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Age-grading for us seniors is the big playing-field leveler and often reveals some important clues as to how well some Creek Road Runners are still racing.
On the Saturday before Christmas, at the local White Claw-mas 8K (close metric equivalent to a 5-mile run), there were two standouts among our contingent.
CRR Bruce Weber and CRR Diane Kukich placed first and second overall (out of 609 runners), respectively, in terms of age grading (scoring based on one’s time relative to the world record at that distance for one’s age). Weber scored an 82.5, and Kukich was close behind with 82.3. That, folks, is what is considered “National Class” (anything in the 80s). The two have been racing consistently with results like this for several years. There was only one other racer at this event who had an age-grading score in this range.
In terms of time, the 58-year-old Weber, a track runner at heart, placed 7th overall and won his 10-year age group in 31:05. The 67-year-old Kukich placed 123rd and took second among her respective age-group peers in 41:10.
Bravo!
Notably absent from last Saturday’s Turkey Trot races here in Newark was CRR Andrew Weber. That’s because he ran the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday. The 40-year-old Weber placed 400th overall in a huge field, breaking the 3-hour mark in 2:59:44 and qualifying for the Boston Marathon in the process. Congratulations to him on a major accomplishment in his new age group.
In the Rothman Orthopedics 8K (rough metric equivalent of a five-mile race), part of the Philadelphia Marathon Weekend, 52-year-old CRR Bill Farquhar finished in 29:59, 4th in his age group and 122nd overall (out of 4,130 competitors). That’s a six-minute/mile pace for this speedy senior!
In the 10K race, coming off having run both the 
Chilly, but calm, conditions provided a near ideal day for the 47th Annual Turkey Trot 10K and 5K races here in Newark. There were several notables among the Creek Road Runners, as several took age-group awards.
In the 10K, CRR Clark Ridge of College Park, Md., placed 4th overall (out of the 195 finishers) and took 1st among the 35-39 men in a fast 36:38. (Yes, the photo at left is one from his college days.)
In the 5K, CRR Mark Deshon led the Creek Road Runners, placing 39th overall (out of 541 finishers) and turning in an inspired 7-min./mile pacing at 21:42, taking 1st place in the 60-64 age group. This is Deshon’s 10th consecutive age-group win, dating back four years to the 2015 Turkey Trot. OK, the jinx is now on!
The battle at the front was between CRR Andrew Weber and CRR Luke Nigro. Weber ended up besting the younger Nigro and winning the race in a time of 17:39. Nigro came in second overall and first in the 19-29 age group in 17:45.