Several good times were turned in during the Philadelphia Marathon weekend races this past weekend. Among those were four notable Creek Road Runners.
CRR Jay Coughenour came in 5th out of 430 in his age group (45-49) in Sunday’s Philadelphia Half Marathon in a blazing fast 1:20:07. He was 72nd overall out of 12,467 finishers! In the same age group, CRR Keith Crispin posted a very good 1:29:02.
CRR Dan Simmons continued his dominance among the region’s 65-69 men with a win, placing 1st out of 58 runners, in 1:39:16.
In the Rothman 8K, contested on Saturday, CRR Theresa Kauffman ran a 38:44, placing her 6th out of the 72 runners in the 50-54 age group. She finished 256th overall out of 1,609 finishers and 73rd among the women.
On Wednesday, November 13, CRR Scott Mackler succumbed to ALS (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) here in Newark at age 55 after a courageous and inspiring 15-year battle with the disease. Mackler, a physician and neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania, was featured nationally for continuing his research well after ALS had robbed him of all but his brain function. A veteran of both the New York City and Boston marathons, Mackler had a real love for running. Since his diagnosis, the Scott Mackler 5K, held annually here in Newark, has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars toward ALS research. Mackler was always present at those races in his wheelchair, no doubt smiling proudly on the inside.
CRR Dan Simmons is not one to toot his own horn, so someone has to do it for him. On October 26th, Simmons competed in the USA National Duathlon Championship in Tucson, Ariz., placing 4th among the 65-69 men and 233rd out of the 383 finishers. He was one of just three competitors from Delaware.
The first is the 40th Annual Turkey Trot, Delaware’s second oldest running event. On Saturday, November 23, there will be two races. The 10K begins at 9 a.m.; the 5K starts at 10:15. Come out to Handloff Park off Barksdale Road and celebrate by running one or both races. 
On the final day this month, the 29th Annual Delaware Open XC Championships will be held at the always-challenging Brandywine Creek State Park 5K course, north of Wilmington. Prepare for a grueling, but satisfying trip around the park. There are five races—two for the youngsters (12-and-under girls and boys), one for women (open and masters women run together but are scored separately), one for masters men (40 and older), and one for open men. 
This past Sunday in Scranton, Pa., that “hardscrabble” town in which our own Vice President Biden grew up, CRR Thomas Schumacher mustered a PR in the Steamtown Marathon, with a time of 3:20:34. He finished 261st out of more than 2,100 runners. Congratulations!
CreekRoadRunners.org 