Beebe Heroes 5K a short course on a sunny Sunday

352 happy together people just enjoying being out and about

Get the photo and exit stage left. DAVE FREDERICK PHOTOS

Dave Frederick

July 12, 2021

The Beebe Heroes 5K held July 11 on Lewes Beach had 352 participants with 288 finishers and 64 unaccounted for waiting for the Dairy Queen to open.

The race was unintentionally short – 2.9 miles instead of 3.1 – and generated fast times and personal records for some runners.

Oddly enough, the top 20 runners were males, led by Francisco Puac, 36, in 15:24. He was followed by Garrett Ferguson, 16, 15:50; Martin Rodriguez, 16:53; Sam Spellman, 17:07; Caleb Bradley, 17:55; Roman Steis, 17:55; Mike Sewell, 18:07; Mark Evans, 18:09; Wesley Long, 19:06; and Andrew Ferguson, 19:19.

Sadie Tunnell was atop the women’s leaderboard, finishing in 21:03. She was followed by Sara Bushey, 21:05; Lucy Ellis, 21:35; Andrea Sikora, 21:47; Susan Dunn, 21:48; Margaret Colvin, 22:00; Olivia Bergenholtz, 22:15; Nikita Poland, 22:21; Kelsey Hipp, 22:24; Peyton Stanislav, 22:25; and Lori Holdsworth, 22:26.

Notables: Karen Johnston, 57, of Bethany Beach won the 55-59 age group in 25:40, while her husband Brian Johnston won the 65-69 age group in 21:12. The top six runners in the 60-64 age group all broke 25 minutes, led by age-group champion Bill Holdsworth in 20:26. He was followed by Tim Young, 20:55; Bruce Leshine, 21:05; Peter Tracey, 21:32; John Dowling, 23:09; and Peter Chiarelli, 24:46.

Joann Szczepkowski, 75, swept her age group in 27:00 as there were no other runners. Brian Logan won the 75-79 male in 28:39. Top docs David Tam, 58, 34:50, and James Spellman, 67, 40:27, ran in the race to support the fundraising. The largest age group was women 55-59 with 27 entries, the top 10 breaking 30 minutes. The Ferguson family from Keyser, W.Va., was well represented with Garrett Ferguson, 16, finishing in 15:50; Andrew Ferguson, 50, 19:16; Bailey Ferguson, 12, 22:30; and Laurie Ferguson, 55, 37:22. The running Roach family from Millsboro joined the race including Regan, 7, 38:44; Brynn, 9, 50:58; Jack, 38, 38:46; and Dawn, 40, 50:58. Check expanded race results at seashorestriders.com. Each participant has his or her own unique story.