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!”
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 Barret Michalec, associate dean of Interprofessional Education for the College of Health Sciences and associate professor of sociology at the University of Delaware, was named one of five Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation’s 2019 Macy Faculty Scholars nationwide. The Scholars program, open to educators in medicine and nursing schools, aims to identify innovators in medicine and nursing education and give them the resources to establish new programs at their respective institutions. Michalec was selected from more than 70 applicants for the prestigious award.
CRR Flora Poindexter has received one of the University of Delaware’s highest honors, the Excellence in Teaching Award. Poindexter, a senior instructor in languages, literatures and cultures, is one of only four to receive this award at UD in 2019.
CRR Roberta Golinkoff, one of the earliest members of Creek Road Runners, was also honored by the University of Delaware with the inaugural Faculty Excellence in Scholarly Community Engagement Award. Golinkoff, the Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Chair in the School of Education, was one of two individuals to be so honored.
The 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 
In 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.
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