KINGSTON TWP. — Going into Sunday’s Fall Trail Run at Frances Slocum State Park, Tony Korch was suffering from a painful hamstring.
He wasn’t sure whether he was going to be able to run hard enough to win.
“I’m going to see how it goes and play it by ear,” Korch said before the race.
With 1-1/2 miles remaining in the race, his hamstring blew out.
“At that point, I wrapped my shirt around it to keep it warm,” Korch said.
The 56-year-old from Nanticoke ran to victory in the Wyoming Valley Striders 5 1/2-mile race, finishing in 55 minutes and 22 seconds. The Striders Fall Trail Run is an age group handicap race. The clock starts ticking when the runners, receiving head starts, start out in the earlier heats. So Korch’s winning time includes the added time given to those who were given head starts while he waited for his turn to start.
Lake-Lehman running coach, John Sobocinski, 48, of Dallas, finished second, 32 seconds behind Korch.
“If anybody had passed me, I probably would have walked to the finish,” Korch said. “I knew somebody was coming up on me. But because he never caught me, he actually pushed me to finish the race.”
The win was Korch’s 11th in the running club’s trail races (five in the spring, six in the fall). That tied him with Scranton’s Phil Vogel (six in the spring and five in the fall).
“Now that I tied Phil’s record, I can retire,” Korch said with a smile.
Patti Turissini, 64, of Scott Township, for the second straight year was the first female to finish, placing fifth overall in 57:51.
Turissini and her husband, Leo, who finished seventh in 58:26, are training partners with Tony Cerminaro, an 80-year-old from Jerymn, who finished 19th among the top 20 medal winners.
At the Steamtown Marathon on Oct. 9, Cerminaro set a national age group record, 3 hours and 57 minutes, for the marathon distance in the 80-84 bracket, even though he wasn’t able to run for three weeks going into the marathon due to an injury he suffered from a bike accident. He knocked two minutes off the previous record.
Ten years ago, Cerminaro set a 70-plus national age group record, 9 hours and 9 minutes, in the JFK 50 Miler in Haggerstown, Md. In that race he knocked 40 minutes off the previous record.
Cerminaro will be running in the JFK 50 Miler on Nov. 19, and hopes to set another national record in the 80-84 bracket.
Wyoming Valley Striders 29th annual (5-1/2 mile)
Fall Trail Run (age group handicap graded race) results
Top 20 medal winners
Tony Korch, 56, Nanticoke, 55:22
John Sobocinski, 48, Dallas, 55:54
Aaron Stredny, 35, Trucksville, 56:26
Jeff Bachak, 29, Jermyn, 57:33
Patti Turissini, 64, Scott Twp., 57:51
Joe Drumsta, 48, Scranton, 58:16
Leo Turissini, 64, Scott Twp., 58:26
Randy Lyback, 47, Dupont,58:28
John Novack, 24, Tunkhannock, 58:31
Ethan Sensback, 18, Dallas, 58:32
Markus Antilla, 36, Clarks Summit, 60:23
Debbie Alunni, 65, Jessup, 60:24
John Martino, 32, Dallas, 61:22
Randy Shemanski, 39, Dunmore, 61:56
Alicia Orzechowski, 13, Hanover Twp., 62:28
Skip Sensback, 48, Dallas, 62:57
Jeff Baran, 56, Bear Creek Twp., 63:12
Karen Brown, 47, Olyphant, 63:24
Tony Cerminaro, 80, Jermyn, 63:55
Kellie Terlesky, 19, Kingston, 63:56
Field: 84 (49 males, 30 females, five no shows). Timing and results: Wyoming Valley Striders. Race directors: Linda Wojnar and Don Grose.
Schedule
Sunday: Wyoming Valley Striders 3rd annual 20K Run at Lehigh Gorge State Park, White Haven at 9 a.m. Info: John Martino, 570-778-9165 or Tony Pszeniczny, 570-262-9133
Sunday, Nov. 13: Jewish Community Center’s Benjamin August Memorial 3 Mile Run/Walk at the JCC, S. River St., Wilkes-Barre at 10:30 a.m. Info: Bill Buzza, 570-824-646, ext. 232
Thursday, Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving): Berwick Marathon Association’s (9 mile) Run for the Diamonds at Market and Second streets, Berwick at 10:30 a.m. Info: Margaret Livsey, 570-759-1300
