OCEAN CITY- Thousands of runners from all over the region descended on the resort last weekend for the 4th Annual Susan Komen Maryland Race for the Cure in Ocean City, turning the downtown area into a sea of pink on Sunday morning.
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, Nick Barkley of Dover edged two-time defending champion Bobby Hammond of Selbyville to win the overall championship. Barkley and Hammond ran neck and neck for most of the race before Barkley pulled away. Jonathan Velasquez of Milton, Del. was third, Thomas Johnson of Berlin was fourth and Denise Knickman of Baltimore was fifth overall and the top female finisher.
Perhaps more importantly, 16 female cancer survivors from all over the state competed in the annual race last Sunday. Among the top local finishers in the survivor race were Susie Shockley of Ocean City (1st), Nancy Moore of Bishopville (3rd), Laura Powell of Berlin (4th), Sheryl Mitrecic of Ocean City (6th), Brandi Mellinger of Berlin (8th), and Jennifer Neeb of Berlin (13th).
Local runners were all over the leaderboard in almost every age and gender group including many who finished in the top three of their respective categories. In the male 10-14 group, Tristan McDonough of Whaleyville was third. In the female 10-14 group, Lily Figgs of Ocean City was first and Gabriella Bounds of Pittsville was second.
In the male 15-19 group, John Ford of Ocean City was first and Colin Green of Whaleyville was third. In the female 15-19 group, Brigitte Ardis of Berlin was first and Maggie Bunting of Ocean City was second. In the male 20-24 group, Gavin Aquino of Berlin was second. In the female 20-24 group, In the male 25-29 group, Andrew Blizzard of Berlin was first, Lap Nguyen of Pocomoke was second and Ryan Wilde of Ocean City was third. In the female 25-29 group, Naquelle Jacobs of Whaleyville was second.
In the male 30-34 group, Edwin Blanco of Berlin was second and Brian Patey of Berlin was third. In the female 30-34 group, Tabita Enciu of Pittsville was first, Kelly Zimmerman of Selbyville was second and Jennifer Kukel of Berlin was third. In the male 35-39 group, Steven Green of Berlin was third.
In the male 40-44 group, David Pouchan of Ocean City was second. In the female 40-44 group, Christine Figgs of Ocean City was first. In the male 45-49 group, Thomas Johnson of Berlin was first and Bob Thompson of Ocean Pines was third. In the male 50-54 group, Charles Curran of Ocean City was third. In the female 50-54 group, Susie Shockley of Ocean City was second.
In the male 55-59 group, Rex Palmer of Salisbury was third. In the female 55-59 group, Dawn Rogers of Ocean City was first. In the male 60 and over group, Doug Purcell of Ocean View was first, Jimmy Bacco of Berlin was fourth, and Rob Azbell of Berlin was eighth. In the female 60 and over group, Mary Lou McCurdy of Ocean City was third, Barbara Patey of Salisbury was fourth.
