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cottrell, Delaware, deshon, fischer, hall of fame, taggart, track and field, wolfer
On the track, it’s about time—typically all about time. But this is not so true when it comes to CRR Jim Fischer, who has put more time (and love) into the sport of running and racing—as competitor, coach, and community mentor—than anyone else in Delaware. For his latest honor, all we can say here at CreekRoadRunners.org is that it’s about time!
It’s also about time to have posted this article, well after Fischer’s November 20th induction into the Delaware Track & Field Hall of Fame, the institution that he initiated several years ago.
Fischer came to Delaware from his native Minnesota in 1982 to coach cross-country and track and field at the University of Delaware. He quickly became one of the initial crop of Creek Road Runners. Fischer coached both men and women at UD until 2011, when the school eliminated the men’s running program, at which point he continued coaching the women for a few more years. He put in some coaching time at Delaware Technical & Community College and has since coached at the high-school level with the Sanford School and Ursuline Academy, respectively.
However, Fischer may be remembered most universally among the running community in northern Delaware for his leading public track workouts and mentoring runners individually every Tuesday evening 11 months out of the year for 30+ years. He also organized and officiated meets that were open to the public. He loves running so much that, even after he stopped racing, he could often be seen at races—either helping out or simply encouraging runners. In addition to his affiliation with Creek Road Runners, Fischer is a member of the Pike Creek Valley Running Club.
In CRR lore, Fischer was one of the five scoring members on the second-place-finishing Creek Road Runners team in the 1988 Caesar Rodney Half Marathon’s corporate team competition, clocking a 1:19:05. Other scorers that day were CRR Martin Wolfer, CRR Bob Taggart, CRR Mark Deshon, and CRR Steve Cottrell.
As we close out this calendar year, we salute you, Jim.
See News Journal’s write-up on Fischer and this year’s other four Hall of Fame inductees.
Speedster CRR Andrew Weber, who will turn 40 next year, had been chipping away at the goal of running a marathon in under three hours. This past weekend, he accomplished that feat in the City of Brotherly Love, completing the Philadelphia Marathon in 2:59:15. He placed 337th overall out of the 9,509 finishers and 36th in the 35-39 age group.
Noah Olson, son of CRR Tom Olson, recently completed the Ironman Maryland competition on Sept. 29. His official time was 13 hours, 6 minutes, 23 seconds, including transition times. He finished in the top half (31st) in his age group (25-29), gender grouping, and overall.
Olson had a plan for the day, which unfolded pretty much like he had hoped it would. His time for the 2.4-mile swim was 1:21:22. Then he hit the bike for the long and draining 112-mile distance. His bike time was 6:28:20, an overall average of 17.38 mph, which is super. The challenge was for him to keep the bike leg within reason so as to have enough left in the tank for the marathon. He did so, completing the marathon distance (26.2 miles) in 4:50:02.
A Newark, Del., native and 3200m state record holder, Parsons ran locally while at The Tatnall School and then went on to log a stellar collegiate career at North Carolina State. In June, he competed in the USA Track & Field Championships in the 5000m final, where he actually led the race with 800 meters to go.
In the Beau Biden Foundation 10K cross-country race, there were two standouts. CRR Bill Rose finished 16th overall out of 231 finishers in 50:56. This was good enough to win the 50-59 age group. CRR Theresa Cannon took a third in the same age group, finishing in 1:06:58. Ms. Cannon, who has run the Boston Marathon 13 times, was recently inducted into the Pike Creek Valley Running Club’s Hall of Fame.
In the Beau Biden 5K, CRR Andrew Weber finished 2nd overall our of 333 runners, winning his age group (30-39) in 20:49.
In Newark’s Get Lucky 5K, it was CRR Andrew Weber who finished 5th overall out of 155 runners and took 2nd among the 30-39s in 18:29. CRR Diane Kukich finished 29th overall, winning the 60-69 age group in 24:48. This time age graded to a 80.9, the highest such score of any of the participants.