Striders host triple-event weekend
The Seashore Striders Team rebounded off their largest event, the Dogfish Dash, to host a triple-event weekend with the Sept. 30 Dolphin Dash 5K in Lewes, the Oct. 1 Hurlock Day 5K in Hurlock, Md., and the Oct. 2 Giggle Medic 5K in Lewes. Here is a wrap of all three events:
Dolphin Dash 5K - The fourth annual Shields Elementary School event, the Dolphin Dash, kicked the weekend off with 120 kids, grouped by grade, racing one lap around the track. All received a medal at the finish line. There were smiles, there was lots of cheering, a few falls, a couple of tears, but a good time had by all. Following the dashers, the 5K runners and walkers took to the course, as 76 racers looped Highland Acres and Blockhouse Pond and returned for an Olympic-style track finish on the Shields' cinder oval. Troy Hartle of Easton, Md., won the 5K race in 18:43, followed by David Griffin in 19:17 in second and masters champion. Nine-year-old Blake Hundley of Bethany Beach, second in 2010 at the cross country youth nationals, ran in the third position in an outstanding time of 19:19 for the course.
On the female side, it was again Logan Shuttleworth, 11-year-old sixth-grader at Beacon Middle, capturing the overall female title, which she has won in all four years of the event. Shuttleworth ran 20:16 this time around and has not ever had a girl within 30 seconds of her on this course. Laura Wootten was second in 23:17, while 10-year old Alia Marshall was third in 23:32. Linda Schwartz-Chi won the female masters in a time of 24:31. An added bonus to the 5K dashers was the addition of tech tank tops and custom wood dolphin awards.
Hurlock Day 5K - The second annual Hurlock Day 5K Run & Walk began at Hurlock Elementary School, kicking off the annual Hurlock Day Festival held each year on the first Saturday in October. Camden runner Mike Sewell captured the overall male championship in 19:14, while Tracy Maccherola won the female championship in 21:37. Jim Creighton won the male masters in 21:24, while Emily Phillips won the female masters in 25:59.
The course meanders through the downtown festival area twice, crossing over railroad tracks and the loading zone for the annual Hurlock Festival Train Ride. In 2010, the train blocked the tracks for nearly three minutes, and the runners had to jog in place together, waiting for it to pull out of the station. This year I went to speak to the train engineer and tried to coordinate the times with him so runners would miss the train. “We pull out at 9:31 a.m. and not a minute earlier," said the nice, but direct gentleman. The tracks are located 1.25 miles into the course, so I started the event at 9:24 sharp. As Sewell and I approached the tracks, there it was again, blocking the tracks, and Sewell jogged in place for about 50 seconds as we laughed about the incident and the nice man yelled down to me “Tell him to slow down, will ya?"
Giggle Medic 5K - The final event of the weekend, the fourth annual Giggle Medic 5K, took place Oct. 2 at Cape Henlopen High School, as we remembered Stephanie Callaway, popular Sussex County paramedic who died on Route 24 in an ambulance accident. Several paramedics, law enforcement and county workers make their way out to the event to run and walk and pay tribute to one who gave so much to her profession. Young Hannah Evans sang the national anthem, the color guard presented the flags and the runners and walkers were off on the 5K course through historic Lewes. Justin Bragg won the overall male title in 20:55 and he said to me crossing the line, “I picked the right race to run, huh?” Joanne Szczepkowski, 65, won the female title in a time of 23:50. Sussex Tech's Michael Firch won the male masters in 22:32, while Terry Wilkinson won the female masters in 25:03.
Finish line - A shout out to four Seashore Striders runners that competed in all three events last weekend: Dr. Lee Masser of Edgewater, Md., grabbed a second and two first-place finishes as he approaches 100 races for the year; Rosanna Castillo of New York City made the three-hour trip on Friday to catch the Dolphin Dash and was back in her NYC office by 8 a.m. Monday morning; 79-year-old Alberto Castillo of Rehoboth Beach ran just about 40 minutes in each event and is responsible for the photo slideshows that appear on seashorestriders.com; and lastly, new runner Holly Zakrociemski of Georgetown did the triple and has dedicated herself to staying fit, saying she caught the racing bug that many in the Delmarva region have. Congratulations to the four Striders supporters.
Cape XC splits with CR, Central
The Vikings cross country team traveled to Ingrams Pond Oct. 5 and split with the Riders of Caesar Rodney and the Indians of Indian River. Austin MacElrevey led the Vikings with a sixth-place finish in 19:05, following the top five Riders across the line. Ryan Thornburg was Cape's second runner.
Cape's Ali Coning led the Viking girls, followed by Shanel Dickens. Madison MacElrevey, just a freshman, was the Vikings' third girl.
In other local cross country action, the Sussex Tech Ravens boys easily got by the Woodbridge Raiders 15-50 and the Smyrna Eagles 20-43, as they were led by Dylan Varrato in second place with a time of 17:05, followed by Ricky Hernandez in 17:23 for third. Sam Hete, just a freshman, ran a personal best 17:37, while freshman Jake Bamforth turned in a 17:45. Senior Bobby Robles, last year's Sussex County champion, finally cracked the top five running his personal best of 17:48.
On the girls' side of the action, senior Isabel Wharton ran a 19:14 to win, followed by Bethany Killman in 20:13. The Smyrna Eagles grabbed the next three positions to make it a close meet, while Amanda Sava was sixth in 22:11. Laura Zwiebel ran 22:19, while Chelsea Lecates ran 22:43 to round out the top five as the Ravens won a close meet 27-28.
The Vikings will travel to the University of Delaware Invitational Friday, Oct. 7, at White Clay Creek in Newark. Good luck, Vikings.
Epilepsy 5K Run
The inaugural Epilepsy 5K Run & Walk will be held this Saturday, Oct. 8, at Salisbury Park in Salisbury, Md. Registration will begin at 10 a.m. The 5K double-loop race begins at 11:30 a.m. and will take place in the park and next to the zoo. The Epilepsy Association of the Eastern Shore serves all nine counties of Maryland's Eastern Shore. More than 2 million people in the United States have some form of epilepsy and over 3,000 people on Maryland's Eastern Shore have the condition. Support a great cause on Oct. 8 in Salisbury. See you on the starting line.
