Holiday Party Scheduled:
Club Social Director Rachel Bleacher has secured the upstairs room at Timothy’s, 100 Creek View Rd. off Paper Mill Rd. in Newark for the club’s Holiday Party. It will be on Wednesday, December 7 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. This is always a good time to renew your dues for 2012. Invite prospective club members to come as well. There will be a donation box towards food in case they are not prepared to join at that time.

Your input will be appreciated on potential award winners for 2011 and club events in 2012.

From President Ray:

Run the Bridge 10K recap
Sunday’s 10K on the Ben Franklin Bridge brought out over 3000 finishers,
including a great group of at least 13 club members. Weather was
spectacular for crossing from Camden to Philly and back, past the Battleship
New Jersey and finishing inside a minor league baseball stadium. Josh
Loren, Austin Gee & Jay Coughener all finished in the top 20 overall and we
grabbed four age group awards. We also grabbed bags of “Brunch”. If you’re
not a USATF member, consider joining for next year to carpool with friends
to fun races outside Wilmington!

Philly Marathon, Half, 8K, Expo
Contact Ray if interested in carpooling to Expo for bib p/u on Friday, Nov. 18, at
noon. While there, you’re encouraged to participate in my 1pm presentation
of “how running with partners or a club improves performance”. I’m sure that we’ve got people interested in driving together for Saturday’s 8K and for Sunday’s races.

Evansburg Ten Miler, Oct. 30 – Dirk Sweigart

Picture of some of the participants posted on PCVRC’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/289855916248/?ref=ts

The day dawned cold at Evansburg with that incredible four-inch October snow still lying on the ground. But as the sun began to turn the trails to ten miles of mud rivers and bogs, the hearty band of Pike Creek trail runners stomped around to keep warm and laughed at Ron Horn’s cynical humor. Yes, they had eliminated the worst water crossings, but no one had any doubt that they would be getting VERY wet and VERY muddy. Evansburg could have been a nice pleasant trail run…but not this day. No one would be here if it wasn’t for the USATF “off-road competition. And we of the PCVRC want some of that championship…

The hazards were many…shoe-sucking mud, slippery bridges, oh the usual trees and rocks, but now with ice and snow. Up and down hills, through fields, ya know. Spots where the best footing was running up a muddy rivulet. You can count the number of team members who didn’t fall at least once on one hand and have fingers left over.

Cooler heads prevailed at Radnor where they postponed (wimps!)…but Rich brought Epi and Carol F. to Evansburg instead! We also had “just-in-time” new member Carol Giampietro, welcome! Tom S (still recovering) encouraged the team at strategic points. Rounding out the team were Lisa, Sheri, Andrea, Fred, Bob K and Dirk. The team collected 5 medals including Lisa’s 2nd woman overall. Our third place seems safe, dare we hope to overtake the Greater Philly Track Club for second?

Results from the Evansburg Ten Miler:

1 15:06 SHUFFLEBARGER FRED UNIONVILLE PA M 63 – 75.29

1 14:40 CAMMACHO EPI WILMINGTON M 55 – 70.45
1 16:41 KLESZICS BOB HOCKESSIN DE M 54 – 68.00
1 27:21 GIAMPIETRO CAROL GARNET VALLEYPA F 53 – 66.89
1 28:50 FEOLE CAROLE WILMINGTON DE F 53 – 65.78
1 19:37 JALOT LISA WILMINGTON DE F 40 – 64.47
1 24:32 HERRMANN SHERI WILMINGTON DE F 42 – 61.52
1 23:31 SWEIGART DIRK WILMINGTON DE M 51 – 60.86
1 40:54 RUBINOFF ANDREA BEAR DE F 56 – 60.23

To answer Dirk’s question, the club appears to have a firm hold on third place in the Off-road Series. Barring any particular club having a problem and not being able to score in the last event, that is where PCVRC will end up. The last event is the Delaware Open XC Championship at Brandywine Creek State Park on November 26.

Grand Prix Series Results:
Due to the unusual weather a couple of weekends ago, the Radnor Run Five Miler was postponed until this past Sunday. Because the Bridge Run 10K was already scheduled for Sunday, MA-USATF decided to combine the results of both races into one club score and dropped the number of total events in which a club must score to six from seven.

Here are the combined results with “B” for the Bridge Run and “R” for the Radnor run. PCVRC currently holds sixth place among ten teams. Competition this year is at a higher level than I’ve ever seen. While our team scores are close to those of past years when our team finished higher, this year new teams have found some very high scoring runners increasing the difficulty of finishing higher for a small club such as ours. The final event of the series will be the combined competition of the Philadelphia Marathon, Half-Marathon and 8K on November 20.

R 29:24 84.297 Greg Cauller
B 35:48 83.054 Jay Coughenour
R 32:01 79.386 Epi Camacho
B 43:46 79.056 Dan Simmons
B 45.57 77.657 Carole Feole
B 34:57 77.206 Josh Loren
B 35:20 75.991 Austin Gee
B 42:27 73.852 Lisa Jalot
B 43:36 70.986 Dirk Sweigart
B 44:48 70.908 Sheri Herrmann
R 38:27 70.438 Theresa Kauffman
B 39:38 70.101 Chris James
B 49:39 69.218 Lorri Fencer
B 47:20 64.331 Ray Christensen
B 1:13:16 58.303 John Schultz
B 1:01:05 58.226 Jerry Herman
R 47:03 50.620 Rich Szymanski

New York City Marathon
2:39:18 Enos Benbow, BQ, 140th Overall
3:27:01 Lee Kauffman, BQ
4:37:27 Tony Chelpaty

Delaware Futures 5K
17:36 Greg Cauller, 3rd Overall, 1st Master

Turkey Round-Up 5K
17:42 Greg Cauller, 2nd Overall, 1st Master

Veterans Day 5K
17:53 Greg Cauller, Overall Winner

Note that Greg Cauller ran four races in two days (actually within the space of 28 hours), achieving a first, a second and a third overall and contributing the club’s highest age-grade score in the MA-USATF events.

From Club President Ray:
Best of DDC 2012
If you haven’t yet seen our many photos of last month’s Delaware Distance Classic, see http://www.pcvrc.com/ddc11.php for a slideshow, selected photos, and Dave McCorquodale’s event recap. The complete gallery includes over 300 photos.

PCVRC Singlets
We still have some club singlets. If you’re a USATF member and don’t yet have one, contact Ray to get yours FREE if you’ll have completed 4 series races this season. Any other club member may purchase the sharp $20+ singlet for just $10. Limited sizes so email or call soon!

Note that a few of the messages in this bulletin relate to the fact that the unusual weather this past weekend caused the postponement of the Radnor Run 5 Miler.

From Ed Maher of Mid-Atlantic USATF:
Due to conflicts with the Run The Bridge 10K and other previously scheduled commitments for LDR Committee members, we will not be able to have an LDR Committee representative at the Radnor Run, which will now be on Nov. 6. If you are aware of any runners who are not yet members of USATF Mid-Atlantic and interested in joining in time to be counted for Radnor as part of the Grand Prix, please advise them to sign up online now at: https://www.usatf.org/membership/application/

Please also be aware that the USATF $10 membership deal for the balance of 2011 has now expired. New members joining from Nov. 1 and forward do so at the regular rate with a membership expiration of 12/31/2012.

Due to the cancellation and rescheduling of the Radnor Run 5 Mile to now be held on the same date as the Run The Bridge 10K, the USATF Mid-Atlantic LDR Committee has made the following adjustments to Grand Prix and Club Challenge scoring.

Club Challenge: On Nov. 6, the best five WMA% scores for a club’s members at the Radnor Run and Run The Bridge will be counted for a single team score. As there is effectively one less scoring “event” in the competition, a club’s best six (instead of seven) events will be scored for the Club Challenge.

Grand Prix (individuals): As there is one less race opportunity, an athlete’s best five (instead of best 6) WMA% scores from Grand Prix races will be counted in the overall Grand Prix and Age Graded competition.

Finisher plaque and certificate eligibility: As the number of races an individual can participate in has been reduced from nine to eight, those who complete eight (instead of nine) Grand Prix events will receive a plaque mounted certificate. Certificates (not plaque mounted) will be provided to individuals who complete 7 of the Grand Prix races (no change). (Editor’s comment: Hmm…, in 2004 I had to run ten races and in 2006 eleven in order to get a plaque; this is getting too easy. 😉 )

From Rich Syzmanski:
For those who thought about running Radnor but could not because of previous plans. I have good news!!! Because the race was canceled on Sunday (Oct 30), you can run it this coming Sunday (Nov 6th ). Online registration is open until November 4th,or you can register on race day. – Rich

From Joel Schiller:
Joel Schiller has agreed to help Girls on the Run with their fall 5K on Saturday, November 12. If any club member would like to help him with race day registration/packet pickup, please email him at . Joel expects the hours to be 7:00 to 7:30 until 9:15 to 9:30 that morning and the activities to take place indoors at the shipyard shops. This is a fun, very well organized event, with lots of energy. So far, there are 475 girls registered for the 5K.

Andrea Ladany’s Budapest Marathon story, 10/2/2011:
You know it’s going to be tough when two days before a marathon you wonder if you should be doing the 30k option. One of my friends told me I should and then I’d be setting a Delaware record! Really- have you heard of any 30k races?

I hadn’t given myself a break from hard training for distance events since last summer, and it caught up to me. 2 weeks after Toughman 70.3 and one week before this marathon, I felt extreme pain in my hip during a 15 miler. The next day I couldn’t walk. No running at all and PT until we got on the plane.

I kept debating about starting at the marathon start or 8 miles in for the 30k. I had to decide on Saturday. Those of you who know me understand what I chose – and I am so glad I did! Can you imagine if I had felt good the whole 18 miles and would have been kicking myself for not going for the whole thing?

Hip started hurting- but not really bad until 20-ish miles. Other typical tired quad feelings then as well. At that point everything hurts anyway. Felt much better than I did at Shamrock in March. Although I was slower here. This one was “for fun” and I set out to run a comfortable pace and not look at my watch because it would be too much to calculate my pace with the km markings. Well, you know I did anyway! I was going along with a good clip at my “normal” marathon pace through the half and thought I might just break 4 hours and how cool would that be, given the circumstances. I had to stop myself. It was 80 degrees and brightly sunny. It was so hot I really wanted to make sure I drank enough water, so I started walking through all the stops. I kept walking longer than usual. I think I was feeling lazy and didn’t push it. I didn’t even care when the 4 hour pacers caught up and passed me. I wanted to finish and if this is what it took- so be it! Even after not running for 2 weeks I knew I had the endurance from all the training- especially with the tri 3 weeks before. I even thought to myself, “only 13 miles to go- this is the last leg of Toughman without the 3 hours of hard hilly biking and a swim beforehand!”

We ran past the most beautiful sights- castles, churches, the Parliament, along the Danube for most of it. There was music along the course too. Funny- between string orchestras playing Mozart, trumpets playing Bach, Katy Perry songs, Earth Wind and Fire, Wham, other disco, and Sweet Home Alabama (here??) It was so funny to me hearing the crowd cheering in Hungarian, as well as the conversations between the runners. I could understand all of it. It made it even more surreal that I was there, in a marathon, listening to this! And a recent discovery that I enjoyed was having Coke in the later miles! Saw my friend Kelly and my girls and my Hungarian family four times throughout! It was an adventure for everyone and they really enjoyed going from point to point to see me. I was so thankful and appreciative. It meant so much to me!

So I finished! 4:07 – and I am actually pleased with that! Seriously, it almost didn’t happen. It was a fabulous experience.

P.S. You know you’re in Europe when the finisher goody bag includes a half- liter can of beer!

Race Results:
Scott Mackler 5K
15:52 Dan Suher, Overall Winner

From Club President Ray:
Waffle Cone 10 Miler
Club member Ryan German did another commendable job with his 3rd annual 10 mile road/trail hybrid race. Spectacular weather helped bring out 350 participants. Over 30 PCVRC members ran, including 2nd place overall finisher Enos Benbow, who’s warming up for NYC Marathon. At least 5 other members volunteered.

Dry weather kept our shoes from getting muddy and the scenic course kept us from getting bored. As Ryan has hoped, numbers are increasing each year as word gets out about the great breakfast, beer, and delicious gelato cones after the race. And with the warm sunshine, standing in long lines to get them wasn’t a problem. Age group winners and runners-up score generous gift certificates to Caffe Gelato. Tech shirts for all. If you haven’t yet done this race, plan on it for next year!

Philadelphia Marathon Plans
If you’re running the Philly Full or Half, let me know at We’ll put the list in a coming eBulletin and maybe help make plans for carpools both to the Expo for packet pick-up and to race day to save on parking fees and alleviate traffic headaches. Include any non-PCVRC friends that may want to share rides.

Philly Marathon Expo Speakers?
Area running clubs have been invited to give presentations on a side stage during the Fri/Sat Expo. I proposed a topic of “Better Results by Joining a Running Club”. It would be a talk followed by Q&A of how running with partners or a club makes it easier and more fun to achieve running goals. Our slot is 30 minutes starting at noon on Sat 11/19. Let me know if you’d like to be part of it by saying a few words, explaining why you joined the club, or just being there for moral support.

2 USATF Series Races on Sunday
If you haven’t already, contact Rich to inform him if you can be a member of our team for Radnor road race or Evansburg trail race. Help us continue to field complete teams as the season winds down! If you’re not a USATF member this year, also on Sunday is a 10K and 5K E-Racing the Blues at the Riverfront. www.eracingtheblues.org The 10K is an RRCA Championship race.

From Treasurer Joel: DDC Report
At a Delaware Distance Classic wrap up meeting that was held at President Ray’s house on October 17, I presented the following financial recap of the 29th Annual Delaware Distance Classic 15K. The event attracted 375 registrants and had 348 official finishers, a 16% increase over the 299 official finishers in 2010. The race generated gross revenues of $14,720, a 94% increase over the $7,588 in revenues generated in 2010. The surge in revenue was caused by increasing registration fees by $5 and by attracting $4,000 in sponsorships (vs. $750 in 2010). The race committee did an excellent job of keeping expenses in check, resulting in a net revenue to the club of roughly $6,200 versus $1,275 in 2010 net revenue.

The race committee has approved a $750 donation to the Mike Clark Legacy Foundation; a $250 donation to the DE Fund for Kids; and a $250 donation to a charity to be determined by Wilkinson Roofing & Siding, the event’s presenting sponsor. Co-race directors Ray Christensen and Jim Steele were presented with commemorative race bibs for a job well done.

Boston Bus
Some club members have received information from Doug White about the 2012 Delaware Sports Club Boston Marathon bus trip. If you would like that info, you may contact Doug at or reply to me. The info is too long to add to this bulletin.

From Tom Fort:
The Delaware Track and Field Hall of Fame will hold its annual banquet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 22 at Cavaliers Country Club. This year the following will be honored: Sally Andersen, Chuck Durante, Ralph Heiss, Bill MacLachlan and Gil Mahla. To obtain a ticket reservation form, contact Tom at or reply to me.

Race Results:
Caffe Gelato Ten Miler
  56:12 Enos Benbow, 2nd Overall
1:00:53 Greg Cauller, 1st 50-54 (1st Master)
1:01:35 Jay Coughenour, 1st 45-49
1:01:53 Andy Jakubowitch, 3rd 30-34
1:06:56 Michael Brown, 2nd 50-54
1:09:16 Ryan German
1:11:21 Dirk Sweigart
1:11:31 Mchael Peyton, 2nd 40-44
1:12:00 Chris James
1:13:13 Dava Baca
1:13:29 Sheri Herrmann, 3rd 40-44
1:15:11 Dan Simmons, 1st 60-64
1:17:13 Ray Christensen
1:18:04 Theresa Cannon-Kauffman, 1st 45-49
1:24:49 Jim Steele
1:25:26 Jose Rodriguez
1:32:02 Andrea Rubinoff, 1st 55-59
1:32:44 Jack Horowitz
1:35:18 Bruce Hubbard, 1st 65-69
1:35:42, Bob Bennett, 2nd 65-69
1:37:03 Jordan Fridman
1:37:10 Shannon German
1:40:07 Lori Culnane
1:40:07 Claire Neilan
1:40:09 John Culnane
1:40:31 Tony Chelpaty
1:43:44 Leonora Wagner
1:55:48 Stacey Shiller
1:56:33 Misty White
1:56:37 Alan Fink
2:14:01 John Schultz, 2nd 70+

Queen of the Roses 5K
28:05 Dan Feldstein, 2nd 55-59

Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Marathon
4:45:31 Dave McCorquodale

Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Half Marathon
2:44:32 Carolyn McCorquodale, 3rd 60-69, PR

Short recap to the Delaware & Lehigh races: This was a new race venue, which started on a new rails-to-trail section along the Lehigh River from Northampton to Slatington, PA. We parked at Slatington and were bused to Northampton. Unfortunately one bus broke down and delayed the start for a half hour.

The new section of trail is beautiful, close to the raging Lehigh and mostly shaded with a smooth, fine gravel surface. After ten miles, the marathoners took a paved side trail for get in four miles before going back on the main trail. The three miles to the finish (for the half-marathoners) had apparently experienced some erosion from the heavy August rains and our feet scuffled from the unevenness of the surface. Carolyn did not like the finish of the half, which went up a hill, around a historic building and returned back to the finish line. This area had stone gravel, instead of the fine gravel on the earlier portions.

At mile 17 of the marathon, we veered off the trail along the river and basically had to walk up a steep, rocky gravel section to an upper trail. The upper trail had lots of small rocks imbedded in the dirt. That’s fine for a true trail marathon, but inappropriate for this race, which is basically a road marathon. After three miles there was a sharp paved descent, too steep for actually running, and then level running to the end.

Some pluses were the enthusiastic volunteers, lots of good food at the end, and the unique awards – a lacquered piece of slate with the award on it, ready for hanging (now you know how the town got it’s name).

Recommendation: The current venue is fine for a half marathon, but not for the full. I have suggested to the director that by having the events start and finish in Slatington, going southeast and returning northwest, they would avoid busing problems, use less police, have less water stops, and have a much faster marathon course. The marathon should start an hour before the half. The hotel where the packet pick-up was, which is about six miles from Slatington, is the closest place to stay.

Personally, I learned at valuable lesson: I should have carried some chewable Pepto-Bismol tablets, the lack of which added miles of discomfort and about 25 minutes to my finishing time (and incidentally denying me a slate plaque as I finished 1:30 in back of the third person in my age-group).

From Ed Maher of MA-USATF:
As we approach the final weeks of the 2011 Grand Prix, I have one last registration update to pass along. As of today the Rothman Institute 8K on Nov. 19 has approximately 400 spaces left before reaching its registration cap. Race officials expect it to be open until Nov.1 but it’s possible it could reach this limit sooner. Registration will NOT be available at the Expo on Nov. 18. It is expected a “countdown” of the spaces remaining will be posted on the race web site sometime this week. I have added this information to the Grand Prix page on the Mid-Atlantic web site.

From Ryan German:

We know that you’ve run in local races and were hoping that you’ll join us for this year’s Waffle Cone 10 Miler. Last year we had more than 300 runners and this year we hope to have as many as 500. The proceeds of this race benefit the Friendship House.

To register, you can stop by Caffe Gelato, go to www.races2run.com, or follow the link below:
https://register.races2run.com/Register/?event=5910

All runners will receive a dry-release Delaware Running Company long sleeve shirt, post-race brunch, and a waffle cone of gelato. The course is a flat course starting on Main St in Newark, Delaware, running along the White Clay Creek to the Pennsylvania state line and back. The top three runners in each age-group will receive a $25 gift certificate to a Delaware restaurant. In addition, any runner who runs a PR will receive a $25 gift certificate to Caffe Gelato.
We hope to see you on October 23!

From Jim Steele:
The Rehoboth Marathon & Half Marathon (www.rbmarathon.com) is Saturday, December 10 2011. I have made a group hotel arrangement with the Breakers Hotel located at 105 Second Street. Many of us that attended last year are familiar with the property. It is located 2 blocks from the start and about 3 blocks from the finish.

I have held 10 rooms for the group but can probably get more if needed. There are two options to choose from including a standard room or a suite. The standard room includes two double beds at a rate of $55.20/night plus 8% tax. You could also choose a Suite, that in addition to two double beds, includes a separate living room. The suite is priced at $71.20/night plus 8% tax.

OK, here’s what you need to do by November 11th!
1. Call 1-800-441-8009 to make a reservation under the group name “Running Rebels”.
2. Send me an email with your confirmation.

Please visit www.thebreakershotel.com for more information about the hotel. If you have any questions please send me an email. I’m very much looking forward to the race and staying for the after party!

From the President:
Help the RRCA Win a $10,000 Grant from Toyota

— along with a Commercial During NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” Halftime Show
Every week throughout the NFL season, four organizations are featured on Toyota’s Facebook page and fans have the opportunity to vote daily to select the organization they believe is most deserving of the award. The Road Runners Club of America has been selected to be one of the four organizations this week!

The weekly winner receives a $10,000 grant from Toyota and is profiled during the following week’s halftime show during NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” telecast.

Your daily vote for RRCA for the next seven days could help our organization win $10,000 and a national commercial spot where the RRCA will share the “Join a Running Club” message with a large audience.

Your participation in the voting effort helps support the sport you love the most!

If the RRCA wins, we will invest the $10,000 in our annual program fund, which supports our programs, such as Kids Run the Nation, Roads Scholars, Runner Friendly Community, National Running Awards, 2,000 Hour Volunteer Recognition, and much more.

Vote now at this link: http://www.facebook.com/toyota?sk=app_114219605347571

Please share this with Facebook friends and email buddies.

From the department of Inspiration:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/10/17/141414363/video-100-year-old-man-finishes-toronto-marathon?sc=17&f=1001
VIDEO: 100-Year-Old Man Finishes Toronto Marathon
by Mark Memmott
– October 17, 2011

Talk about a really amazing race:

“Fauja Singh, 100, finished Toronto’s waterfront marathon Sunday evening, securing his place in Guinness World Records as the oldest person — and the first centenarian — to ever accomplish a run of that distance,” CBC News reports.

Singh, a British citizen born in India, crossed the line in just over 8 hours, 11 minutes — and, officially at least, wasn’t the last finisher. Four people, who it appears were in a group accompanying Singh, were 1 to 10 seconds behind him according to the electronic chips they carried to record their times.

From Toronto, Dan Karpenchuk reports for NPR that:

“Singh, who speaks only Punjabi, said through his coach and interpreter that he was overjoyed and achieved a lifelong wish. He aims to raise money for local charities, including a children’s foundation that provides basic needs. His coach said part of his secret is that eats a diet of mainly tea, toast and curry. His training is to run about 10 miles a day.

“He only took up running twenty years ago at the age of 80.”

According to the CBC, Singh — known as the “Turbaned Tornado” — beat his goal of finishing in 9 hours.

There’s video here of what it was like at the finish line as Singh came across (note at 4:15 p.m. ET, we’ve replaced the earlier video with one that’s a bit shorter). [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]

[Editor’s Note: Farther confirmation of the fact that this is the first time anyone this old ever ran a marathon is the fact that if you put the time and the age into an age-grading calculator, you end up with a score of 133! This feat will force a recalculation and 8:11 will soon equal an age-grade of 100 for a 100 year-old man.]

Race Results:
Chicago Marathon
3:16:24 Mike Brown, Boston Qualifier

Monster Mash Marathon
6:57:45 John Schultz, 2nd 70+

Monster Mash Marathon Relay
3:17:02 Dirk Sweigart & Sheri Herrmann, 2nd Overall, 1st Coed Team

Joy-Hope Foundation 5K
18:02 Greg Cauller, 2nd Overall

Soar 5K
19:31 Epi Camacho, 3rd Overall

DDC Photos, Results & Jacket Order from President Ray
Thank you to our great DDC race staff and all of the many club members who ran or volunteered on Sunday! We received many compliments throughout the event! Comments are welcome at the Race Facebook Page (See story and club & USATF results below).

“Almost final” results and over 300 photos (taken by Stew Whisenant & Eileen Steele) can be found through http://www.pcvrc.com/ddc.php

Last chance to order our awesome race jacket (with your choice of PCVRC or DDC race logo) for $70. (See photos at above link)
Please contact Ray at or 302-633-1482 by Friday morning 10/14.

Races & Runs
Let Rich know if you’ll be doing one of the upcoming USATF series races and don’t forget to register for the Waffle Cone 10 Miler (10/23).
Come on out to our Wednesday or Thursday or Sunday group runs when you can make it!

The Delaware Distance Classic 15K Grows
For the first time since the early 1990s, the 29th running of the Delaware Distance Classic 15K exceeded 300 finishers. All together the race had 377 registrants, 359 starters and 344 finishers. Charity Proceeds from the 2011 Delaware Distance Classic will go to Mike Clark Legacy Foundation. Managed by the Delaware Community Foundation, MCLF raises funds for the Clarence Fraim Boys & Girls Club of Delaware.

This years winners were: Men – Pat Hayburn, 1st, 49:20; club member Dan Suher, 2nd, 51:25; Justin Winter, 3rd, 51:52; and Bob Schwelm, 1st Master, 54:17. Women were: Doreen McCoubrie, 1st, 56:49; Kimberly Hickey, 2nd, 59:07; Alison Pilkington, 3rd, 59:43; and Linda Hawke, 1st Master, 59:59. It should be noted that Doreen McCoubrie, 49, is the overall female winner and therefore cannot win the Master’s prize.

Two people set age group state records in newly created age groups: JoAnn Szczepkowski, 65. set the F 65-69 record with a1:16:58 and club member Don Monagle, 81, set the M80-84 age group record with 2:40:59. Someone started a nasty rumor that Don intentionally took a wrong turn to pad his time, so that he’ll be able to break his own record in the future, but John Schultz may cancel his New York vacation next year just to challenge him. 😉
This year saw a big increase in sponsorship for the event, especially from Wilkinson Roofing and New Balance Delaware. Charity Proceeds from the 2011 Delaware Distance Classic will go to Mike Clark Legacy Foundation. Managed by the Delaware Community Foundation, MCLF raises funds for the Clarence Fraim Boys & Girls Club of Delaware.

The 29th edition of the race also saw a revamped logo for the shirt, which people seemed to like and the addition of beer to the post-race refreshments. The race organization had the difficulty of trying to gauge the growth in the race and balancing that against the number of shirts to order and the amount of refreshments to buy. Some sizes of the shirt ran out and the liquid refreshments were all out before the last few people finished. No doubt we’ll improve on addressing these minor problems in the future.

The race itself had good conditions – sunny skies with the temperature in the mid-fifties at the start. It warmed up by the end, but not so warm that people were adversely affected while running. With a car show at the Chase Center and a tent area on S. Madison St, the course had one minor detour into a parking area and over some gravel, into a paved lot and back onto the road. This alteration had been quickly remeasured and the course certified by Doug White several days before the race.

Being part of the MA-USATF Grand Prix circuit of races, the event had 82 USATF participants (including PCVRC’s own club members of USATF). This made for tough competition within the age groups. Speaking personally, I have of couple of 2nd place age-group plaques from 2004 and 2006, but this year I was only 5th among men 65-69, even though I was fairly pleased with my effort.

The event would not have been this successful without the efforts of a number of club members. The committee had no single person who was “the director” (and the club would still like someone to assume that role). Instead the combined efforts of Club President Ray Christensen, who is director of the Nun Run, Joel Schiller, who is operations director of the Delaware Marathon, and Jim Steele, who directs the New Castle five Miler, led a good group of people who all pitched in with efforts in various areas. Additionally, a number of other club members can out on race day and helped with course marshaling, registration, food prep, and the clean-up of the venue after the race. The club thanks them all.

DDC 15K times for club members: In order for this to make sense, widen the e-mail so the results for each person are on one line. Information given after position and overall rank is: first 5K time and rank at time of crossing 5K mat; last 10K time; Time Back – amount of time behind the winner; Chip Time – total time after crossing timing mat at start; Gun Time – total time from start of race; Chip Diff – amount of time it took to reach start pad.

*** View 2011 DDC 15K Stats for Club Members ***

In the USATF team competition, PCVRC currently holds 4th place. However, barring injuries to other teams, it is likely to end up in 5th place because the Athena Running Club has fielded a complete team in five races, but will still probably finish the requisite seven events. All the teams ahead of it have completed six. Although currently in seventh place, Athena may win the club challenge. This year has seen the best club competition that I have witnessed in all the years of the MA-USATF Grand Prix Circuit. The next event is the Radnor Run 5 Miler on October 30.

In the individual age-group standings the following club members lead their age-groups: Dan Suher, Mark Vilardo, Epi Camacho, Vic Zwolak and Don Monagle. Jay Coughenour’s strong DDC run has put him into contention in his age-group and Carole Feole is still right there in hers.

Age Grades for Club Members in USATF for DDC 15K:
82.373 Jay Coughenour
80.177 John Costello
80.058 Dan Suher
79.307 Epi Camacho
79.202 Vic Zwolak
75.697 Dan Simmons
75.485 Lee Kauffman
74.837 Lisa Jalot
71.278 Theresa Kauffman
70.334 Sheri Herrmann
70.241 Dirk Sweigart
68.351 Matt Cutrona
66.457 Dave McCorquodale
49.602 Ralph McKinney
42.458 Don Monagle

From Ryan German: We know that you’ve run in local races and were hoping that you’ll join us for this year’s Waffle Cone 10 Miler. Last year we had more than 300 runners and this year we hope to have as many as 500. The proceeds of this race benefit the Friendship House.

To register, you can stop by Caffe Gelato, go to www.races2run.com, or follow the link below:
https://register.races2run.com/Register/?event=5910

All runners will receive a dry-release Delaware Running Company long sleeve shirt, post-race brunch, and a waffle cone of gelato. The course is a flat course starting on Main St in Newark, Delaware, running along the White Clay Creek to the Pennsylvania state line and back. The top three runners in each age-group will receive a $25 gift certificate to a Delaware restaurant. In addition, any runner who runs a PR will receive a $25 gift certificate to Caffe Gelato.
We hope to see you on October 23!

Race Results:
Chicago Marathon:
2:40:51 Austin Gee

Deltech Alumni & Friends 5K:
17:33 Greg Cauller, Overall Winner