It was a good morning for racing—two lanes all to the runners in Newark in the 10th Annual Main Street Mile. There were many Creek Road Runners who participated, and a few of them turned in performances well worth mentioning (all chip times*).
The fastest of the CRRs was CRR Andrew Weber, who just edged out CRR Clark Ridge for both 6th place overall and 2nd among the 30-39 men. Weber ran a 5:06.2, just ahead of Ridge’s 5:07.0, in the field of hundreds of runners and walkers.
Two CRRs won their respective age groups. In 13th place overall was CRR Bruce Weber, who ran a solid 5:22.2 to win the 50-59 age group. CRR Diane Kukich won her age group (60-69) in 7:12.6. These two winners posted wonderful age-graded scores in so doing. Weber’s 91.9 was the second highest among all competitors, and Kukich scored an impressive 87.0, fourth highest overall. (Scores from 90-100 are considered world class; 80-100 is considered national class.) By comparison, Andrew Weber’s score was 84.1, and Ridge’s was 83.9.
CRR Shawn Alexander had the fourth best time among CRRs, finishing in 6:12.6.
Lawson Schultz, teenage daughter of CRR Dave Schultz and CRR Christine Schultz, won the 14-19 age group.
*In all other events, gun times are used in reporting on CreekRoadRunners.org.
Footnotes: Spectators CRR Bruce Hubbard, who wore the original race T-shirt from the inaugural Main Street Mile contested 30 years ago, and CRR Mark Deshon reminisced about that race and their respective recent physical ailments. Fusion Fitness Center picked up this unique event in 2007 and has been its organizer for the past ten years.
CRR April Anderson recently won her age division (70+) in the Hilton Head (S.C.) 5K. Her time was 41:59, edging out her nearest competitor by 40 seconds. Husband and CRR Bruce Hubbard watched and cheered, his own attempt at the Hilton Head Half Marathon having been squelched because, on the way to Hilton Head, he had taken a fall and broken five ribs. He conceded, “Life is tough for us 70-and-overs!”
CRR Doug Repetti ran both the 10K and the 5K, winning the 60-64 division of the 10K in 47:33 and taking an age-group second in the 5K in 23:44—a very impressive endurance showing. Repetti placed 40th overall out of 247 finishers in the 10K.
In the 5K, CRR Mark Deshon posted the fastest time of the day among the Creek Road Runners while winning the 55-59 age group in 20:50. This was a strong time for Deshon, who weathered having a shoelace come untied at the mile-and-a-half point and being dusted in the final straightaway by age-group compatriot Epi Camacho. (Deshon later found out that Camacho had won their age group in the 10K in a blazing 41:20 and was running the 5K as a cool down, more or less.) Deshon placed 16th overall out of 529 finishers.
The most senior of the CRR senior citizen age-group winners on the day was CRR Doug Ridge, who posted a respectable 24:31 among the 70-and-overs in the 5K, despite coming off a stomach flu and wrestling chronic hamstring soreness. Not bad at all for an old man.
After several years effectively out of competition due to medical issues (including one serious bike accident), CRR Steve Tague is unequivocally back! Yesterday, he led the way for the other eight Creek Road Runners at the Top of Delaware Sprint Triathlon, placing 14th overall out of 271 finishers. He won the men’s 55-59 age group in 1:04:54, placing 17th in the quarter-mile swim, 12th in the 11.4-mile bike (averaging just over 20 mph on the hilly course!), and 32nd in the 2.6-mile run at the Newark Reservoir and Mayor Redd Park trails, which includes a final 30-yard incline straight up the side of the reservoir hill (that’s serious theater).
CreekRoadRunners.org 