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Rehoboth Marathon: A trail mix of two thousand talents and reasons to run

Mike Digennaro, winner of the half marathon, was first result recorded.  A total of 2,190 runners would cross the finish line over the next 6 hours. BY DAVE FREDERICK
Dave Frederick
December 9, 2014
Rehoboth Beach Marathon winner Eddie Valentine passes half-marathon runners near the marathon 23-mile mark. BY DAN COOK
Mike Digennaro of Wilmington runs all alone on the Junction & Breakwater Trail and finishes first in the Rehoboth Half-Marathon with a 1:11:11. BY DAN COOK
Santa aka Lee Walter high-fives a returning half-marathoner. Walter ran the half-marathon in 1:48:58. BY DAN COOK
Bryan Mack of Lewes ran to celebrate his birthday. BY DAN COOK
Kevin Hennessey of Bel Air, Md., ran the half-marathon in 1:22:36, which was good for seventh place. BY DAN COOK
Brandon Carter of Wake Forest, N.C., runs through the Junction & Breakwater Trail and placed third in the marathon with a 2:41:21. BY DAN COOK
Katherine Reilly of Bethlehem, Pa., ran a 3:18:02, which gave her an overall finish of 56 and a first place in her age group. BY DAN COOK
Enos Benbow of Georgetown placed seventh in the marathon with a 2:49:26. BY DAN COOK
Patrick Beebe of Rehoboth ran to 29th place with a 3:06:45. BY DAN COOK
Noel McCracken of Sykesville, Md., ran to first place in her age division and 61st overall with a 3:18:45. BY DAN COOK

A breaking wave of runners rolled down Rehoboth Avenue at daybreak Saturday morning, Dec. 6, challenging themselves to complete the full or half marathon in personal record times.

The weather conditions were ideal with cloud cover and no wind for a major event that took seven hours to get the last trail-running trolley back to the depot.

A total of 2,190 runners competed in the major event with 1,298 electing the half marathon and another 892 running the full marathon.

Eddie Valentine, 34, from Arlington took the lead early and stayed in front, winning the marathon in 2:35:57.

Katherine Reilly, 37, from Bethlehem, Pa., was the first woman to finish, in 3:18:02, good for 56th place overall.

The top masters runners for the full marathon were Jon Chesto, 43, from South Boston 2:45, and Linda Malarkey, 45, from New Milford, 3:24.

There were 112 runners who ran 3:30 or better and 348 who broke the 4-hour barrier.

Some outstanding marathon times by locals include Enos Benbow 2:49, Matt Dunn 3:03, Patrick Beebe 3:06, Rick Brokaw 3:22, Erin Graves 3:38, Susan Dunn 3:46, and Breck Vanderwende 3:50.

The half marathon was won by Mike Digennaro, 36, of Wilmington in a time of 1:11:11 which is a 5:26/mile pace.

Marina Orrson, 23, of Shavertown, Pa., was the first woman in 1:23:25. A total of 33 runners ran under a 7-minute/mile pace for the 13.1 half marathon.

Some local notables included Ryan Wilson, Cape runner, 1:24:18; Sam Hete, Sussex Tech, 1:26. 04; Ryan Amsley, 1:20; and Martin Rodriguez, 1:26.

Jules Woodall, 66, won his age group in 1:57:40. Sandra Davies, 74, a graduate of the Temple School of Pharmacy, won her age group in 3:12.

The course itself is best described as trail mix with the marathon pack taking the Gordons Pond trail to Lewes while the half marathoners took the Junction & Breakwater Trail to Wolf Neck before returning to home base.

The event management was right on time with computer chip times by  Lin-Mark Sports which had results posted within an hour of the last runner crossing the finish line.

A complete listing of results can be found at lin-marksports.com.

 

 

 

 

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