Category Archives: Race Results

Turkey Trot winners

23 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by in Race Results

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

illustration of turkey with running shoesChilly, 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.

photo of Clark RidgeIn 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.)

Competing in his first open 10K ever, CRR Kyle Chappell, of Landenberg, Pa., placed 20th overall and 1st among the 55-59s, clocking in at 43:52. Super debut at this distance! CRR Dan Simmons, visiting from Atascadera, Calif., won the 70-74 age group in 52:43. Coming in just ahead of Simmons was CRR Doug Repetti with a 52:04, taking 3rd among the 65-69s.

photo of Mark DeshonIn 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!

Remarkably, CRR Doug Repetti doubled his pleasure by exactly halving his 10K time, finishing in 26:02 and taking 2nd place in his age group! Also competing in both races was CRR Dan Simmons (hey, if you’re coming all the way across the country, you might as well run twice), taking 3rd place among the 70-74s with a 38:33.

On the female side, CRR Christine Schultz took third in the 45-49 age group, posting a 28:25 for her 5K.

A word of note here—reminder that, whenever possible, CreekRoadRunners.org displays gun time, not chip time, traditionalists as we may be. So, occasionally explanations like the following are necessary.

In the case of CRR Doug Ridge (father of Clark), who took 2nd among the 75-79s in 34:05 while running with his grandson, he crossed the line six seconds ahead of CRR Paul Amer, who finished 3rd in the 65-69 age group with a 34:11. However, Amer actually ran the course seven seconds faster than did Ridge, based on their respective chip times.

Anyway, congratulations to all. Now, go have some turkey.

CRRs take five firsts

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by in Race Results

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

photo of Luke Nigro and Andrew Weber

Luke Nigro pressures eventual winner Andrew Weber in the final mile of the 5K.

photo of Andrew WeberThe 2019 edition of the UD Homecoming 5K was a real success for the few Creek Road Runners who ran the race. Out of our 12 participants (all male), five garnered top awards and one a third-place age-group finish.

photo of Luke NigroThe 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.

Among the age group winners were CRR Bruce Weber (50-59), who placed fifth overall in 19:15, CRR Bill Rose (60-69), placing 17th overall in 21:05, and 73-year-old CRR Doug Ridge (70+), who ran a respectable 28:29.

CRR Steve Tague finished third in the 60-69 age group in 22:36. A couple seconds behind (but nearly catching) Tague was CRR Mark Deshon, who ran unofficially over the combination paved, cross-country-like surface of the 5K course at the University of Delaware’s athletics complex and agricultural campus.

A shout-out to CRR Nick Sisofo, who made a rare race appearance.

Newark’s own elite “tinman” competes in Doha

29 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by in Kudos, News, Race Results

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

photo of Sam Parsons competing in Doha, Qatar, among the world’s best

Sam Parsons competes in Doha, Qatar, among the world’s best in one of the 5,000m semifinals.

Newark, Del., native Sam Parsons, son of CRR George Parsons and CRR Christina Parsons, has had quite a running year in 2019, capped off by his competing (for Germany) in the World Track & Field Championships this past weekend in Doha, Qatar.

Competing in the 5,000m race as the German national 3,000m champion (he has dual citizenship), Parsons did not qualify for the final, but he managed to run the 24th best time (13:38.53) at this distance in the semifinals among the world’s elite middle-distance runners, finishing 13th in the second semi, just 13 seconds off of a qualifying time.

With regard to the younger Parsons’ experience at the World Championships, his father noted, “He was [just] happy to be here.” About his son’s finishing 24th overall in an attempt to qualify for the finals, the proud elder Parsons said, “I’ll take it!”

photo of Sam Parsons making eye contact with an Ethiopian competitor

Sam Parsons makes eye contact with a rather surprised Ethiopian competitor at the World Championships in Doha.

On Sept. 8, as a run-up to his trip to Doha, Parsons ran a personal best road mile in the prestigious and nationally televised Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City. He led the professional field at the half-mile post (by a wide margin) and collected a $1,000 bonus for having done so, as he had done in 2018 in the same race. Though other runners caught and passed him later in the race, placing him 10th overall, he ran a 3:55.0, smashing his previous best by nearly three seconds and trailing the winner by less than four seconds.

Parsons’ other notable personal bests this calendar year include:

  • 1,500m: 3:37.46 (Portland, Ore., Track Festival, June 9, 2019)
  • 3,000m: 7:44 (IAAF Diamond League, Lucern, July 9, 2019)
  • 5,000m: 13:22 (Payton Jordan Invitational, Palo Alto, May 2, 2019)

Parsons runs for the Boulder, Colo.–based Tinman Elite professional running team. Prior to a successful collegiate running career at North Carolina State, he ran cross country and track in high school locally for The Tatnall School.

 

CRR relay team repeats as champions

29 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by in Race Results

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

photo of Katarina Smiljanec finishingThe CRR Delaware Marathon Relay team roster changed from last year. Due to a schedule conflict, CRR Bill Farquhar was not able to run, and CRR Mark Deshon had gone into “relay retirement.” So, team captain CRR Bill Rose injected some “younger blood” into the team, recruiting newbies CRR Luke Nigro and CRR Katarina Smiljanec to join him and CRR Bruce Weber. This strategy paid off smashingly on April 28 in Wilmington, as the team turned in a stellar 2:49:23, winning the team competition by a mile (actually by more than three miles) and defending CRR’s relay championship from last year.

photo of Andrew WeberIn the Delaware Half-Marathon, though 39-year-old CRR Andrew Weber (no relation to Bruce Weber other than serious speed) was not able to repeat his championship performance of last year, he ran a faster time by 23 seconds and finished second overall (out of 785 finishers) in the Delaware Half-Marathon, in a time of 1:22:11. CRR Kevin McCooey ran a 2:05:11.

photo of 2019 CRR marathon relay team

2019 relay team—Bruce Weber, Luke Nigro, Katarina Smiljanec, and team captain Bill Rose

The brand new marathon course took advantage of the Jack A. Markell Trail. A bicycle rider accompanied the lead relay runner, and the CRR team led the entire way. Legs were not exactly equal, unlike previous years’ four-lap course, and the 1-2 exchange ended up being 0.3 mile farther than the course map indicated.

Leg 1 (Rose) was net uphill, leg 2 (Nigro) was net downhill, and legs 3 (Weber) and 4 (Smiljanec) were flat, each with a small rise/fall going past the DuPont Environmental Education Center at the south end of the Wilmington Riverfront. Legs 3 and 4 were scenic but rather lonely for Weber and Smiljanec over much of the route, out and back along the Markell Trail.

Here’s how Rose described the race:

photo of relay team with plaques

CRR relay team with their first-place plaques

By the time I handed off to Luke at about 6.3 miles, there were four (full) marathoner competitors ahead of me. Luke chased down three of them on leg 2, leaving only one runner ahead of Team CRR. Bruce put time between him and all the relay teams and marathoners behind him. Therefore, Bruce was the second runner to arrive at the 19.6-mile point (3-4 exchange), preceded only by the eventual (full) marathon winner, and 2:05 ahead of the next fastest runner.

Kat ran the final 6.6 miles in 40:21, which was 4:37 faster than any other runner on that leg, relay or full! She finished in 2:49:23. Kat’s run was [basically] a solo time trial, since she was out of sight of anyone going her way, ahead or behind. Somehow, the race organizers had not had time or forethought to set up a tape for her to break, so Wayne Kursh asked Kat to re-enact the finish-line crossing, this time breaking a tape.

Split times were as follows: Rose (44:36), Nigro (42:00), Weber (42:26), and Smiljanec (40:21).

The reward for CRR was a nice set of plaques and a free relay-team registration for next year!