18 runners complete Triple Crown Series
Three races in three days in three towns made up last weekend’s Seashore Striders Triple Crown Series, beginning in Georgetown Friday night with the 20th Georgetown Library 5K. The series moved Saturday morning to Hudson Fields near Milton with the inaugural Rock ‘N Roll 5K, then finished up Sunday morning with the 34th Father’s Day 5K in Rehoboth Beach.
A total of 73 runners and walkers took part in the Georgetown Library 5K, which was won by 21-year-old Matthew Klapak in 17:40. IR graduate and Delaware distance standout Brynn Crandell, 18, of Dagsboro won the female title in 18:57. Eric Nutto of Georgetown won the male masters in a time of 23:01, while Nicole Fleming won the female masters in 25:31. Proceeds benefitted the Friends of the Georgetown Library.
Saturday’s Rock ‘N Roll 5K saw 60 runners head out to Hudson Fields along Route 1 for the out-and-back course. Klapak won his second overall title but had to race a bit faster to get the win in 16:51. An always-tough young runner, Paige Ballinger of Sussex Academy, won the female overall title in 19:12, while the male masters went to Shane Foxwell in a time of 22:13. Jamie Hicks of Milford won the female masters in 24:15.
The race benefited Paul Kares, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging and educating kids who show an interest and passion for the culinary and musical arts.
"All the proceeds from this event go towards our workshop series for children, which we are launching this summer,” said organizer Michael Whitehouse. “The cooking and singer-songwriting workshops for kids are tuition-free and debut in August.
The grand finale of the weekend was the 34th Father’s Day 5K Run in Rehoboth Beach.
Klapak was hoping for a three-peat, but local elite Dylan Smiley of Rehoboth Beach had other ideas. Smiley took the race out in 4:39 and came back with back-to-back 4:51 miles to hit the line in 15:01 for the unchallenged win. Klapak ran 16:30 for his best time of the weekend, while Luke Cohen of Washington, D.C., was third in 17:27. Swarthmore runner Olivia Montini, 19, ran 19:11 to win the overall female title, while past multi-winner Eve Hoffman was second in 19:31. Melissa Wiley of Ocean City, Md., rounded out the top three in a time of 20:21. Matt Sparacino of Harrington won the masters in 18:07, while Lauren Boldizar won the masters by one-tenth of a second over a tough Lisa Sherman. Sherman had the faster chip time, but overall champions are based on gun time, which eliminates someone hiding in the restroom and starting 10 minutes after the course is clear (Dogfish 2014 true story).
The race brought 373 runners and walkers from 13 states to the Nation’s Summer Capital. Many families stayed the weekend in local hotels and bed and breakfasts, while dining in restaurants and spending money on the Boardwalk. The economic impact may not benefit one business, but it benefits the city as a whole. Events that bring people from all over the country to our local city shows Rehoboth is alive and well. It is the truth that years ago when I started in 1990, families would plan a vacation to Rehoboth Beach and jump in a 5K race if there was one, but now that the area is a well-known mecca for foot races, families choose their race and build a vacation around it.
Olympic Trials
Mariner cross country coach Kenny Riedel of Milton will travel to Eugene, Ore., for the Olympic Trials this week, and he will be sending me updates. “Coach, you won’t believe it ... high school kid made the final in the 5,000 and ran his ninth 200 in 31 and closed in 56.” There is not a better person to take in the action of the trials than Coach Kenny. I just wish I was sitting beside him this week.
Note - My son Ben, assistant coach of the Delaware Blue Hens track & field team, just returned from Haywood Field, where he took his freshman 800-meter runner, Kadence Dumas, to compete in the USATF Under-20 Championships. He ran 2:10 for seventh place. Delaware senior Camerin Williams ran 1:49.9 in the 800 meters, running for his club Above Xpectations, finishing seventh in the final.
The fly-in
For the first time in my race-directing career, a couple flew in from the sky for a 5K event. On Saturday, as I was finishing up the course setup at 7:15 a.m., I looked to the sky to see a single-engine N2918E two-seater propeller plane heading for the Hudson Fields grass runway. My buddy Craig Karshner and wife Karen made the 30-minute trip south and bypassed the Route 1 traffic. They easily found parking just 50 feet from the registration table. For the first time in 11 years, Craig did not finish fourth; he grabbed the third-place bronze medal in his age group. Karen finished fourth, but I gave her a medal anyway and called it the co-pilot award, since she now had to listen to Craig talk about winning his medal all the way back to the Wilmington Airport. Up, up and away they went as soon as the awards were complete and the race wrapped up.
