Summer running season gives way to fall races
The 35th Last Blast Prediction 5K wrapped up the summer for the Seashore Striders Aug. 30, as Eitan Halper-Stromberg, 41, of Baltimore ran 17:36.2 for the overall male title, while Andy Gorlich, 40, of Milton was second in 17:47.3.
Matt Sparacino, 47, of Harrington grabbed the third spot in 17:56.2, with Oliver Malkin, 17, of Bethany Beach running 18:42.1 for fourth; and Mike Stuart, 42, of Falls Church, Va., crossing in fifth in 19:09.7.
On the female side, Eve Hoffman, 39, captured the overall female title in 20:38.6, while Melissa Wiley, 39, of Ocean City, Md., was close behind in 20:46.5. Melissa McDermott, 46, of Newark ran 22:16.4 for third place, with Jamie Hicks, 47, of Milford finishing fourth in 22:25.5; and Lisa Sherman, 51, of Washington, D.C., running 22:56 for fifth.
The Prediction Race
The much-anticipated Prediction 5K also took place, with 170 racers dropping all electronic devices, watches, ear phones and headsets, participants took a step back in time to make it just the runner and the pavement. The course was correct at 3.112 miles with the proper directional arrows to keep all runners on course. There were plenty of mile markers, but none were correct. There were two clocks at the finish, but neither was correct. After crossing line, the computer took over and calculated the difference from a runner’s predicted time and their actual time. Runners were then ranked from first to last.
This year was the closest prediction race in the past three years. Sheila Young won the title with a difference of 0.53. Young, who was 22nd in 2023 and 42nd in 2024, predicted 28:36 and crossed the line in 28:36.5 for the win. Finishing behind her were: Mardiny Ung, 0.89; Jamie Hicks, 0.96; Linda Marvin, 1.42; Linda Stanley, 1.71; Melissa Wiley, 2.33; Bryan Dewease, 3.13; Eric Bartow, 3.42; Robert Ferguson, 4.51; and Tabitha Palkewicz, 4.57.
If you were outside 10 seconds, you did not even make the top 20.
Series wrap
The 35th year of the Seashore Striders Championship Series in the books, as all participants who completed five 5K races and one five-mile race were awarded trophy cups. Matt Sparacino won the series with a total time of 2:00:34, while Eve Hoffman won the female title with a total time of 2:14:28. Andy Gorlich celebrated turning 40 by winning the masters competition in 2:02:34, while Lisa Sherman won the female masters title in 2:27:41.
A total of 20 participants completed all 10 races of the series, and each was presented with a custom gym bag. Mary Kessler was recognized for being ranked nationally in her age group with a 88.68 national grade. She’s less than 2% away from establishing world class status.
The Most Consistent Award winners were Robert Hicks (37.8) and Eugenija King (48.4), while the Most Improved Award recipients were John Blackford and Elizabeth Rivera. Joe D’Amico won the Hank Brittingham Volunteer of the Year Award, while Susan Dunn won the Comeback Kid Award.
Five participants were recognized for reaching a five-year milestone in their series streak, as John Walters and Cheryl Justison reached five years, Jim Marvin reached 25 years and Peter Tracey and Tim Bamforth reached 35 years for the series.
Finish chute
One of the largest 5K races in downstate Delaware, the Run, White and Blue, was held Thursday evening after the Cape Gazette’s deadline at Delaware Tech in Georgetown benefitting vets, first responders, military and students. As of Wednesday night, the race had already attracted 540 participants. Much of the credit goes to organizer Janelle Shellabarger and her team.
The Lake Forest Invitational cross country meet will kick off the high school season at Killens Pond State Park Saturday, Sept. 6. Most Henlopen Conference teams will be on the starting line.
My son Jake will co-direct the Horsetooth 10K swim this Saturday about a half-mile from my place in Fort Collins, Colo. Jake was one of the few who ever swam the race a few years back as an individual medley. For you non-swimmers, that means 1.5 miles of each stroke – breaststroke, crawl, backstroke, butterfly. Can you imagine doing the butterfly for 1.5 miles? This is the same kid who swam from Cape May to Cape Henlopen because he thought it would be a cool challenge.
A shoutout to David Shackley, 62, who won the third Boardwalk Mile Swim Aug. 31, in Rehoboth Beach in 29:08. Shackley is a strong ocean open-water swimmer out of Dewey Beach. Adrienne Fyock won the female title in 36:40. Times were not fast as a slack tide, as a 15 mph northeast wind produced a lot of chop in the swimmers’ faces.
