Marathoning is difficult enough in itself, but when one has a goal in mind, say qualifying for Boston, the exertion over the 26-mile, 385-yard course can seem insignificant to the mental stress of looking at one’s watch and seeing how close one is to qualifying and NOT to have qualified.

Such was the case on October 13 for CRR Tripp Shenton, who, despite running a nice 3:31:30 in the Baltimore Marathon, came up a mere 16 seconds shy (his chip time was 3:30:16) of his age’s 3:30 qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon—less than a second per mile. That’s unfortunate.

Still a strong showing. Know he’ll make it one day.

Two Creek Road Runners ran times at this year’s Delaware Distance Classic 15K that rate as “national class” times for their particular age.

CRR Jay Coughenour ran an impressive 55:40 to win the 45-49 age group and finishing 16th overall out of 356 finishers. In addition to this working out to just less than six minutes per mile, this time age grades at 82.0 for his age (80-89 is considered “national class”). CRR Dan Simmons won the 65-69 age group in 1:06:48, which age grades at 80.0 for his age. Well done!

In addition, CRR Bruce Hubbard came in 3rd in the 65-69 age group with a 1:19:56.

Congratulations to Jay, Dan, and Bruce on these quality performances in Delaware’s only 15K.