Triathlete Bruce Clayton completes his own Ironman Delaware

Local Bruce Clayton did not travel to Florida last weekend with a small local group of triathletes; instead, he decided to do his own Ironman right here in Rehoboth Beach. More impressive is the way he did it, and doing it all alone shows just how mentally strong this athlete is.

 

Bruce started at the YMCA pool and completed 2.4 miles or 4,225 yards in a 25-yard pool, which is 169 trips down and back. Next was the bike where Bruce went south toward Ocean City, Md., and back to Rehoboth and then did it again to reach 112 miles on the bike. Finally, it was the marathon, which impressed me the most as he remained on the Rehoboth Boardwalk, making 13 down-and-back trips to equal the marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

 

Bruce could have completed the Rehoboth Seashore Marathon course, but instead he tested his mind again by completing the distance on our Boardwalk. Bruce finished his Delaware Ironman into the darkness on the Rehoboth Boardwalk, and a few days later received a call from the voice of the Ironman, Mike Reilly. “Bruce Clayton - you are an Ironman,” said Mike.

 

My son Jake, who just recently began completing triathlons, goes to school in Florida, and while I was talking to him this week he used the words incredible, crazy, and insane all in the same sentence when describing to me how Bruce completed his Ironman. “Yes, Jake, that does describe my friend Bruce.”

 

Delmar star runner Austen Cave ran the Killens Pond 5K course in a blazing 15:43 to win the Henlopen Conference Individual Championship, finishing over a minute ahead of Colin Ritchey of Caesar Rodney who was second in 16:47. The 15:43 performance turned in by Cave is the seventh fastest on the Killens Pond All-Time List and just may be the fastest time ever turned in at the Henlopen Conference Championships. Cave will compete in the DII State Championships this Saturday, Nov. 10, on the hills of Brandywine and will take a shot, a long shot, at the state’s best runner, Connor Nisbet, a senior from Wilmington Friends, who has run just over 15 minutes in the 5K and is one of the country’s top 20 runners.

The Cape girls hope to rebound from a third-place finish at conference to a better state meet performance this Saturday, while champion Caesar Rodney, winner of the Henlopen Championships on both the boys’ and girls’ side of the action, will compete in the DI Championships as well.

 

Following the State Championships, Cave from Delmar, Ryan Morrow from Sussex Tech, sisters Gabrielle and Mikayla Cannon of Polytech/Lake Forest, and the freshman duo from Cape, Mia Nuebling and Elizabeth Melson, will travel the following week to compete in the Cross Country Coaches National Youth Championships in Louisville, Ky., with the Seashore Striders.

 

 

The World Run Day Event was the first “virtual running” event in the world. Originally started as the brainchild of competitive runner Bill McDermott, the event has been recognized by over 10,000 runners internationally. World Run Day is funded entirely by McDermott and has runners as its only sponsors. Runners of all abilities are represented. The signature event of World Run Day occurs on the Sunday closest to Nov. 8 every year. The day originally started as an anniversary tribute to Bill’s brother, who died in a car accident Nov. 8, 1984.

 

World Run Day caters to the runners who are passionate about the sport and voluntarily donate their hard-earned money to charities across the world. The 20th running of World Run Day occurs Saturday, Nov. 11, 2018. To learn more, visit https://www.runday.com.

 

 

Led by the girls’ 6-8 first-place team, the local Seashore Striders qualified 34 runners to compete at the upcoming Cross Country Coaches National Youth Championships to be held Saturday, Nov. 17, in Louisville, Ky. Third-grader Emmie Swope led the charge, while Mia Thompson, first-year runner Allison Ortiz, Erin Noonan, and Claudia Stazzone teamed up as sub-bantam girls for top honors over Philadelphia CYO which was second in the team standings. The top runners in the region lined up for courses ranging from 1K (.62m) to 4K (2.48m) in Newtown, Pa. The Striders will leave by Thursday, Nov. 15, for the trip to Kentucky as an expected 3,000 athletes from the United States will toe the line in 10 different races in two-year age groups. Good luck to the Striders.

 

Cape indoor track & field will begin this week; I will coach the girls’ team and Ellis Gaulden will handle the boys’ team. Assisting Ellis will be Rob Perciful and Matt Lindell, while Gilbert Maull and Jamie Hill will assist with the girls.