45th Annual Cherry Pit 10 Mile Race Sunday, April 7, 2024 BY LARRY PUGLISI
ever-present and always volunteering Darrell Mak, worked for several hours on Saturday in the rain, and then put in a full day’s work on beginning at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday. The 2024 B&A Marathon and Half Marathon was my first attempt at race directing and it was a learning experience for me. Although I made several mistakes while preparing for and executing a successful race day, it turned out that somebody always had my back. For instance, I completely whiffed on organizing packet pick up and Saturday registration. Fortunately for me, Ross Heisman came through and handled this aspect of the race on both Saturday and Sunday morning. I share this because I want my fellow Striders to know that if you have some trepidation about stepping up and volunteering as a race director or in some other role because you just don’t know if you are capable of the task, have no fear, your fellow Striders will not let you fail.
I t was a perfect day for a run through the beautiful countryside in southern Anne Arundel County. The slowly rising temperature started off in the low 40s for the 8:00 a.m. start, which seemed to agree with the majority of the 179 finishers.
This race starts at South River High School and then takes the run- ners onto route 2, which is the long- est state road in Maryland. There is some traffic on the main road, but once the course makes a left turn onto Mill Swamp Road, it’s as if you are being transported to a different part of the country. Green acres, horses, cows, and sheep are on dis- play as the runners navigate rolling hills in one of the few remaining rural parts of our county.
By the time you reach the finish line back at the high school, you may have seen a farmer, several tractors, bales of hay, and a goat on your journey. Our race motto is: “others may have the blossoms, but we have the pits.” Perhaps that is true but, as described previously, we have a lot more to offer than just the pits. Scott Koehler , showing remarkable consistency over the years, was the only per- son to finish the race in under an hour. His winning time of 59:44 marked the third consecutive year that he has finished in less than 60 minutes. Scott was also the overall winner in 2008. The record for this race was set in 1990 by Darrell General with a time of 50:45. Just two weeks later, General became the first American finish- er in the Boston Marathon. Matthew Metz finished 2nd overall this year with a time of 1:00:07, while Kaitlyn Govatos crossed the finish line first for the women with a time of 1:05:36. Colleen Gibson came in second for the women with a time of 1:14:48. I want to thank Tim Williams at South River High School for all of his assis- tance on race day, as well as all of the volunteers, the Anne Arundel County Police Department , the Anne Arundel Radio Club , the CERT medical team , and Sunrise Safety Services for their contributions in making this a successful event.
Michael Wardian, First Male, Marathon
Samantha Merkel, First Female, Half Marathon
THE STREAK I SUMMER 2025
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