CRR Dan Simmons is not one to toot his own horn, so someone has to do it for him. On October 26th, Simmons competed in the USA National Duathlon Championship in Tucson, Ariz., placing 4th among the 65-69 men and 233rd out of the 383 finishers. He was one of just three competitors from Delaware.
CRR Dan Simmons at the 2013 National Duathlon Championship
Though he admits he wish he had done better in the 5K run, 35K bike, 5K run event (rather than deal with the expensive logistics of shipping his own bicycle out west, he rented a bicycle that didn’t fit him very well), Simmons posted a time of 2:00:12 (splits of 21:45, 1:10:39, and 25:02 for the stages plus 2:36 of transition time). This placed him behind only age-group adversaries from Brookfield, Wis., Blue Bell, Pa., and El Sobrante, Calif.
This finish earned Simmons an invitation to the World Duathlon Championship in Pontevedra, Spain, in May. He hasn’t decided yet if he’ll go or not. It’s a long transatlantic swim and his least favorite of the multi-sport “legs.”
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!
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.
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.
