If you were looking for a challenging half marathon, Wilmington’s Caesar Rodney half marathon and 5K race was the race to be in. A tour around the city with challenging hills yet scenic routes passing through the Brandywine River and along the banks of the Christina and Brandywine Creeks. The route proved challenging for most but for Nate Alter, he made better timing this year than last year beating his 2015 finish time by almost a minute and a half.
The Caesar Rodney race event is said to be the oldest half marathon race in the U.S. The race is often called the “Granddaddy of Delaware road races” With people registering from over 20 countries annually.
The Caesar Rodney half marathon also benefits the Delaware chapter of the American Lung Association to help fund it’s operation and bring hope to those who suffer from lung disease. The event also helps bring awareness, education, and support to it’s communities.
This year’s top three teams were:
Dashing for David $2,613.00
Team Sandi $2,045.00
JPM Warriors $120.00
This year’s top participants who each individually raised $500 or more in funds were:
Doug Crawford: $1,446.00
Michelle Wang $1,000.00
Brandan Slattery $927.00
Holly Scott $500.00
A cold Sunday morning with temperatures in the lower 40’s, vendors began setting up their kiosks and hunkered down to try to bear the frigid temperatures that was making their skin crawl and their bodies shiver. Even by 8:00 A.M. the temperature didn’t improve much and participants began registering for the race at Wilmington’s Rodney Square Plaza where WSTW 93.7 along with the many other vendors enduring the frigid temperatures were set up for the event.
According to the National Weather Service temperatures were in the lower 40’s and just the day before temperatures were in the upper 70’s.
Shortly before 9:30 A.M. registrations closed, and participants began lining up at the start line at 10th and King Street where the 54th annual half marathon and 5K was set to begin. There was also a two person relay option and a friendly 5K walk/run.
Senator Thomas Carper has been running the race since 1982 and also chair the event. As tradition has it, he made a few remarks just before the race was set to begin. When Carper was done speaking, the National Anthem was then sung by Miss Wilmington’s Rebecca Gasperetti and seconds later, over 1,400 runners took off from the start line and the long cold wait begins for their return.
In 2015 Nate Alter, 25, from Quarryville, Pa, joined the Caesar Rodney race for the first time and finished the half marathon at 01:14:39, making him the 2nd runner to hit the finish line that year. When he ran the race again in 2016, his finish time was 01:12:32 beating his 2015 time by almost two minutes. Guess what? He ran the race again this year making it his third consecutive year running the race, finishing at 01:11:30, making him the first runner to hit the finish line beating his 2016 time by almost 1.5 minutes. Talk about accomplishment.
“This is the perfect time to race pretty hard and still recover, I like the hills. I don’t really like running on just flat courses. It’s kind of boring” said Alter.
Senator Thomas Carper had a finish time of 2:32:51. He missed last year due to a visit in China.
Race Results:
WOMEN
Overall: 1-Rochelle Sceats-Basil, 1:20:13.
Under-19: 1-Georgia Nussey, 2:12:34; Lauren Bender, 2:14:30; Allie Goral, 2:16:40.
19-24: 1-Gina Hostetler, 1:52:45; 2-Alida Steenkamer, 1:53:21; 3-Emily Steenkamer, 1:53:21.
25-29: 1-Elizabeth Swierzbinski, 1:21:12; 2-Lauren Jean Slaughter, 1:33:56; 3-Cecilia Tang, 1:34:30.
30-34: 1-Amanda Pupillo, 1:37:48; 2-Briana Smith, 1:40:19; 3-Laura Cerge, 1:41:14.
35-39: 1-Sarah Rusk, 1:33:05; 2-Meg McCoach, 1:33:39; 3-Stefanie Bonis, 1:35:33.
40-44: 1-Karen Dunn, 1:25:07; 2-Courtney Usher, 1:35:26; 3-Allison McCann, 1:36:19.
45-49: 1-Cecelia Regan, 1:43:56; 2-Nannette Farris, 1:44:48; 3-Lakshmi Bhamidipati, 1:45:48.
50-54: 1-Maggie Kanak, 1:36:56; 2-Cheryl Cantin, 1:42:38; 3-Patricia Morris, 1:45:56.
55-59: 1-Lisa Newman, 1:50:24; 2-Amy Snyder, 1:50:27; 3-Jean Western, 1:56:06.
60-64: 1-Valerie Maugle, 1:57:52; 2-Katherine Beck, 2:01:38; 3-Joanna Hellman, 2:02:15.
65-69: 1-Melanie Brennan, 2:15:45; 2-Maureen Frisone, 2:16:01; 3-Brenda Hurst, 2:34:37.
70-and-over: 1-Joy Hampton, 2:04:22; 2-Terry Rasmussen, 2:42:21; 3-Betty Olmstead, 3:21:53.
MEN
Overall—1: Nate Alter, 1:11:30.
Under-19: 1-Anthony Potero, 1:30:20; 2-Jude Favata, 1:42:55.
19-24: 1-Miles Devine, 1:16:05; 2-Logan Brady, 1:21:14; 3-Robert Celluci, 1:21:43.
25-29: 1-Zachary Hoagland, 1:14:23; 2-Steve Whitmore Jr., 1:20:19; 3-Brandon Dombrowski, 1:25:00.
30-34: 1-Michael Welch, 1:20:32; 2-Pete Sullivan, 1:25:29; 3-Andrew Carrig, 1:28:59.
35-39: 1-Matthew Dunn, 1:23:09; 2-Steve DiBona, 1:28:44; 3-Michael Tiedeman, 1:29:05.
40-44: 1-Geoff Shute, 1:16:46; 2-Kevin Beugless, 1:20:08; 3-Jason Tripp, 1:21:05.
45-49: 1-Colin Bodels, 1:24:03; 2-Ed Yost, 1:25:16; 3-Richard Kanak, 1:26:52.
50-54: 1-Yuri Romaniuk, 1:23:20; 2-David Steenkamer, 1:29:17; 3-Ed Hovick, 1:31:19.
55-59: 1-Johnny King-Marino, 1:27:51; 2-Matt Boyer, 1:32:04; 3-Robert Hoy, 1:34:40.
60-64: 1-Anthony Vasile, 1:39:35; 2-Phil Davies, 1:39:40; 3-Mark Holliday, 1:44:51.
65-69: 1-Gene Dykes, 1:32:09; 2-Byron Mundy, 1:35:58; 3-Peter Tuhy, 1:45:33.
70-74: 1-David Frisone, 1:58:37; 2-Budd Bettler, 2:09:57; 3-Tom Carper, 2:32:51.
75-and-over: 1-Don Coats, 2:07:45.
