Rehoboth’s Mary Beth Ellis finishes 15th at Hawaii Ironman

Pro triathlete Mary Beth Ellis was burned out and overtrained last year, wondering if her already excellent triathlon career, owning two Ironman 70.3 silver medals, was nearing the end. But this year the Rehoboth Beach native had a great summer, winning Ironman Regensburg, then setting a race record in 8:43:32 to win Ironman Austria, which marked her as the third fastest woman Ironman competitor in history. Ellis also broke the legendary Erin Baker's 21-year race record at Ironman Canada, taking eighth overall against the men. Mary Beth Ellis has proved to the triathlon world that she is for real.

Ellis competed Oct. 8 in the elite of all triathlons, the Hawaii Kona World Championships, where she finished 15th in the pro female competition in a field of 1,800 competitors.

“Kona is such a legendary race now. There have been so many great people who have raced here over the years and I am just happy that I get the chance to race here among so many great athletes. I am very excited and hope this is the first time of many in my career I can come here and race the best. So I will enjoy this and live the dream as long as I can. But everything will come to an end at some point. I am just happy to be get a second chance,” commented Ellis when interviewed at the pre-race media gathering.

The Ironman World Championship is a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and a full 26.2-mile marathon. For a triathlete, there is no larger day in this sport than the Ironman World Championship. It is the race that defined the sport as it came of age, and continues to be the defining race in the sport for any avid triathlete in the world.

For those who do not know, to get to the starting line in Kona, an athlete must either be very lucky and get a spot through the lottery or very talented and win a spot through one of the qualifying events leading up to Kona.

That means 1,800 "lucky" people, including Ellis, get to test themselves on one of the biggest challenges the sports world has to offer.

Ellis flashback - MB, not to be mistaken for Marybeth Evans of the Rehoboth Beach Running Company who is quite the athlete herself, dominated the Rehoboth Beach Dave Reynolds Biathlon in her teenage years and would swim stroke for stroke with the lead male swimmers. Ellis trained with the Seashore Striders, doing many repeats on the track at Cape Henlopen High School while she lived in Rehoboth Beach with her parents. Ellis attended high school in New Jersey, where, as swimmer and runner, she won multiple state titles.

High school cross country - The big meet of the week was held in Smyrna as the Caesar Rodney Riders and the Milford Bucs went head-to-head in a battle that could have gone either way. On the girls' side it was Molly Bliss of Milford leading the way in a time of 20:25 as the Bucs edged the Riders 26-29 for CR's first loss of the season. The Riders edged Sussex Tech by one two weeks ago, which means that Milford will face Tech at Cape Henlopen in two weeks with the Bucs going in undefeated and Tech with a single loss. The Bucs will be the favorite, but a win by Tech will put the top three teams in a three-way tie for the conference dual meet title with one loss each. Also, don’t count out the Vikings with Ali Coning leading the way, followed by Shanel Dickens and Madison MacElrevey, both running very well and continuing to improve.

On the boys' side, the Riders edged Milford 26-29 as Milford looked to be in the driver's seat with Carl Richardson winning in 17:12, followed by five runners in the top 10 overall.  It was the Riders who came through in the clutch as they grabbed second, third, sixth and seventh overall to place only four in the top 10, just enough to win the meet. The Riders, who edged Sussex Tech the same way, should go on to win the dual meet title, while Tech and Milford with one loss each will battle for second in two weeks at Cape Henlopen. Trey Mitchell of Lewes is racing well for the Riders and moved up to the number three position with a sixth-place finish in 18:10.

In other meets, Izzy Wharton led her Sussex Tech team to a double win, 15-48 and 15-49 over Sussex Central and Dover as she covered the 5K course in 20:06.  Dylan Varrato led the Tech boys to two easy wins in a personal best of 17:33, while frosh Sam Hete ran his best race of the season in 17:44. Tech had five runners at 18 minutes or better and eight among the top 10 finishers.

The Vikings traveled to Seaford to match up with the Blue Jays and Polytech on the Chapel Branch 3.1-mile course.  The day brought two wins for Viking boys as they defeated Seaford 16-39 and Polytech 23-32.  Cape captured the top three places with Austin MacElrevey leading the way in 18:52, followed by Luke DiGugliemo in 19:03 and Ryan Thornburg in 19:14.  Matt Spicer's 21:37, good for seventh place, put four Viking runners in the top 10 finishers.

Cape girls also came away with a double victory, placing five runners in the top 10.  Ali Coning led the race in a winning time of 21:05 with Shanel Dickens, 21:53, and Madison MacElrevey, 22:40, finishing second and third, respectively.

Emma Trugman's eighth place at 24:51 and Grace Hetfield's 10th at 25: 32 sealed the deal for the Vikings. The final tally showed the Vikings with a 23-32 win over Polytech and a 15-50 dominance of Seaford.

Bayfront at Rehoboth 5K - This Sunday morning, Oct. 16,  in a beautiful development at the end of Camp Arrowhead Road in Lewes will be the Sixth Annual Bayfront at Rehoboth 5K Run & Walk. The course is very scenic, overlooking Delaware Bay, and takes runners to a private beach over wooden foot bridges to enjoy the view. Race-day registration is $25 and will begin at 8 a.m. with the event taking off at 9 a.m. Awards will go to the top three finishers in 10-year age groups from 13 & U to 70 & O, Proceeds of the event will benefit Tunnell Cancer Center. Visit www.seashorestriders.com for more race information.