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~ Newark, Delaware

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Category Archives: News

Parsons conquers Mile Challenge

10 Sunday Apr 2022

Posted by deshon in Kudos, News, Race Results, Stories

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bray, Delaware, fischer, mile, parsons, state record, Tinman Elite, track and field

The Delaware Mile Challenge was a unique event, to be sure, on the recently renovated track at The Tatnall School. On Saturday evening, April 9, runners of all ages took to the track to challenge the mile distance. Well after dark, the excitement had built to a crescendo, as the elite men and women took to the oval to compete.

photo of a victorious Sam Parsons
A victorious Sam Parsons is all smiles after clocking the first sub-4 mile in Delaware.

“Homefield” advantage theoretically should have meant nothing, as among the field of 13 elite men there were four runners who had already broken the 4-minute-mile barrier at least once. One of those competitors, however, was CRR Sam Parsons (son of CRR George Parsons and CRR Christina Parsons), who grew up in Newark and ran track and cross country for Tatnall during his high school years.

It appeared early on in the men’s elite feature race that Parsons, who trains with Colorado-based Tinman Elite, was ready for the challenge. Through the initial lap, he was in good position in fourth. Moving up, he took over third during the second lap, staying close to a 60-seconds-per-lap pace while battling with three professional runners from Baltimore’s Under Armour club—two in front of him and one right behind him.

By the back stretch of the final lap, Parsons had moved up and positioned himself right behind the race leader, Casey Comber. With just a half lap to go, both were right around 3:30, setting up what would be a frenetic sprint finish.

With the volume increasing to a roar from the hundreds who lined the track to cheer him on, Parsons out-sprinted Comber on the final straightaway and, in doing so, eclipsed the 4-minute mark—the first time this had been done on Delaware soil. Parsons clocked in at 3:58.17; Comber finished just 0.27 seconds behind, also going sub-4. The previous best mile run in Delaware had been run 50 years ago, indoors, at 4:01.1.

photo of Sam Parson addressing the crowd
Sam Parsons addresses the crowd after his historic win.

While not taking a victory lap, Parsons did take the mic to thank the crowd for helping to make The Delaware Mile Challenge such an energy-filled and memorable event. He also thanked his high school coach, Pat Castagno, who is Tatnall’s track-and-field and cross-country coach and whose own coach while at the University of Delaware was Delaware’s legendary CRR Jim Fischer, who presented the master’s mile race during the event.

By winning the elite race, Parsons bagged $2,500 in prize money. By breaking the 4-minute mark, he also walked (or maybe ran?) away with a $500 bonus, making it a very satisfying (and profitable) trip home!

The elite women’s winner, Molly Sughroue, of the Colorado Springs Track Club, ran away with the race, a new in-Delaware women’s record, and the same prize money.

Collectively, Creek Road Runners congratulate one of our own. Way to go, Sam!

Of local note is the fact that CRR Jim Bray, a Newark High School alum, once held the Delaware high school mile record for 28 years before it was broken in 1999.

The world record in the mile is still a mind-boggling 3:43.13, set by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999.

Attacking the record books

08 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by deshon in News, Race Results

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

15K, 5K, kukich, state records

About every five years, CRR Diane Kukich hears opportunity knocking at her door—specifically, looking at the age-group state records that may be within her grasp. Well, it didn’t take long for Kukich, who turned 70 in February, to take aim at and break a couple state age-group records.

photo of Diane and Christine Kukich
Record breaker CRR Diane Kukich with running daughter Christine in Philadelphia

On March 5 at the Attack Addiction 5K in New Castle, Kukich placed first among the 70-and-overs, finishing as the 25th female and 103rd overall out of the massive local field of 1,567, with a 25:08. Her time eclipsed the old 70-74 state record by 47 seconds.

Perhaps even more impressive was the most recent record she broke, which had stood for 31 years. At the Hot Chocolate 15K in Philadelphia on April 2, amid 1,779 runners from all over the East Coast as well as a few other parts of the country, Kukich smashed the Delaware 70-74 age group record for the 15K (9.3-mile) distance—a long race for her—by a whopping 6:05! She crossed the line in 1:28:13, finishing as the top 70-and-over female and placing 305th among all women and 549th overall.

Five years ago, Kukich broke and still holds Delaware’s 65-69 age-group record for the five-mile distance as well. For a time, she held the 10-mile record in the 50-54 age group, and, until last year, also held the 20K record in that same age group.

Currently, Creek Road Runners now hold 15 state age-group records in total, with Kukich keeping her eyes on some upcoming races at other distances.

Best of luck to a super senior!

Riordan moving on, moving up

20 Sunday Feb 2022

Posted by deshon in Kudos, News

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deshon, Hofstra, promotion, riordan, weber

photo of Charlie Riordan

As of July 1, 2022, CRR Charlie Riordan will assume his new position at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, N.Y., as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Riordan, UD’s Vice President of Research, Scholarship and Innovation, came to the University of Delaware faculty in 1997 and quickly came onto the Creek Road running scene. CRR Mark Deshon still remembers his introduction to Riordan back then while running on Creek Road. “I was curious about who this guy was in the basketball shirt running ahead of me, so I caught up and introduced myself [and him to Creek Road Runners], and we became friends and running companions.”

1999 photo of “Millennium Men”

In 1999, Riordan was one of five “Millennium Men” who ran the initial “Wring Out the Old, Ring in the New” trail run—Creek Road Runners’ annual holiday season run at Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area.

photo of Bruce Weber

Dean of UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and CRR Bruce Weber says of Riordan, whose primary role in recent years at UD has been administrative, “Charlie is one of the most principled colleagues with whom I’ve ever worked.” Weber added that Charlie has always had the best interest of the University in mind when it came to making critical decisions for the institution. That’s truly high praise from one of our fastest runners.

As a scientist, Riordan has been elected to both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Though we’ll be sad to see him move out of the area, we hope Riordan will make it one of his first priorities to initiate a Creek Road Runners outpost on Long Island.

Congratulations, Charlie!

Edwards honored

15 Friday Oct 2021

Posted by deshon in Kudos, News

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edwards, honor

photo of Dave Edwards

CRR Dave Edwards, professor of kinesiology and applied physiology at the University of Delaware, has been inducted into the National Academy of Kinesiology. His area of expertise deals with the effects disease and other factors, such as diet and exercise, have on vascular physiology. He is currently the principal investigator on a National Institutes of Health grant and is consistently published in leading physiology and clinical journals. He also started a Renal Rehabilitation Program to serve patients with kidney disease.

His department chair says, “Dave Edwards is an outstanding scientist who has contributed seminal research to understanding the physiology of exercise…. It is a well-deserved honor to be inducted into the National Academy.”

Creek Road Runners add our collective congratulations too!

Memorial for CRR co-founder Bob Bennett

30 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by deshon in News, Upcoming Events

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bennett, co-founder, Creek Road Runners, memorial

Joan Bennett asked that Creek Road Runners be made aware of the upcoming memorial service, as Creek Road Runners were such a part of the second half of the life of her late husband, CRR Bob Bennett.

A service of Celebration and Thanksgiving
for the life of CRR Robert “Bob” Bennett
will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 9,
at St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church,
276 South College Avenue
Newark, Delaware.

A reception will follow in the Parish Great Hall.

Bob passed away on March 16, 2020, of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. See story that was published at the time.

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You’re a real runner if…

acronyms like PR and DNF are verbs.

the thought of signing up for a 401K is scary.

your blood pressure is 92 over 56 and you are conscious.

you drive 100 miles to a 5K race.

you can convert kilometers to miles in your head.

your iPod has a “running” playlist.

you check out road races while on vacation.

you’ve converted your marathon medals into a wind chime.

you consider running 3 miles to be a warm up.

you know the shoe store guy better than some relatives.

you drive down the freeway and think to yourself, “Hey, my car is doing 1-minute miles.”

you know that PR stands for something other than Puerto Rico.

you use your bib numbers to wallpaper your garage.

your resting heart rate is too low to give blood.

you look forward to birthdays when your age changes to a number ending with a 0 or 5.

you consider your latest race shirt “formal wear.”

you mentally measure junk food in miles rather than calories.

you have your own name for all the local public trails.

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