Tags
In an unusual juxtaposition, winter brought two Creek Road Runners with the same last name side by side for an indoor treadmill workout at the Carpenter Sports Building (a.k.a. the Little Bob) on the University of Delaware campus last Thursday. CRR Bruce Weber and CRR Andrew Weber (no relation) were seen going toe-to-toe, stride-for-stride.
Bruce Weber and Andrew Weber working out indoors
This was somewhat unusual because the two are almost never competing in the same race. While both are fast and continue to win their respective age groups locally, the elder Weber is a track guy who specializes in the shorter-distance races (still doing 5Ks in the 19-minute range), while the younger Weber likes and excels at distances over 10K. Each has participated in winning races at the Delaware Marathon Festival recently, Andrew winning the 2018 Delaware Half-Marathon and Bruce running a leg on Creek Road Runners winning relay teams in both 2018 and 2019.
So, who won this treadmill dual? Depends on which Weber you ask.
CRR Bruce Weber and CRR Diane Kukich placed first and second overall (out of 609 runners), respectively, in terms of age grading (scoring based on one’s time relative to the world record at that distance for one’s age). Weber scored an 82.5, and Kukich was close behind with 82.3. That, folks, is what is considered “National Class” (anything in the 80s). The two have been racing consistently with results like this for several years. There was only one other racer at this event who had an age-grading score in this range.
Notably absent from last Saturday’s Turkey Trot races here in Newark was CRR Andrew Weber. That’s because he ran the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday. The 40-year-old Weber placed 400th overall in a huge field, breaking the 3-hour mark in 2:59:44 and qualifying for the Boston Marathon in the process. Congratulations to him on a major accomplishment in his new age group.
In the Rothman Orthopedics 8K (rough metric equivalent of a five-mile race), part of the Philadelphia Marathon Weekend, 52-year-old CRR Bill Farquhar finished in 29:59, 4th in his age group and 122nd overall (out of 4,130 competitors). That’s a six-minute/mile pace for this speedy senior!
In the 10K race, coming off having run both the 
Creek Road Runners are proud to recognize one of its own, CRR Sue Barton, as a world champion!
A longtime triathlete, Barton has recently become involved in the CrossFit craze—billed as the “sport of fitness.” Competing for the team UD CrossFit, the 60-year-old Barton recently bested 635 other women worldwide in the 60-69 age group within the slightly easier “scaled” (as opposed to the “prescribed” or “Rx”) category in the CrossFit Games, held over a five-week period from October 11 to November 8 all over the world in separate CrossFit venues.
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.