This past Sunday in Scranton, Pa., that “hardscrabble” town in which our own Vice President Biden grew up, CRR Thomas Schumacher mustered a PR in the Steamtown Marathon, with a time of 3:20:34. He finished 261st out of more than 2,100 runners. Congratulations!

CRR Jay Coughenour finished 16th overall in the Delaware Distance Classic 15K today, winning the 45-49 age group in 57:03. Running this course in less than an hour is impressive (6:08 per mile). At 48, his time age grades to an 80.65, which is considered national class. Congratulations on a fine performance!

Also taking honors was CRR Dan Simmons, who came in 2nd among the 65-69s in 1:08:37, finishing 70th overall. CRR Tripp Shenton finished in 100th place with a 1:12:20, and CRR Theresa Cannon was 132nd in 1:16:44.

Though there were only eight Creek Road Runners who ran the HealthyU 5K on a summer-like day yesterday in Newark, six of them placed in the top three in their respective age group, and five won their respective age groups.

Age group winners CRR Bill Rose (50-59) ran a 19:43 and finished 4th overall, CRR Dan Simmons (60-69) ran a 21:48, CRR Diane Kukich (60-69) ran a 25:44, CRR Becky George (50-59) ran a 26:38, and CRR Bob Bennett (70+) ran a 28:52. CRR Mark Deshon, who took second place honors in the 50-59s and placed 6th overall in the event, ran a 20:50.

CRR Kathy Corbitt helped organize the event, which drew over 200 runners/walkers, on behalf of the University of Delaware.

Editor’s post-post note: Welcome to new CRR Amy Arundale, who ran a 21:55 to finish as the 2nd overall woman in the race and 14th overall.

It’s great for those of us who no longer run races every weekend to simply pick and choose from a plethora of events each week, the vast majority of which support worthy causes (never mind just racing for the fun of it).  Once a fixture at weekend races back in the late 1990s, CRR Diane Kukich races sparingly now but picks her spots, and she does so with her “eyes on the prize.” She seems to like the women-only races and on September 12th won her age group (60-64) in the Pink Ribbon 5K with a time of 25:56, placing 55th out of the 539 females who competed.

From flat road 5Ks to grueling trail marathons, the Creek Road Runners have been active at the end of the summer.

This past Saturday CRR Dan Simmons won his age group (65-69) at the 37th Annual Bottle & Cork Ten Miler in Dewey Beach with a 1:13:23, placing 55th overall out of 359 runners. Simmons recently completed the popular Annapolis Ten Mile Run in 1:14:34.  In doing so, he placed 2nd out of 34 in his age group and 240th out of the more than 3,400 runners at that race.

CRR Tripp Shenton also ran the Bottle & Cork Ten Miler, coming in with a time of 1:16:51, good for 64th overall.

This past Sunday, CRR Cole Galloway ran Stumpy’s Marathon, a difficult trail marathon in the nearby Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area, organized by the Trail Dawgs. Galloway ran with his son, Nathan, and managed a 6:05 finish. A long time to be out on the trail on a warm day, but he said there were, “lots of food, friendly smiles, and encouragement at each pitstop.” He added, “Overall even more wonderful given that this is and has always been a free event.”

CRR Mark Deshon (50-59) and CRR Bob Taggart (70+) each won their respective age groups at the Cindy Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research 5K on the Riverfront in Wilmington.  Deshon’s time was 20:32 and Taggart’s 24:47 for the flat course.

Wait, there’s more!

CRR Jay Coughenour qualified for the Boston Marathon with an insanely good 3:02:12 at the Lehigh Valley “VIA” Marathon, held last Saturday. Congratulations! At the same venue, CRR Keith Crispin ran the half-marathon in 1:29:04—a super time. There weren’t many spectators along the way. In fact, of the course, Coughenour said, “It was like running Creek Road for 26.2 miles.”

On the distaff side, CRR Theresa Kauffman won her age group in the Charm City 20-Mile NCR Trail Race in Hunt Valley, Md., on September 1 and last Saturday won her age group in the Diamondman Sprint Duathlon (biking and running) at Lums Pond in 1:48:43. Well done!