You might also call it “Dave’s excellent adventure.”
There’s nothing like running on vacation trips in beautiful locations. But three half-marathon distances in ten days? That’s a bit on the crazy side, but CRR Dave Schultz seemed to have a good time anyway.
Schultz’s adventure began on August 2, during which he completed a 13.1-mile distance while running from West Peabody, Mass., to Salem, Mass., and back in a time of 1 hour and 57 minutes.
Next up—beautiful Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. Beginning in Bar Harbor on August 8, Schultz did a mostly-trail run through the park. By his own admission, the time was slow (2 hours and 44 minutes), but, hey, it was a trail run in and he put in an extra half mile or so (13.7 mi.).
After visiting the White Mountains in New Hampshire and hiking up and down the 6,288-ft. Mt. Washington, Schultz completed his New England half-marathon trifecta on August 11 in Nashua, N.H., covering a 13.3-mi. distance in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Quite the accomplishment and quite the stamina! Well done.
So, what did you do on your summer vacation?
Chilly, but calm, conditions provided a near ideal day for the 47th Annual Turkey Trot 10K and 5K races here in Newark. There were several notables among the Creek Road Runners, as several took age-group awards.
In the 10K, CRR Clark Ridge of College Park, Md., placed 4th overall (out of the 195 finishers) and took 1st among the 35-39 men in a fast 36:38. (Yes, the photo at left is one from his college days.)
In the 5K, CRR Mark Deshon led the Creek Road Runners, placing 39th overall (out of 541 finishers) and turning in an inspired 7-min./mile pacing at 21:42, taking 1st place in the 60-64 age group. This is Deshon’s 10th consecutive age-group win, dating back four years to the 2015 Turkey Trot. OK, the jinx is now on!
CRR Anja Leefeldt took first in the 40-49 age group in 25:29, less than three seconds off the finishing time of the woman who took the top master’s place. (Leefeldt’s chip time was actually three seconds faster than the top master’s chip time, meaning she’ll have to get closer to the starting line in the future.) CRR Becky George took third in the 50-59 age group in 26:34.
Right here in Wilmington, CRR Bruce Weber had a very different experience, as he won the inaugural Last Alarm 5K, during which he figures he only ran about 4.67K. Though he had a significant lead over the second-place runner, Weber followed the lead of the city policeman’s motorcycle, who was leading the way but made a 180-degree turnaround too early in the middle of the race. So much for course management. Weber clocked in at 17:42 but figures he would have been closer to 19 flat and would have won anyway had he actually run 5K.
