The long-running Delaware Open Cross-Country Championships event has over the years been a challenging 5K, one of the most difficult 5K races, if not the most difficult, in Delaware.
Creek Road Runners have had some success at this race, particularly in the over-50 master’s categories. In fact, several years ago, Creek Road Runners took wins in the “golden masters” group in three consecutive years.
This event always brings out the toughest XC runners from the region, so much so that this year the runners in the 50-59 and 60-69 age groups ran better than the younger (40-49) masters runners.
Out of the top 40 finishers, CRR Bill Rose finished this grueling race in 31st place overall in 22:47. Not too far behind Rose was CRR Bruce Weber in 37th, with a time of 23:35. It’s hard to compare times with, say, a 5K flat road race, but experience tells us that one can easily subtract two minutes off of these Brandywine Creek State Park course times to get a feel for how well these two ran.
Rose placed 7th and Weber 9th, respectively, in the 60-69 men’s division, which tells you something about how stacked the field was with older guys who are still able to handle sprinting up and down trails.
In the Run for Pie 5K in Newark on Thanksgiving morning, CRR Diane Kukich won her age group (60-69) in a solid 23:47. CRR Bill Farquhar placed 2nd in the 40-49s with a 21:43, a mere warmup to what he would do two days later. CRR Theresa Kauffman placed 3rd in the 50-59s in 26:04.
In Wilmington, the bigger races were taking place. In the PNC Bank 5K, CRR Bruce Weber took first place among the 55-59s in a fast 18:55. CRR Ann Jornlin placed 2nd in the 60-64s with a 25:48. In the 10K, CRR Doug Repetti got on the podium for a 3rd place finish among the 65-69s, finishing in 52:34.
On Saturday at the Delaware Open XC Championships, in a grueling 5K, CRR Bill Farquhar placed 8th overall in the Men’s Masters race and 5th in his age group (40-49) in a brilliant 19:28—super fast for that course! CRR Keith Crispin placed 14th overall and 9th in the same age group with a very good 20:39. Earlier this year both runners helped the CRR team break three hours in the 
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