Tags
4-person relay, 5K, Delaware Half Marathon, Delaware Marathon Running Festival, deshon, farquhar, firestone, mccooey, rose, weber, weile
Sunday was a great day for Creek Road Runners, despite the unseasonably cool temperatures and added wind. Several participated in one of the events during the weekend, which included the Delaware Marathon, Half-Marathon, 4-Person Relay, and 5K.
One Creek Road Runner—38-year-old CRR Andrew Weber—stood above all the rest (out of 699 finishers) in the Delaware Half-Marathon, winning in 1:22:34 and finishing a good five-and-a-half minutes ahead of the next runner. CRR Dan Weile punched his ticket for the podium by being the third man to finish (fifth overall) in 1:29:52. Both Weber (35-39) and Weile (45-49) would have won their respective age groups but had to settle for the bigger honor of having finished in the top three.
Another notable was CRR Kevin McCooey, who finished 4th among the 60-64s in 2:04:09.
In the 5K on Saturday, CRR Jeremy Firestone won the 60-64 age group in 23:25.
The 2018 winning Delaware Marathon 4-Person Relay team—Bill Rose, Bill Farquhar, Bruce Weber, and Mark Deshon
The Creek Road Runners 4-person relay team bested 49 other teams in winning the relay. With an average age of 56.5, the rather senior team of CRR Bill Rose (leadoff) CRR Bruce Weber (leg 2), CRR Mark Deshon (leg 3), and CRR Bill Farquhar (anchor) logged a combined time of 2:59:16, slower than their collective potential but well ahead of the second-place team. This is the best overall place finish of any Creek Road Runners team in the history of this race. Last year, the team placed third; the team was fifth in 2016.
At age 59, Rose (45:03) gave the team the early lead it would not relinquish (exchanging with Weber in above photo), and the cushion that 50-year-old anchor Bill Farquhar (45:27) needed to treat this as an up-tempo training run for next week’s Broad Street Ten Miler. In between, the fastest time of the four—42:17—was turned in by the 57-year-old Weber on leg 2, and Deshon (three weeks shy of turning 62) stepped up his game to post a 46:29—18 seconds better than his relay leg in 2016 (Weber exchanging with Deshon in photo at right).
With the team squarely in the lead, each of the runners enjoyed the luxury of a lead vehicle, either a motorcycle or bicycle, to follow through the 6.55-mile relay course, something to which none of them is accustomed (Farquhar finishing in the photo at left; in photos below: Rose, Farquhar, and Deshon—holding Weber’s jacket during leg 2; Weber congratulating Farquhar after the finish).
The 45th annual Turkey Trot races in Newark saw Creek Road Runners garner four first place age-group awards; CRR Doug Repetti earned half of them, winning the 65-69 age group in both the 10K (50:34) and the 5K (24:30).
CRR Steve Tague led the way in the 10K with a 46:25, placing 31st out of 176 finishers. At press time, there was no way of knowing how he did in his age group, because it seems that didn’t get recorded. Hmmm. Don’t want anyone to know how old you are, eh? We get it. Of course, there were other notables who are not that young anymore too.
In the 5K, CRR Mark Deshon ran his best 5K time of the year, winning the 60-64s and placing 12th overall out of 444 finishers, with a 21:02. This race completed a “run” of 4-for-4 age-group wins in local races for Deshon in 2017. CRR Mary Braun finished 3rd among the 55-59s in 27:58. Multiple-state-record-holder CRR Bob Taggart placed 2nd in the 75-and-over age group in 31:10.
The fourth and final win on the day was CRR April Anderson’s, as she took the 5K’s 70-74 age group in 37:52.
In yesterday’s rain-drenched Caffé Gelato Waffle Cone Ten Miler in Newark, CRR Bruce Weber placed 11th overall out of 161 finishers, winning the 50-59 age group in 1:03:29. And he says he’s really a short-distance guy. Not far behind him was CRR Bill Rose, finishing 21st and taking third in the same age group, in 1:05:53. Race host and CRR Ryan German clocked a commendable 1:16:59, and CRR Andrew Brett ran a 1:18:22, finishing 61st and 65th, respectively.
On Oct. 22 in the annual Scott Mackler 5K, the toughest road 5K in Delaware, CRR Ryan German placed 2nd among the 30-39s and 15th overall out of 182 finishers in a very respectable 23:59.
CreekRoadRunners.org 