Tags
cannon, kukich, lehigh, PCVRC, Pike Creek Valley Running Club, ridge, USATF 2014 XC Club Nationals
CRR Diane Kukich at XC Club Nationals
Though she’s not a runner who takes well to cross country, CRR Diane Kukich is one who typically takes on a challenge, particularly if she sees in it a unique opportunity. Such was the case as she, CRR Keith Crispin, CRR Theresa Cannon, and CRR Doug Ridge competed in the USATF 2014 XC Club Nationals at Lehigh University on Saturday. So close to home that Kukich just had to do it.
Kukich finished an impressive 9th in her age group (60-64) with a 29:16 over the women’s 6,000m course. Cannon just broke the 30-minute barrier, finishing in 29:59, placing 48th among the 50-54s.
Crispin covered the men’s 10K course in a very respectable 39:46. Not bad for a 47-year-old.
A rather new septuagenarian, Ridge finished 10th among his 70-and-over peers in 52:54. Here’s how Ridge described the experience:
“XC & track may be the only sports where Olympians and 70-year-old amateurs compete in the same event. It is exciting just to be part of it. I enjoyed meeting my teammates and sensing the excitement of the field of runners from so many clubs and so many places. I hadn’t run in spikes in 50 years—since I was on Harvard’s freshman cross-country team. I have seldom run competitively on a course with such a history. It is a great memory to have.”
Each ran for the Pike Creek Valley Running Club.
CRR Jay Coughenour ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon in a splendid time of 1:18:53. His chip time of 1:18:34 put him just a fraction of a second under a six-minute-per-mile pace for the 13.1-mile distance. Coughenour was the second finisher in the 45-49 age group and placed 85th the among men and 91st overall. Excellent at age 49!
In the Reindeeer Run & Romp 5K, held here in Newark on Friday night, CRR Keith Crispin placed 10th overall out of 406 finishers, winning the 45-49 age group in 18:52. CRR Dan Simmons, just coming off an injury, won the 65-69 age group in 23:53, and CRR Diane Kukich won her age group (60-64) in 24:11. Other age-group awardees included CRR Bill Rose, who took second place among the 55-59s in a very respectable 19:58, and CRR Sue Barton, who placed third among the 55-59s in 28:06.
Going near and far to race some of the most picturesque coastline in the U.S., CRR Rachel Strickland has been on the move this fall. Having participated earlier this fall with running buddies CRR Michelle Parent and CRR Kathy Corbitt in a half-marathon on Cape Cod, Strickland went left-coast recently, finishing the Big Sur Half Marathon along California’s Monterey Bay in 2 hours and 23 minutes. This eclipsed her Cape Cod half by five minutes, with which she was very happy.
CreekRoadRunners.org 