Striders Women’s Distance Festival 5K draws more than 100 runners
The Seashore Striders hosted the Striders Women’s Distance Festival 5K Run and the Seashore Striders 5K for male runners June 28 at Rehoboth Elementary School. New Balance sponsored the top 10 awards for the female runners as it has done for many years at this event.
Striders regular Helen Morrow of Millsboro, one of the top masters runners in the area, captured the overall female title and the $75 pair of running shoes with a time of 21:24, while Abby Andrews of Seaford was second in 21:33. Susan Dunn of Laurel was third in 21:46, while Eleanor Gitney of Elkton, Md., won the masters title and was fourth in 22:03. Zoe Nuechterlean of Chevy Chase, Md., was fifth in 22:22, while Stephanie Marcus, also of Chevy Chase, was sixth overall in 22:23. Regular Mardiny Ung of Elizabethtown, Pa., was seventh in 22:45, followed by local regular Margaret Colvin of Rehoboth Beach in eighth in a time of 23:10. Ninth place went to Lillian Ricardo of North Bethesda, Md., in 23:13, while Michelle Ennis of Scotch Plains, N.J., rounded out the top 10 finishers in a time of 23:29. An interesting stat was that six of the top 10 female finishers were masters runners, which means they are over 40 years old.
Anthony Reynolds, 33, of Millersville, Pa., won the male race in a time of 17:00, while young Sonny Landis, a Sussex Tech graduate, was second in 17:21. Mike Sewell of Camden-Wyoming was third and won the masters title in a time of 18:10. A field of 216 took part in the event.
Series cruises into second half
The Seashore Striders 5K marked the opening race in the second half of the 24th annual Seashore Striders Racing Series, which means five to go to wrap up our 24th year. Saturday, July 6, will be the Beach Paper 5K at Grove Park, followed by the Race for the Ribbon 5K on Wilmington Avenue at the Greene Turtle Saturday, July 19. The Striders YMCA 5 Miler will take place Sunday, July 20, while the Run for J.J. Memorial 5K will be held Sunday, July 27. The final series event will be the Dam Mill 5K in Millsboro to be held at Cupola Park Saturday, Aug. 2. If you competed in the Seashore Striders 5K this past weekend, there is still time to qualify for the series, as qualification is one 5-miler and five 5K runs.
There is no fee to enter the series; you simply finish the race, and your performance is scored by a point system based on your age group finish. The Seashore Striders events are open to the public, and any ability level is welcome to compete. See you on the starting line.
Craig Holm visits Rehoboth Beach Running Company
Last week I did a piece on great Delaware runner Betsy Carpenter, the impressive holder of eight Delaware road race records, who recently visited the Rehoboth Beach Running Company and was interviewed by Bill Meehan of RBRC.
Interestingly enough, just a few days later, another great runner on the male side, Craig Holm, stopped in to see Bill at RBRC. Holm was the real deal; he might not be the top age grouper in many distances, but he is likely in the top three all-time. He ran 1:04:54 in 1982 in the half-marathon distance, which is 13.1 miles, and his time comes out to an average of 4:57 per mile.
The even more amazing thing about the record and the time is that it was done on the original Caesar Rodney course, which everyone knows was one of the toughest half-marathon courses in the area. Who will it be this week, Bill? Could it be Vicki; how about Vic, Richard, maybe Danny? Congratulations to Craig and all of his accomplishments.
Upcoming races
7:30 a.m., Saturday, July 5 - 24th Beach Paper Firecracker 5K, Grove Park, seashorestriders.com.
8 a.m., Sunday, July 6 - 24th Dave Reynolds Swim/Run Biathlon, Rehoboth Beach Patrol, seashorestriders.com.
8 a.m., Sunday, July 6 - 6th Outlet Liquors 5K at the Rusty Rudder, Dewey Beach, races2run.com.
