Dewitt and Butterly grab titles at Run for J.J. 5K

Two Kenyan-born runners, Amon Kiprotich and Shadrick Martim, were introduced before last Sunday’s J.J. 5K in Rehoboth. Amon smiled and waved to the crowd wearing a pair of shorts donated by Jay Stein because he had forgotten his own. Everyone expected to see Amon and Shadrick burn up the course and possibly go under 15 minutes, but that’s not what happened.

Dan Dewitt, a 21-year-old recent graduate of Lehigh University, was vacationing in Ocean City, Md., and saw there was a race in Rehoboth so he decided to throw in a speed workout on top of his long distance training for the Chicago Marathon this October.

Dewitt was all alone winning the race in 16:18, a time the engineer shrugged off as somewhat slow. “I ran a 14:44 in the Olympic Development 5K at the Penn Relays last spring,” Dewitt said. When asked what place that got him he replied, ”Not much - I got killed.”

Dewitt, who was the third man on Lehigh’s cross country team, also owns a 31:10 10K.
“I hope to run 2:25 in the Chicago Marathon,” he said. “I’ve run 69:25 for the half which got me in the elite start so I don’t have to fight the crowd,” said Dan, who runs for the Cumberland Valley Athletic Club.

The top 18 runners broke 20 minutes in the race and the top seven, all 22 or younger, broke 18 minutes.

Nineteen-year-old Dennis Young was a distant second in a time of 17:04, while Kiprotich (17:09) and Martim (17:25) were third and fourth place, respectively.

Both Kenyan runners are University of Maryland Eastern Shore runners and are training on campus this summer.

Larry Lenhart, 20, rounded out the top five in 17:27.

Breck Venderwende, 36, from Bridgeville, placed eighth in 18:12 while Rick Oldrieve, 50, ran 18:20 to win the male masters.

Elizabeth Butterly, 19, a former Milford runner and member of the Rehoboth Beach Patrol won the women’s race in 21:01.

“I wasn’t sure if I was the first woman; I knew I passed several during the race, but you never know about those things,”Liz said. “I’m in good shape just from training on the beach but I’m really not in 5K shape.”

Liz will compete in the USLA Nationals in Fort Lauderdale this Wednesday as part of the paddle board relay and also as a member of the defending champion land line team.

Katie Socker, 19, was second in 21:28, while Zoe Wilson, 18, was third in 21:42. Twenty-one-year-old Megan Sinder finished fourth among female finishers in 21:47 and young 16-year-old Jacquie Clark rounded out the top five finishers in 22:19.

Forty-eight-year-old Margaret Colvin of Rehoboth ran 28:26 to win the female masters.

NOTES - David Ritter, 46, usually seen with camera in hand. jumped into his first 5K and ran a respectable 28:25. The top Clydesdale runners – 190+ pounds - were Mark Nicolson - 21:23, John Yanacek - 21:47, Darren Slade - 22:23, James Mill - 22:43, Andre Williamson - 23:24 and Jules Woodall - 23:48. Billy Jo Chiarelli was the top Filly 150+pounds finisher in 26:58 followed by Sarah Friebert - 29:40, and Teri Moore - 30:17. This Saturday, Aug. 8, will be the Dam Mill 5K run in Millsboro at Cupola Park with the race time at 7:30 a.m.