Track is a digital, data-driven sport in real time

Bits of digital data - The state track meet generates two days’ worth of live data which has to be keyboarded into various platforms where it stays forever. Personally, finding it the first time is the challenge only trumped by the second attempt. The site milesplit.com is one integrated platform, but there are others. Cape’s 4-by-800-meter girls’ team of Hannah Maney, Alexa Dougherty, Emma Duffield and Tia Jarvis ran 9:59 for second place in Division I behind Padua in 9:39. Ursuline won the Division II race in 9:54. The boys’ 4-by-800-meter relay team of Brian Sponaugle, Liam O’Donnell, Ben Clifton and Julian Callaway ran a season-best 8:22 to place fourth in Division I. In-depth expanded results will be available in the Friday, May 28 Cape Gazette in coach Tim Bamforth’s Running column. 

“We gone to Sizzler!” - “White Men Can’t Jump,” 1992. On May 22, at Delaware Military Academy, I was half baked after two hours of taking photos in the midday beat-down sun on artificial turf. The stands had that silver skillet effect on fans, who were wilted like Mother’s Day flowers after the game. I considered being dropped off at the DIAA track championships in Dover on the way back home but no one needs gramps man panting in lane 9 in a blue chair under a sheik’s headdress.  Sometimes the smart play is just to go home. 

Ultra-marathoning - Dateline Hong Kong: Twenty-one ultra-marathoners have died after extreme weather conditions hit a 100-kilometer (62-mile) mountain race in northwest China. The race started the morning in sunny conditions, but by 1 p.m. the temps dropped, and the winds blew in bringing freezing rain, along with the runners’ least favorite friend – giant hailstones. Runners suffered from hypothermia, and many in a confused state of mind just went missing. Challenging nature by running, rafting, climbing or hang gliding sometimes results in a heartless Mother Nature putting one in the win column. I often say of some athletes, “They don’t necessarily do what they should do, but rather what they compulsively need to do.”  Race director Janet Ng told CNN, “The trail-running community is mourning with great sadness.” Speaking of world cultures, would you expect to find a trail-running community due south of Mongolia? Arboreal life forms that fly over that treacherous region include Dalmatian pelicans, black storks, whooper swans and the seldom-seen snowcock. 

Mickelson march - I am a sometimes reckless person with a Captain Safety governor who senses the elements of disaster. Watching a horde of wankers in ballcaps following 50-year-old Phil Mickelson to the 18th green late Sunday on  Kiawah Island, S.C., at the PGA championship, all I could think was, “very first golf stampede” and after he sank the winning putt, would they dogpile him? Crazy things happen every day, yet Phil seemed to relish the moment and bet your bottom dollar, the mask mandate and social distancing are officially over. 

Run the Goat - Pete Rosembert, 41, of Milford ran 18:35 to win the Fifth Annual Run the Goat 5K contested May 21 at Mispillion River Brewing off Mullet Run Street. The event benefits the Greater Milford Boys & Girls Club. A total of 104 runners participated, and the best news was mask mandates were off, which makes drinking beer much easier. Eugenia King, 38, won the women’s race in 23:47. Goat Island is part of the Riverwalk Trail in downtown Milford. 

Snippets - Cape’s lacrosse teams are still standing, moving into the May 25 semifinal round. The girls will host Ursuline at a time to be determined, while the boys travel to Sanford to take on the unbeaten Warriors at 5 p.m. Also slated for May 25, Sussex Central softball will host Appoquinimink in a quarterfinal matchup, Caravel softball coached by Randy Johnson of Lewes will host Middletown, and Sussex Tech baseball will host Appoquinimink, time TBD. The track & field Meet of Champions is Wednesday, May 26, at Caravel Academy. The 28th Masser 5 Miler is Sunday, May 30, at Cape Henlopen High School with a 7:30 a.m. start time. The 19th Highway One Companies 5K is May 31 in Dewey at 7:30 a.m.  Go on now, git!