Fire Fightin’ 5K brings out 267 runners in Rehoboth Beach
The 10th edition of the Rehoboth Beach Fire Fightin’ 5K took place Aug. 18 in front of Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company Station 86 in the Nation’s Summer Capital. There were face painters, sprinklers connected to fire hoses, a fast and flat course, tech T-shirts, cool awards, and lots of locals and visitors showing their support for the hardworking Station 86 team. There were 17 states represented, from Delaware to Texas, with the largest age group being the 60-69-year-old runners. More than 30 kids under 13 took part, which is an inflated number rather than the norm, as they ran in the 9U and 10-13 age group. One of the highlights for me as the race director is seeing the crowd of runners looking up at the huge American flag hanging from the ladder truck over Rehoboth Avenue.
The race course took runners and walkers down Rehoboth Avenue to Lake to Oak and east to the iconic Rehoboth Boardwalk until the turnaround just past the historic Funland amusement park.
Pierce Conlon, 35, of Wilmington captured the male overall title in a time of 17:35, while 46-year-old Matt Sparacino of Harrington won the male masters and a second-place finish in 18:30. Eve Hoffman, 38, of Washington, D.C., finished third overall and won the female title in 19:27, while 45-year-old Kara Rubinich of Downingtown, Pa., won the female masters with a good time of 21:20.
XC Finish Line
The Lake Forest Invite will again kick off the Henlopen Conference cross country schedule Saturday, Sept. 7, with most of the conference teams on the line. Coaches in the Henlopen Conference are reminded that if they are hosting a home meet, the course should be 3.11 miles. I will again direct the Sussex County and Henlopen Conference championships.
Looking over the website4sports rosters, as I do each year I cover Delaware cross country, I came across my friend Marnie Giunta’s Padua Pandas, which will kick things off Saturday, Sept. 14, at the RVA Relay Invite in Virginia. Coach Giunta has 30 girls on the roster including a half-dozen freshmen. Looking at her list, the first name is Paige Ballinger, a transfer from Sussex Academy who as an eighth-grader finished second in the Sussex County Championships and second at the Henlopen Conference Championships. Paige has run 5:18 in the 1600m, 11:13 in the 3200m and 18:12 in cross country – performances that ranked in the top 10 nationally, from an eighth-grader. Also on the roster is the talented Anna Bockius, daughter of my buddy Troy Bockius. Anna has run 5:05 in the 1600m, 10:52 at 3200m and 18:18 in cross country. I can just imagine the workouts these two will be throwing down at practice. Sandhill Fields in Georgetown is one of the most popular courses in Delaware, fast and flat, and marked out at 5,000 meters, complete with a course map at the start.
Boardwalk Swim
Can you swim a mile? The second annual Boardwalk Swim will take place this Sunday morning, Aug. 25, from either Grenoble Place or Queen Street, depending on which way the current is moving. It will be a fundraiser for the annual $500 scholarship given in the name of Tommy “TC” Coveleski. The race will begin at 8 a.m. and will follow the 1-mile length of the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. Registration is still open; go to seashorestriders.com to register or donate to the event.
Bamforth takes job in South Carolina
Sussex Tech and University of Delaware graduate Ben Bamforth recently began a new adventure with the University of South Carolina as assistant director of operations for the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country programs in Columbia, S.C. The head coach is Tim Hall, a former coach at Kentucky and Clemson. USC is part of the Southeastern Conference, which has some track & field powerhouse programs such as Arkansas, LSU and Florida. Ben earlier spent a year as an assistant girls’ track and field coach at the University of Delaware in charge of distance.
