Jungle Jim’s 5K draws near-record field

The popular Jungle Jim’s 5K Splash was held last weekend, June 24. It’s the only race where you can finish and 30 seconds later be floating in the lazy river. The 19th edition of the race, hosted by the Lingo family, brought 271 registered participants to help raise funds for the Children’s Beach House. This year’s count was among the top three all-time numbers for the Jungle Jim’s race, making it the third race of four this summer where we reached all-time top three numbers. “We are having our best summer in the last 15 years. Numbers are up and runners are coming from all over the East Coast to race with us,” said Rich Tikiob, one of the founders of the popular summer series.

Michael Wardian of Rehoboth Beach captured the overall male title in a chilled time of 17:22, while Martin Rodriguez of Selbyville was second in 18:03, also winning the masters title. Matt Sparacino of Harrington was third in 18:43, with Mike Sewell of Lewes running 19:27 for fourth, making the race a 1-2-3-4 master sweep. Taking the female title was Eve Hoffman of Washington, D.C., in 19:55, while Olivia Montini of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., was second in 20:21. Sarah Richards of Rehoboth Beach rounded out the top three finishers in a time of 20:53. Paula Pels, 55, of Bethesda, Md., won the female masters title in 22:34.

Capturing the hearts of many at the finish line was the Team 360 group out of Salisbury, Md., complete with athletes, wingmen, captains and plenty of energy wherever they go. According to their website, Team 360 is a nonprofit organization that provides motivation and support to people of different abilities, empowering and enabling them to train and participate in mainstream athletic events. My friend Jill Fears is the club president and does an excellent job overall with the team, and we always welcome Team 360 to Seashore Striders events.

Dave Reynolds Biathlon

The 32nd annual Dave Reynolds Biathlon will be held Sunday, July 2, with a field of just under 200 participants taking part in the half-mile ocean swim followed by a 5K run. The race will be produced by the Seashore Striders in cooperation with the Rehoboth Beach Patrol, which will handle event safety. The race is named after the late Dave Reynolds, a longtime RBP guard. The first male and female current RBP guards to finish will receive the Dave Reynolds Spirt Award. Participants will have the option to take part in the individual (male or female) or team divisions (male, female coed, youth) in the race where proceeds support the annual Dave Reynolds Scholarship. There will be no race-day registration, with a mandatory packet pickup Saturday, July 1, from noon to 2 p.m. at Grove Park, unless you made other arrangements with the race director. Wetsuits are allowed, but they cannot be left in the transition area due to limited space. Registration is still open, with limited T-shirts available.

More race information can be found at seashorestriders.com.

Note - The second annual Youth Biathlon for kids 12 and under will be held just before the main event. We will gather the kids on the beach at Baltimore Avenue at 7:15 a.m. for a 7:20 start. The kids will go about 100 yards in the water (50 yards out and 50 yards back) followed by a 400-yard beach run (200 yards out and 200 yards back). There will be no entry fee for this event, but the athletes must still register online. No T-shirts, but all finishers receive medals. Deadline for registration is 2 p.m., Saturday, July 1, at the close of packet pickup. 

Top Dogs - Xander Geiersbach, the 2019, 2020 and 2022 champion, has dominated the Dave Reynolds Biathlon for several years. The only one to beat him since 2018 has been Dover’s Sean Saxton, who won the event in 2021, beating both Geiersbach and Augie Carlozzi. He also won the event in 2018. Carlozzi was the runner-up finisher in 2019 and 2022. Geiersbach, Saxton, Carlozzi and last year’s third-place finisher Matt Dun are all entered this year. Also entered and in town for the weekend is pro triathlete Jake Bamforth of Lewes/Fort Collins, Colo. Bamforth was the 10th-place finisher in the Collegiate Triathlon Nationals in Georgia in April.

On the female side, we have last year’s champion, Maddie Drager of Bethlehem, Pa., in the field hoping to defend her title, while last year’s runner-up, Maddie Tonn of Rehoboth, is also entered. Less than a minute separated the top two female runners last year.

Both male and female races should be well worth the price of admission on the Boardwalk Sunday morning.