Sam Parsons, son of CRR Christina Parsons and CRR George Parsons, achieved a personal milestone recently and became the first Delawarean to run a sub-four-minute mile. In fact, he was so juiced that he did it twice in one week in major races.
The following is an excerpt from the official race website of the annual New York Road Runners Fifth Avenue Mile, contested on September 9, 2018.
In the men’s race, Sam Parsons bolted to an immediate 5-meter lead, his mind clearly on the halfway leader’s bonus. He hit the first quarter in 57 seconds, while the pack, led by Johnny Gregorek, came through in about 59. Defending champion Nick Willis of New Zealand, seeking his fifth title in this event, was in the center of the chase group, patiently waiting for the real racing to begin.
Parsons reached the half mile in 2:00 with a 10-meter cushion on the field, but that gap quickly disintegrated. Just past three-quarters of a mile (3:00), the pack swallowed up the leader, with Chris O’Hare of Scotland making a bold surge to the front from the far right-hand side of the course. [Scotland’s Jake] Wightman, Willis and Neil Gourley, yet another Scot, covered the move best.
Wightman seized the lead in the final 200 meters, and held off Willis for the win, 3:53.5 to 3:54.2. Gourley (3:55.3) took third, with American Eric Avila (3:55.5) and Aussie Sam McEntee (3:56.0) rounding out the top 5. Parsons was only 14th (3:57.7) but scored his early-leader payday [$1,000] by meeting the sub-4:00 finish requirement. Olympic 1500 gold medalist Matthew Centrowitz didn’t factor in the final sprint and placed 16th in 4:00.2.
Just four days earlier, Parsons had broken the 4-minute barrier for his first time, finishing in 3:59.7 and placing 10th in the Hoka One One Long Island Mile. He runs professionally for Tinman Elite out of Boulder, Colo., and is sponsored by Adidas.
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.
Mom and Dad need to help him work on his finishing kick (just kidding).
In Newark’s inaugural Lederhosen Half Marathon last Saturday, 38-year-old CRR Andrew Weber blitzed the course that covered most of the city, having to follow only a motorcycle and/or cyclist marshal, in 1:22:22. The younger Weber (no relation) won the race outright among 352 finishers.
Also competing in the Lederhosen Half were two other Creek Road Runners. CRR Doug Repetti, who took 3rd in the 60-69 age group in 1:54:45, finished 59th overall and was 18th among 56 masters runners. 
On the women’s side, CRR Julie Brewer was 90th out of 226 women finishers and the 30th masters woman out of 110, clocking in at 2:19:23.
CRR Dave Schultz traveled just north of New York City to run the Shawangunk Ridge Trail Half-Marathon—a grueling 13.1 miles over rugged mountain terrain. The race website bills it as “an adventurous trail with scrambles and squeezes.” Well, it about squeezed every bit of energy out of the 52-year-old Schultz, who didn’t expect it to be quite as menacing. Beginning in Minnewaska State Park and ending in Rosedale, N.Y., he completed the course in just over three hours (3:01:45), finishing 19th overall (13th male finisher) and winning the men’s 50-59 age group.
Right here in Wilmington, CRR Bruce Weber had a very different experience, as he won the inaugural Last Alarm 5K, during which he figures he only ran about 4.67K. Though he had a significant lead over the second-place runner, Weber followed the lead of the city policeman’s motorcycle, who was leading the way but made a 180-degree turnaround too early in the middle of the race. So much for course management. Weber clocked in at 17:42 but figures he would have been closer to 19 flat and would have won anyway had he actually run 5K.
CreekRoadRunners.org 