The Rehoboth Seashore Marathon is here

The eve of the Rehoboth Seashore Marathon has arrived and Rehoboth Avenue will turn into a July morning this Saturday with more than 3,000 runners from more than 30 states filling the streets for the annual event. The event will kick off at 7 a.m. from the Bandstand and will follow the 26.2-mile marathon course through Rehoboth Beach, Gordons Pond and Cape Henlopen State Park and into Lewes. The marathon will then return to Rehoboth Beach heading out and back toward Lewes again, this time on the Junction and Breakwater Trail. The race will finish on Fourth Street near Rehoboth Beach Running Company. The 13.1-mile half marathon will remain with the marathon course to Gordons Pond, but will then come back into Rehoboth and head out to the Junction and Breakwater Trail for the same finish as the marathon.

There are 17 water stops with 10 organizations manning the stops along the route. The public is encouraged to come out and cheer on the runners, but going to a viewing location is the best idea.  

Some recommended viewing areas are:                                               

1. Grove Park at the five-mile point would be an excellent location to catch the early action in the race or the late action at the 25.8-mile mark. Plenty of parking on site.                                        

2. Wolf Neck Road, better known as the Wawa road off Route 1, will be another prime location as the runners make their way through the Junction and Breakwater Trail toward Lewes at the eight-mile mark for the half and the 22-mile mark for the full. Plenty of parking on site with a state park restroom on site.                 

3. Lewes Beach 2 would be a great location and a place where runner encouragement is needed as the marathoners pass the 9.5-mile mark on Cape Henlopen Drive. Plenty of parking.                                                                                             

4. Cape Henlopen State Park at Fort Miles deep in the park at the marathon eight-mile mark and a bit of a hilly section where encouragement would be helpful. Park entrance fees are in effect and parking is available at Fort Miles.

The Seashore race organizers are asking spectators and family members not to park on Cape Henlopen Drive in Lewes or at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal, as runners will be using both shoulders of the road in Lewes. Please use Savannah Road or Kings Highway and park at the Lewes Beach 2 parking lot located between Savannah Road and the ferry. In Rehoboth, parking is not allowed along any parts of the course.

Striders celebrate with Irish Eyes banquet

The 2019 Seashore Striders Youth Team along with parents and family members recently celebrated the cross country season at Irish Eyes. More than 150 turned out for the affair as guest speaker Joe D’Amico, parent of former Seashore Striders runners Gina and Joseph D’Amico, spoke about past and present teams while reminding the athletes to take with them the traits they learn from the program, like winning, losing, sportsmanship, teamwork and hard work.

Following dinner, the six coaches handed out certificates to all the members of the team, along with recognizing the 12 Youth All-Americans recently crowned at Youth Nationals in Shelbyville, Ind. The iPad Air raffle was then drawn with the winner being weekly regular runner Kim Geyer. A video of the season, produced by former Strider Jake Bamforth, was shown to the team during dessert. Highlighting the evening were awards presented to the following:

• Performance of the Year awards went to four talented runners who performed outstanding at Youth Nationals in Indiana. Nolan Furlong finished sixth in the 6-year-old division, while Addie Dean was seventh in the same division. Both Furlong and Dean were the youngest members to race at Nationals. Elizabeth Melson set a personal best with a time under 21 minutes in the 5K, while Ryan Baker put together one of his best races of the year.

• Rising Star awards went to Brady Sherman and Ainsley Fitzgerald, two young runners just starting to figure out the sport – both with a competitive drive and a bright future.

• Most Improved awards went to Arnold Alexander and Liza Williams, both going from average runners to competitive runners at the national level. Williams was the No. 6 runner on one of the best 9-year-old teams in the history of Seashore Striders, while Arnold just seemed to get better each week he raced. Arnold just recently reached a milestone, breaking the 20-minute barrier for the first time at last weekend’s Huffin’ for Pumpkin Pie 5K in Rehoboth.

• The Comeback Kid Award went to Emmi Swope who returned to the podium with a 22nd place finish this year at Youth Nationals. Swope was in the top 25 in 2017 in her first year, did not race well at the meet in 2018, and returned this year with a great race.

• Dirty Hands awards went to four male runners who could not run a quarter mile without picking up a rock, worm, pinecone, slug or just a handful of dirt while on the training runs. Cody Kuhlman, Wyatt Dean, Levi Richards and Dane Cawthern took the honors.

• Most Valuable Runner of the season went to a seventh-place finisher at Youth Nationals who became a frontrunner with a dangerous combination of speed and endurance which can be unique in a cross country runner. Fourth-grader Allison Ortiz won the honor with her best season to date. Ortiz then took the mic at the end of the banquet and read a paragraph thanking her coaches and her team.

• The Coaches Award, the final award of the evening, was presented by coach Danny MacElrevey. The award is presented to a runner who gives everything he has for his team. This year the award went to Justin Friscia who also won the Delaware Middle School Championship and was recognized at the all-state banquet recently. 

Let their be Faith

Milford eighth-grader and Seashore Striders member Faith Mitchell was named to the all-state team Dec. 2 in Wilmington as well as being named a Youth All-American in Indiana with the Striders.