Thousands Turn Out for Komen Race

Thousands Turn Out for Komen Race
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OCEAN CITY- Thousands of runners from all over the region descended on the resort last weekend for the 2nd Annual Susan Komen Maryland Race for the Cure in Ocean City, turning the downtown area into a sea of pink on the near perfect Sunday morning.

The third annual event featured a change this year that kept the event entirely at the Inlet and on the Boardwalk. In prior years, the course went from the Inlet up the Boardwalk and through the streets downtown, but organizers changed it this year with the beginning and end at the Inlet and the course run entirely on the Boardwalk. While thousands of individual runners and team runners competed, thousands more family, friends and supporters piled into the Inlet area for the festivities. While the race was competitive, the real winner was the Susan Komen of Maryland Foundation with hundreds of thousands of dollars raised for breast cancer awareness and research.

For the record, Bobby Hammond of Berlin and Atlantic Physical Therapy won the race for the second straight year. Jonathan Velasquez-Lopez of Milton, Del. was second and Kurt Hufker of Crofton was third. The top three ladies finishers were Denise Knickman of Ocean Pines, Kristen Hovance of Ocean City and Robyn Memphis of Towson.

Perhaps more importantly, 18 female cancer survivors from all over the state competed in the annual race on Sunday. Among the local cancer survivors in the race, Annamarie Rohrer of Ocean City was first, Susie Shockley of Ocean City was second and Lauren Graham of Berlin was third.

Local runners were all over the leaderboard in almost every age and gender group, including many that finished in the top three of their respective categories. In the girls’ 12 and under, Ellie Dutton of Bishopville was first. In the boys’ 13-14 category, Porter Bunting of Ocean City was first, Kevin Williams of Ocean City was second, Colton Edmunds of Berlin was third and Adam Pizza of Ocean City was fourth. In the girls’ 13-14, Sara Mitrecic of Ocean City was second, Jillian Mitrecic of Ocean City was third, Maggie Bunting of Ocean City was fourth, Abbie Sterling of Salisbury was fifth and Hannah Semsker of Snow Hill was sixth.

In the men’s 15-19, Alex Sterling of Salisbury was first and Nathan Mitchell of Berlin was second. In the women’s 15-19, Mary Scott of Fenwick Island was third. In the women’s 20-24, Naquelle Jacobs of Ocean City was first and Breanna Rohrer of Ocean City was third. In the men’s 25-29, Robert Williams of Berlin was first and Nick Gerthoffer of Berlin was second. In the women’s 25-29, Hilari Ashton of Berlin was first. In the men’s 30-34, Kurt Starost of Ocean City was first.

In the women’s 35-39, Becky Pavic of Salisbury was third. In the men’s 40-44, Vince Pavic of Salisbury was first and Jamie Insley of Salisbury was second, In the women’s 40-44, Christine Figgs of Ocean City was first. In the men’s 45-49, Rich Ritson of Ocean City was first and Chris Llinas of Ocean Pines was second, In the women’s 45-49, Carolyn Turner of Pocomoke was second and Shelley Coffin of Salisbury was third. In the men’s 50-54, Charles Curran of Berlin was first. In the women’s 50-54, Dawn Rogers of Ocean City was first and Laura Schmader of Salisbury was second. Joel Mitchell of Berlin was second in the men’s 55-59. Becka Williams was second in the women’s 55-59. In the men’s 60-64, Frank Walter of Berlin was first, while Jimmy Bacco of Ocean Pines was third.