Luke Nigro pressures eventual winner Andrew Weber in the final mile of the 5K.
The 2019 edition of the UD Homecoming 5K was a real success for the few Creek Road Runners who ran the race. Out of our 12 participants (all male), five garnered top awards and one a third-place age-group finish.
The battle at the front was between CRR Andrew Weber and CRR Luke Nigro. Weber ended up besting the younger Nigro and winning the race in a time of 17:39. Nigro came in second overall and first in the 19-29 age group in 17:45.
Among the age group winners were CRR Bruce Weber (50-59), who placed fifth overall in 19:15, CRR Bill Rose (60-69), placing 17th overall in 21:05, and 73-year-old CRR Doug Ridge (70+), who ran a respectable 28:29.
CRR Steve Tague finished third in the 60-69 age group in 22:36. A couple seconds behind (but nearly catching) Tague was CRR Mark Deshon, who ran unofficially over the combination paved, cross-country-like surface of the 5K course at the University of Delaware’s athletics complex and agricultural campus.
A shout-out to CRR Nick Sisofo, who made a rare race appearance.
In the 10K, CRR Christina Parsons won the 50-54 age group, finishing 40th overall out of 178 runners in 48:36. Parsons margin of victory in her age group was more than seven minutes! CRR Steve Tague, who finished 24th overall, ran a solid 44:37 and took second in the 55-59 age group.
In the 5K, the honors go to two 70-and-over seniors, who each won this ever-thinning division. CRR Doug Ridge won in 28:28, and CRR April Anderson won in 42:12 (no doubt walking much of it).
The fastest time among CRRs in the 5K belonged to CRR Doug Repetti, who ran a 27:05, taking second place among the 65-69s.
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.
On the distaff side, it’s part of their family holiday tradition to run this race, and each year CRR Ann Jornlin seems to be on the podium. This year was no exception, as Ann took second in the 60-64s in 25:03.
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.