Rehoboth Beach icon The Ice Cream Store has once again created what we are calling Strider Swirl ice cream, which we will have available to all participants in the Seashore Strider 5K & Women’s Distance Festival on July 6. Chip has been a supporter of the Seashore Striders for more than 20 years, and whether it’s young kids or older kids, he is always there to lend a hand.  Run fast Saturday morning so you can be first in line for new purple and yellow Strider Swirl.

Runners' Gazette

Three different people commented to me this week at places outside of sports contests that Fredman was turning the local paper into a running publication like Runner's World or Running Times. Last week’s edition had three different articles on local road races, all written by Fredman. One complainer even asked me how much I pay him each week. Bottom line is that our area is known throughout the country for our events, and at a local event like a 5K or 10K, there are a bunch of interesting stories like the gal who lost 100 pounds and is now jogging a 5K, or the recovering drug addict who has turned his life around and can now run back-to-back miles at under eight minutes a clip. How about the 7-year-old or the 70-year-old who completes his or her first event, and for them it is equivalent to capturing the gold medal? Our sports editor has covered more events than anyone in the state of Delaware and 99 percent of them about Cape people. Truth is that wherever he chooses to go or whichever sport he chooses to cover, he will find a story. He chooses to attend local road races in the summer mainly because no one tells him where he needs to go. So stop asking me why he comes to my events so much - ask him.

Sonja Friend-Uhl heading to USATF Masters

At the recent USATF National Club Championships, Cape graduate Sonja Friend-Uhl placed third at 800 meters in a time of 2:14.23, racing for the Atlanta Track Club. Her time would have won a state title this year in Delaware high school competition.  Twenty-four years ago, Sonja won a state title with a Cape uniform, running 2:18.8. I can tell you we can count on one hand the number of runners who can wait 24 years and run four seconds faster than their high school personal records. The event was held at Ichan Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y.  Rose Wetzel won the event in 2:12.89. Sonja will now head to the USA National Master Championships to be held July 11 to 14 at the Olathe District Activity Center in Olathe, Kan. Sonja is entered in the 800 meters at 2:09 as well as the 1,500 meters at 4:16. Not bad for a master female at age 42 - a 4:34 mile to her credit.  Good luck, Sonja!

Upcoming races

7:30 a.m., Saturday, July 6, 23rd Seashore Strider 5K & Women’s Distance Festival 5K, Rehoboth Elementary School, Rehoboth Beach.

8 a.m., Sunday, July 7, 11th Ivy Restaurant 5K, Dewey Beach.

6:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 10,  Fifth Delaware Hospice Anniversary 5K, Delaware Hospice Center, Milford.

8 a.m., Saturday, July 13, Fourth Kelly J. Fritchman Memorial 5K, Irish Eyes, Lewes.

8 a.m., Sunday, July 14, 11th Jimmy’s Grille 5K, Dewey Beach.

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