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).
At the recent USA Track & Field Mid-Atlantic Region awards luncheon, CRR Bill Farquhar was honored for finishing tied for 3rd place in his age group (45-49) in the 2017 Grand Prix Road Series of races and finished 3rd in the 2017 Off-Road (i.e., cross country) Series. CRR Keith Crispin finished 3rd in the 50-54 age group in the Grand Prix Road Series. Both are members of the 
Fifty-year-old CRR Bill Farquhar led the way, finishing 7th overall out of 1,049 participants and winning the Masters category in a sparkling 17:35. Let’s just call him CRR’s “Rudolph.” Finishing 33rd overall and winning the 55-59 age group was CRR Bill Rose in 20:15.
Coming off a long running layoff due to a foot injury, CRR Diane Kukich got back in the groove by easily winning her age group (65-69) in 25:22.
An honorable mention goes to one of the newest of our crew, CRR Flora Poindexter, who completed her 26.2-mile journey in 6:09:01. This was her first marathon.
In the 11th Annual Main Street Mile race in Newark, two guys with the same last name, who are related only by their fleetness of foot, cracked the top 15 in this short race of 813 participants. CRR Andrew Weber posted the fastest time among Creek Road Runners, finishing 9th overall in a lightning-fast 5:08, good for 2nd in the 30-39 age group. CRR Bruce Weber wasn’t far behind, finishing 14th overall and taking 1st among the 50-59s in 5:32. In terms of age grading, the elder Weber’s time garnered a 90.2 grade, which is considered “world class” for his age group. The younger Weber’s 84.3 is considered “national class.” Both impressive, to say the least. An honorable mention, Newark’s Deputy Mayor CRR Andrew Haines turned in a 7:15.
New Jersey resident and one of the original Creek Road Runners, 57-year-old CRR Robert Hesketh, posted a 1:11:37, finishing 45th and taking only 7th place in a tough age group (55-59). CRR Doug Repetti, 66 years of age, was 70th in 1:17:46, and CRR Theresa Kauffman finished 113th in 1:25:52.
In a slightly longer race on Sunday, Dimitri “Dima” Kaliakin, youngest son of CRR Vic Kaliakin completed his first ultramarathon, the grueling Tussey Mountain 50-miler, just outside State College, Pa. The 20-year-old Washington College grad completed the up-and-down 50-mile distance in 6:45:34, finishing 5th overall and 4th among non-masters runners. This included a total elevation gain of 5,485 feet, 1,301 feet of which occurred during one 4.1-mile stretch (from the course’s lowest to highest point). Back in May, Dima placed 12th overall out of 326 finishers in the Delaware Marathon in 3:06:07. We shorter-distance Creek Road Runners salute you, Dima!