• Home
  • About Creek Road Runners
    • State record holders
    • Photo archives
      • Lower Slower Run
      • Chateau Country Run
      • Hurricane Irene
  • Running on Creek Road
    • Running Safety
    • Bridge over White Clay Creek
  • Annual Trail Run
    • 2021
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
    • 2009
    • 2008
    • 2007
    • 2006
    • 2005
    • 2004
    • 2003
    • 2002
    • 2001
    • 2000
    • 1999
  • Races, clubs, and tools
    • Area Races/Calendar
    • Pike Creek Valley Running Club
    • Delaware Running Club
    • Trail Dawgs
    • Map My Run
    • Age-Grading Calculator

CreekRoadRunners.org 

~ Newark, Delaware

CreekRoadRunners.org 

Tag Archives: deshon

Riordan moving on, moving up

20 Sunday Feb 2022

Posted by deshon in Kudos, News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

deshon, Hofstra, promotion, riordan, weber

photo of Charlie Riordan

As of July 1, 2022, CRR Charlie Riordan will assume his new position at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, N.Y., as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Riordan, UD’s Vice President of Research, Scholarship and Innovation, came to the University of Delaware faculty in 1997 and quickly came onto the Creek Road running scene. CRR Mark Deshon still remembers his introduction to Riordan back then while running on Creek Road. “I was curious about who this guy was in the basketball shirt running ahead of me, so I caught up and introduced myself [and him to Creek Road Runners], and we became friends and running companions.”

1999 photo of “Millennium Men”

In 1999, Riordan was one of five “Millennium Men” who ran the initial “Wring Out the Old, Ring in the New” trail run—Creek Road Runners’ annual holiday season run at Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area.

photo of Bruce Weber

Dean of UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and CRR Bruce Weber says of Riordan, whose primary role in recent years at UD has been administrative, “Charlie is one of the most principled colleagues with whom I’ve ever worked.” Weber added that Charlie has always had the best interest of the University in mind when it came to making critical decisions for the institution. That’s truly high praise from one of our fastest runners.

As a scientist, Riordan has been elected to both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Though we’ll be sad to see him move out of the area, we hope Riordan will make it one of his first priorities to initiate a Creek Road Runners outpost on Long Island.

Congratulations, Charlie!

Annual trail run a success

31 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by deshon in Stories

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2021, deshon, fair hill, Ring in the New, rose, trail run, Wring Out the Old

On December 31st, we renewed a yearly Creek Road Runners tradition that we had to pull the plug on in 2020. Sixteen participants and two dogs showed up to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. We managed to get a decent group shot and keep a reasonable social distance.

> Check out the full story and more photos.

Gun or chip: a timing paradox

30 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by deshon in Race Results, Stories

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

5K, chip timing, deshon, gun timing, rose

There are many who relish the accuracy of chip timing, as a measure of exactly what their time was for a particular distance. Indeed, the technology that has become commonplace in competitive running is a great thing. For many purists, however, trying to compare races run “pre-chip” with those using chip timing is an undeniable mystery—very much like comparing apples and oranges. Both are fruit but very different from one another.

“gun or chip” graphic

Creek Road Runners, from its earliest days (“prehistoric” in terms of timing technology—e.g., the use of a stopwatch), has held to a standard of posting “gun times,” as opposed to “chip times” for just this reason. It is fair to compare gun times over the years, though they don’t necessarily reflect accurate time over the stated distance. Who’s to say what one’s chip time would have been in a race of tens of thousands back in the day, if it took up to a few minutes after the gun went off just to get to the starting line?

Today, nearly all race organizers/timers do what is easiest and most efficient in posting results, i.e., using chip times, which is totally understandable. However, how do race directors decide who earns awards in various competitive categories? This can be quite paradoxical.

photo of Bill Rose

Speaking of paradox, CRR Bill Rose competed in the Grape Stomper cross-country 5K this summer at Paradocx Vineyards in nearby Pennsylvania. Finishing eighth overall, Rose won his age group. The paradox involved here is that Rose’s chip time was actually faster than the competitor who finished just two seconds ahead of him and who walked away with the award for fastest men’s masters runner—a more prestigious accolade, to be sure.

Upon further inspection, there were a number of inconsistencies in how runners were ranked—most placed strictly according to chip time, and yet some weren’t, like Rose, who turned in a 23:13.

photo of Mark Deshon

CRR Mark Deshon remembers a 5K several years back, at the finish of which he was certain to have won his age group, having not seen his main rival at any point during the race. Upon checking the results board, he had placed second, not first. How might this have happened? Well, he found out that his competitor, who gladly accepted the age-group win, actually had a faster chip time but had spent too long in the Porta-Potty and had gotten to the starting line about 45 seconds after the gun had sounded.

So, this illustrates a problem with competitions, which are essentially what “races” are. One can complain about Creek Road Runners’ stance with respect to not posting the faster (i.e., chip) time in its race results articles, but we’ll argue that when the gun sounds, the official clock begins, no matter where you are in relation to the starting line—even if you’re still in the Porta-Potty!

The old, completely wrung out

31 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by deshon in Stories

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

deshon, duathlon, fair hill, individual, tague, trail run

Closing the Book on 2020
 

The novel coronavirus has certainly changed the behavioral landscape in 2020, particularly in terms of event cancellation. The Creek Road Runners annual trail run, traditionally held on Dec. 31, was no exception.

photo of Mark Deshon

Not to be completely deterred, however, was CRR Mark Deshon, who, along with four other “millennium men,” began this holiday tradition in 1999. In an effort to exercise (or is it exorcise?) away the effect of all the holiday food that is ever-present and so tempting while sheltering in place, he decided to make good on the last decent-weather day of the year (Dec. 30) by engaging in a duathlon pilgrimage, biking to and from the Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area and running the course.

The 4.1-mile bike—4.67-mile run—4.1-mile bike effort was both a challenge and a good way to close out what had been a great year of training for Deshon. With some transition time in between, mostly to change gloves and headgear, his times were 17:52, 40:26, and 15:35, respectively.

The wind from the southwest was substantial, accounting for the big time difference on the bike, while the “monster” of New Muenster hill gradually slowed him to a survival jog.

Deshon missed the company of triathlete and CRR Steve Tague, with whom he had been bike training since May. Tague was also trying to take advantage of the good weather by finishing a deck-building project.

Another year, another trail run in the book, and another year of “wringing out the old.” And, yes, the old was completely wrung out in 2020. Time to ring in the new!

For a sample chronicling of past years’ events, check out the following:

  • Veni, vidi, vici! (it was warm, it was foggy, it was muddy!) – 2002
  • 10th annual run ushers in a cold and windy day – 2008
  • No Victor, but not without a winner – 2012
  • El niño, another record breaker in 17th annual – 2015
  • Good times highlight 20th annual event – 2018

CRR co-founder Bob Bennett dies at 78

21 Saturday Mar 2020

Posted by deshon in News

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bennett, cottrell, Creek Road Runners, Delaware Sports Club, deshon, fischer, kaliakin, obituary, Pike Creek Valley Running Club, riordan, rose, taggart, white

photo of votive candleIt is with sadness that we announce that CRR Bob Bennett, co-founder of the Creek Road Runners, died on Monday, March 16, at his home at age 78, after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Bennett grew up in Washington, D.C., where he wrestled and ran track and cross-country for St. Alban’s, the Episcopal school associated with the National Cathedral. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, during which time he ran track and cross-country, competing well among the rival ACC schools. He went west to Stanford for graduate school, where he continued his running with local clubs and some of the West Coast’s elite runners at the time.

photo of Bob Bennett running

Here’s Bob in his heyday in the 1988 Run For Bruce 5K.

Bennett met his wife-to-be, Joan, in graduate school, and they came to the University of Delaware for his faculty appointment in the English department in 1969. Bennett’s love of Shakespeare professionally and the environment as a citizen were second only to his love of running.

Early into his time here in Newark, he joined forces with other advocates to block the proposed reservoir project that would have turned much of one of the areas of what is now White Clay Creek State Park from a natural woodland into a big lake. We Creek Road Runners remain beneficiaries of this civic victory, made possible by Bob and others having fought this proposal.

photo of Bob Taggart, Bob Bennett, and YoUDee

Bob shares the podium at the 2013 Blue Hen 5K with CRR Bob Taggart and YoUDee.

In terms of running, Bob was always one of the best in his age group in the area; his main competitors were CRR Bob Taggart and the late Doug White. In the fall of 1980, he met a young runner who had recently joined the staff at the University of Delaware—Mark Deshon. Together, they conceived of and began organizing the Creek Road Runners.

CRR Mark Deshon remembers:

Bob and I had great times together, beginning when we met nearly 40 years ago after a race on campus. He won the race, and I came in third that day. He and I began training together and remained training partners for the next 20 years.

photo of Bob Bennett running

Bob loved the downhills, shown here in the 2004 Turkey Trot.

In our second race together, the 1980 Turkey Trot 10K, we each achieved a personal breakthrough. Bob and I battled most of the way, he stretching into a lead on the downhills and me catching up to him on the uphills, until the final turn for home onto Barksdale Road. Seemingly out of nowhere, Bob blasted by both Doug White and me—a youngster of 24 at the time, out-sprinting us and clocking in at 34:01 (at age 38!).

I also remember how valuable Bob was to me as I trained for my one-and-only marathon in 1991, sharing both his vast experience and energy on my behalf. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve that milestone without him and others with whom I was running at the time. He and I shared many runs and races together, both on the roads and trails.

photo of Bob and Mark

Bob and Mark Deshon pay homage to CRR Jim Fischer in 2012.

Bob was one of my dearest friends, and it was sad to see his decline over the past several years. I’m glad I got to spend some of that time with him—early on jogging in the park, later walking the trails, and most recently (when he neither could get around very well nor remember me), just visiting him.

photo of “Millennium Men” on Dec. 31, 1999

Bob (center) ran the initial Fair Hill trail event in 1999 with CRR Mark Deshon, CRR Vic Kaliakin, CRR Skip White, and CRR Charlie Riordan.

photo of Bob Bennett and other CRRs

Bob shows off our 10th anniversary trail run–event shirt among other Creek Road Runners at UD in 2012.

CRR Skip White remembers:

I remember, starting the fall semester at UD in 1987, suiting up in the (old, old) general locker room around noon and going outside to stretch, where I ran into Mark, Bob, and CRR Steve Cottrell and asked if I could join them. I was instantly welcomed into “the club” and had new friends for life.

Bob and I were a little less than five years apart, so, unluckily for me, every five years we were in the same age category. I can’t remember how many times Bob beat me, but I do remember the two times that I beat him!

 

CRR Bill Rose remembers:

I first met Bob and Joan Bennett at St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church around 1990. I quickly appreciated that Bob was a gentle soul who loved teaching at the University of Delaware and sharing with students his love of literature, especially Shakespeare.

I first raced against Bob at a 5K at St. Thomas’s in October 1993. I remember it because it was my fastest 5K ever, and he beat me. My last run with him was a very nice couple of miles at the end of December 2014, at the annual Fair Hill trail event.

photo of Mark Deshon and Bob Bennett

Bob is at peace and having fun on Creek Road with Mark Deshon in 2017.

Bob wrote a book, Romance and Reformation: The Erasmian Spirit of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, which was published by the University of Delaware Press in 2000. The “Erasmian” in the title refers to the great Dutch humanist Erasmus. Like Erasmus, Bob was a scholar and a humanist. I am glad I knew him. I will miss him.


Bennett leaves behind his wife, Joan, and adult children Miriam and Aaron, their spouses, and three grandchildren.

> University of Delaware memorial article
>
Bob Bennett’s obituary

← Older posts
Creek Road Runners is an informal association of runners/joggers who frequent the only quiet scenic road out of Newark, Delaware.

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 44 other followers

photo of Mark Deshon

Recent Posts

  • Completing a record-breaking trifecta
  • Kauffman honored
  • Barton also a horticulture champion
  • Broad Street representatives
  • April’s longer races
  • Parsons conquers Mile Challenge
  • Attacking the record books
  • The quest for the 4-minute mile in Delaware

Post Categories

  • Kudos (54)
  • News (106)
  • Race Results (180)
  • Stories (46)
  • Uncategorized (3)
  • Upcoming Events (44)
  • Useful Info (10)

You’re a real runner if…

acronyms like PR and DNF are verbs.

the thought of signing up for a 401K is scary.

your blood pressure is 92 over 56 and you are conscious.

you drive 100 miles to a 5K race.

you can convert kilometers to miles in your head.

your iPod has a “running” playlist.

you check out road races while on vacation.

you’ve converted your marathon medals into a wind chime.

you consider running 3 miles to be a warm up.

you know the shoe store guy better than some relatives.

you drive down the freeway and think to yourself, “Hey, my car is doing 1-minute miles.”

you know that PR stands for something other than Puerto Rico.

you use your bib numbers to wallpaper your garage.

your resting heart rate is too low to give blood.

you look forward to birthdays when your age changes to a number ending with a 0 or 5.

you consider your latest race shirt “formal wear.”

you mentally measure junk food in miles rather than calories.

you have your own name for all the local public trails.

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • CreekRoadRunners.org 
    • Join 44 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • CreekRoadRunners.org 
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...