At two recent races, one regional and one local, Creek Road Runners shone nearly as bright as the dimming late-autumn sun.

CRR Jay Coughenour ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon in a splendid time of 1:18:53. His chip time of 1:18:34 put him just a fraction of a second under a six-minute-per-mile pace for the 13.1-mile distance. Coughenour was the second finisher in the 45-49 age group and placed 85th the among men and 91st overall. Excellent at age 49!

In the Reindeeer Run & Romp 5K, held here in Newark on Friday night, CRR Keith Crispin placed 10th overall out of 406 finishers, winning the 45-49 age group in 18:52. CRR Dan Simmons, just coming off an injury, won the 65-69 age group in 23:53, and CRR Diane Kukich won her age group (60-64) in 24:11. Other age-group awardees included CRR Bill Rose, who took second place among the 55-59s in a very respectable 19:58, and CRR Sue Barton, who placed third among the 55-59s in 28:06.

In non-running-related news, rumor has it that CRR Charlie Riordan lit up the court at The Bob recently with a halftime free-throw-shooting exhibition. Now we know where he’s been training. We know “Charlie Runs on Dunkin’”; the question is Can he dunk on Dunkin’?