Once again this year, the runners at the Mayor’s Icicle Ten Miler in Wilmington got a 3.8-mile discount due to cold, icy conditions. Go figure. The race organizers again cut the course down last weekend to a 10K. Along with the Icicle race, there was also a Snowball 5K.
Placing 19th overall out of 233 finishers was CRR Bruce Weber, who won the 55-59 age group and turned in a 41:00 10K time, remarkable given the super-cold temperatures. Placing third in that same age group was CRR Steve Tague, who ran a 46:42. Also noteworthy is that CRR Ryan German ran a 49:38.
On the distaff side, Dover resident and CRR Holly Scott placed third among the 55-59s in 50:57.
In the Mayor’s Snowball 5K, CRR Theresa Kauffman won the 50-59s in 27:05, and she did do the second 5K loop as a “cool down” (literally).
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.
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).
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 a much longer race, the Pike Creek Valley Running Club’s annual Delaware Distance Classic 15K, there were four standouts. Of the 191 participants in this race, CRR Bill Farquhar came in 7th overall, finishing in 58:51 and winning the 45-49 age group. Watch out for him within the next year when he turns 50! CRR Keith Crispin took 2nd in the 50-54 age group with a 1:06:38, good for 28th overall.
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!
Among the other age-group winners were CRR Andrew Weber (30-39), who finished second overall to national-class runner Steve Sinko in 30:06; CRR Dan Weile (40-49), who placed 9th overall in 34:25; CRR Mark Deshon (60-69), who finished 11th overall in 34:47 while competing in his first race in this age group; and 