Walking the fast track to low impact is not so easy

Walk like a conniption - Not too many years ago, I walked 100 miles per month for five straight years. They call me the streak, but then suddenly, without deliberation, I’ll just stop and go negative, like riding a bike from my garage to my truck in the driveway. I walked slow on purpose – people with canes and walkers passed me by, humped me down, walked the dog on me. But once, I went to the track and walked a mile like a cat on crack; I didn’t care who saw me. I checked my watch at the end, and I hadn’t broken 13 minutes. And so I respect walkers embedded inside running races. At the Dewey Beach Liquors 5K July 10, Connie Marshall, 60, walked the course in 36 minutes, which is just amazing. Troney Haney, 55, of Lewes walked the Kelly Fritchman 5K in 39:36. Big Mike Donovan, 57, ambled his 6-foot-8 self around the Fritchman 5K course in 44:00. Most people, including me, can’t walk three miles under 15 minutes per mile. Personally, I don’t want to. 

Destiny’s Child - I spoke with Maggie Delp and Izzie Delario July 11, both women catchers of multiple championships. They were working as coaches and clinicians at the Cape Champions Field Hockey Camp. Maggie played lacrosse and field hockey at Cape, and left with seven state championships. She then played field hockey at the University of Delaware, where the Blue Hens won four CAA league championship and a national championship. Maggie is heading off to Vienna, Austria, where she will play field hockey this fall in the Austria/German league. Izzie won four high school state championships in field hockey – the first two at Sussex Tech, the last two at Cape. She then went on to UMass, where she was a four-year starter and an All-Atlantic 10 performer. Izzie works for Beebe Healthcare.

Penn State Hazleton - Pat Brogan, a great guy with Dewey connections, is the new head coach of women’s basketball at the Penn State Hazleton campus. They play a Division III schedule, and the campus offers two- and four-year degree programs. It mostly appears in this column as a place and a chance to play college basketball. Coach Brogan’s email is psb15@psu.edu. Tell him Fredman sent you.

Champions Field Hockey Camp - I can bring my blue chair and hang at any Cape sports camp because I have field cred. It comes from following teams over the long seasons of my own life, which incorporated the journeys of young athletes. Camps are fun for me. They are a time to kick back and talk to coaches and kids. It’s how you get to know people and they get to know you as a person and personality. An insider story at Cape in the girls’ sports of field hockey and lacrosse is not all the best prospects come out for the team. Some great middle school players either elect not to play or want to try something different, while upperclassmen sometimes just shut it down.

Snippets - The resurfacing of the Cape track project is coming along, and, yes, it is going to be red, so don’t get the blues. Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if the middle school tracks were turned into all-weather surfaces? Croatians don’t play around. I’m not surprised they are going to the World Cup final, but I’ll be real surprised if they beat France, a team that is just loaded with great players. I’m sad for England, but if you want to reach the finals, you have to score more than once in 120 minutes of play. I don’t know what I’m talking about, but a tactical approach to soccer seems to get a lot of talented teams beaten. Way back in the Cape soccer summer league days, my twin sons Tom and Jack looked up to the Ashby boys, Chris and Jay. There were no 50/50 balls or “nicely done” comments from the sidelines; it was all full-tilt, take the body and let the next guy get the ball, and there was no flopping – if you hit the ground, someone put you there. The Major League All-Star baseball winners’ bracket game in Milton Friday night will feature Lewes/Rehoboth versus Milton. Get your red cup ready. Go on now, git!