Shamrock Shuffle 10-Miler & 5K on tap live for Saturday

New CDC guidelines were released this week regarding a loosening of the mask rule so runners now can lower their mask when they are running socially distant from others. Basically, if you are running alone, you may lower your mask. If you are in a group, passing a runner or being passed, or crossing paths with a runner going in the opposite direction, you must still wear a mask. The new guidelines have increased race participation around the state including this weekend’s local Shamrock Shuffle 10-Miler & 5K, with 165 registered through Thursday night. The Get Lucky 5K in Newark, hosted by Fusion Racing, has more than 100 registered, and the Shamrock Scramble 5K hosted by Tri Sports Events in Dover already has 70 for their March 20 event.

Join the Seashore Striders for the Shamrock Shuffle on the beautiful Gordons Pond Trail of Cape Henlopen State Park Saturday, March 13. Choose between the 3.1-mile course and the 10-mile course. Runners have an option to run it live or virtual. This is a great training long run for the Seashore Classic Half Marathon in early May. The start/finish area is located north of Rehoboth Beach at the Cape Henlopen State Park Gordons Pond trailhead. Register by going to seashorestriders.com. 

The Striders will host a drive-by packet pickup from 4 to 6 p.m., Friday, March 12, at the Lewes Public Library, 111 Adams Ave. Please remain in your car during the pickup.

The 10-miler will go all the way to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry entrance on the trails, while the 5K will turn around on the Gordons Pond Trail at the 1.55-mile mark. The Friends of Cape Henlopen State Park will be volunteering, manning the water stops and monitoring the course throughout the race.

Due to COVID guidelines, there will be no race-day registration and no post-race gathering/party. Results will be posted on the Seashore Striders website following the event.

Cape track & field

Cape track & field opens with Sussex Tech on Monday, March 22, at Legends Stadium in Lewes. The Cape girls have 30 members on a talented young team, while the boys easily have 60 athletes. The Cape Unified track & field team will also compete this year in the 100, 400, shot put, long jump and a relay event, which should be exciting to watch. For those who do not know it, track & field is one of the few sports on the high school level where there are no officials for the dual meets. Dual meets are run by volunteer parents, general public and the coaching staff, and if anyone in the Cape community would like to help out at our three home meets this year, the program would be glad to have you.

Cape track & field clinic

The first of three approved track & field clinics will be held this Sunday morning beginning at 9 a.m. at Legends Stadium, with the elementary athletes from 9 to 10:30 a.m., and middle school and high school athletes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Cape Henlopen girls’ track & field team will be instructors along with the Cape girls’ coaches. There are 75 athletes scheduled to attend this Sunday’s first session. The second session will be held Sunday, March 21. Athletes will get 90 minutes of instruction as well as a T-shirt and a free lunch.

The Cape girls’ program will host two other clinics this season, one in April and one in May. Registration will open for the second and third clinics this Monday.

Jake Bamforth sixth overall in Florida

This past weekend at the Elite Development Draft Legal Triathlon in Clermont, Fla., Jake Bamforth of Lewes/Fort Collins, Colo., finished sixth overall in a field of 75 invited elite amateurs from the United States. Jake exited the water in 10:40, hanging on to the rear of the lead pack of swimmers and had a great transition of just over a minute to catch the lead group. 

“If the lead group got away from me on the bike, I never would have caught them and finished as high as I did,” he said.

Averaging over 26 mph on the bike for 12 miles, he was able to go into the 5K run in the top 10 group. A 5K PR of 16:30 off the bike landed him in sixth overall in a time of 57:10, his highest finish ever in a triathlon of this caliber. Jake credits the training at high altitude with his tri team in Colorado as well as his training with the Fort Collins Swim Team - Fast Masters.