The seventh annual Beebe Heroes 5K brought 383 runners and walkers to downtown Lewes June 28 for the annual event. From the gun, it was 30-year-old Darian Sorouri from Auckland, New Zealand, taking the lead and putting together three five-minute back-to-back miles to hit the finish in a time of 15:33.

Two minutes later, it was second-place finisher Tim Pagano, 40, of Lewes in 17:26 for the masters title, while 48-year-old Matt Sparacino of Harrington finished third in 17:56. Fourth place went to Martin Rodriguez in 18:02, while local Paul Ecker rounded out the top five in 18:08.

On the female side of the action, it was 30-year-old Kelly Hayes of Charlotte, N.C., racing for the win in 18:39, while 36-year-old Kailyn Buckley of Wilmington was second in 19:41. Taylor Gudebski, 20, of Lewes was third in 20:08, while young 15-year-old Julia Hemler of Nottingham, Md., was fourth in 20:09. Melissa Wiley, 40, of Ocean City, Md., rounded out the top five in a decent time of 20:55 to capture the female masters title.

Rick Day of Milton won the male 5K walk in 37:17, while Ali Collier of Towson, Md., won the female 5K walk in 36:58. The race attracted competitors from 20 states, with the Seashore Striders producing the event for the Beebe Medical Foundation.

Jungle Jim’s 5K

The 22nd annual Jungle Jim’s 5K took place June 27 in Rehoboth Beach, with 320 turning out for the annual run and walk through the country club community. Dylan Smiley, 28, of Rehoboth Beach wasted little time taking the lead and cruised to the easy win in 16:16, while ultra-marathoner Mike Wardian, 52, of Dewey Beach was second in 17:06 to win the male masters title. Brent Hall of Somerville, Mass., was third in 17:29, while fourth went to a pacing Darian Sorouri in 17:32. Tim Pagano of Lewes rounded out the top five in a time of 17:35.  

Holly Manning of Auckland, New Zealand, won the female title in 18:27, while multi-champion Eve Hoffman of Washington, D.C., was second in 19:33. Arina Varrato of Georgetown finished third in 21:21, while Jamie Hicks of Milford ran 22:13 for fourth place and the female masters title. Rounding out the top five finishers was Mollie Fischer of Kentucky in 22:24. The Jungle Jim’s event benefitted Children’s Beach House in honor of the late Derrick Lingo. 

Series leaders

With four races to go in the 36th Summer Racing Series, Andy Gorlich and Jamie Hicks are leading with the fastest total times of the series. Gorlich has a combined time of 2:03:17.1, while Hicks has a time of 2:25:22.1. Rich Jones and Margaret Colvin lead the way on the masters side of the action. Jones has a time of 2:20:59.6, while Colvin has a time of 2:47:38.4. Marian Dowling leads the 5K female walk with a cumulative time of 4:54:50.5, while Rick Day has a total time of 3:34:32.6 to lead the 5K male walk. There are 40 qualifiers already, with 158 still able to qualify. The all-time series record is 138 qualifiers.

Firecracker fun

The Cape Gazette Firecracker 5K will step off at 7:30 a.m., Saturday, July 4, in Rehoboth Beach. More than 500 are already registered for the event. Races2Run will host the Dewey Beach Liquors 5K at the same time in Dewey Beach. The Dave Reynolds Swim-Run Biathlon will be held at 8 a.m., Sunday, July 5, from the beach in front of the Rehoboth Bandstand.