Bethany Bunny Palooza 5k a fun race with a great name
The Bunny Palooza 5K sponsored by the Quiet Resorts Charitable Foundation wins the prize (a stuffed bunny) for having the greatest name for a race of any distance.
There were 460 total finishers in the race, broken down into 241 females and 219 males. Following the curved bell of the bar graph on the races2run website, most racers fall into the age groups between 30 and 60, with 40-49 attracting the most runners. Most finishers’ times are between 30 and 35 minutes.
All the cats racing lined up at Garfield and Atlantic avenues for a race around town that finished on the boardwalk with the runners slicing through foot traffic heading south to north.
Max Marcini, 15, from York.Pa, was the overall winner in 16:47, chased to the finish line by his dad Matt Marcini, 46, who was third overall and first in the male masters category.
Caroline Sanders, 41 ,from Harrisonburg, Va., was the overall women's winner in 19:20. Michelle Calvert, 43, from West Chester, Pa., won the female masters in 21:28.
Notable locals - Mary Kessler, the 74-year-old Harberson Harrier, ran 25:19. The state age-group record for 70-74 females is 25:09, set by Diana Kukich in 2022. Paul Timmons, 53, of Rehoboth won the 50-59 age group in 20:24. Doug Tootell, 75, of Lewes won his 70-79 age group in 30:40. Paul Gilmer, 64, of Millsboro won the 60-69 age group in 23:35. Shane McKenzie, 29, of Bethany Beach won the 20-29 age group in 17:46. Judith Taggert, 60, from Ocean View won the 60-69 age group in 25:38. Paula Pels, 55, from Bethesda, Md., but a regular on the local scene, won the female 50-59 age group in 22:04. States represented in the Easter weekend race included Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Arkansas, New Jersey and Kansas.
The next beach-area event sponsored by Races2Run is the inaugural Fort Miles 5K set for Sunday, May 7.
A complete listing of expanded race results and upcoming races can be found at races2run.com.
