Several hundred runners descended on Dyberry Township Saturday morning to compete in this summer’s edition of the Dr. William Perkins Memorial 5K.

The event, which is now in its 23rd year, was held at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. It was sponsored by Wayne Memorial Health System and Honesdale’s Friends of Cross Country & Track.

“I’m so grateful for the amount of support we received from the community,” organizer Terri Martin told TWI Sports. “We couldn’t make this race happen without the help of generous sponsors like Wayne Memorial Health System and Dougherty, Leventhal & Price.”

All proceeds from entry fees, t-shirt sales and concessions go to support the Honesdale High School track and cross country programs. Dozens of selfless volunteers also turned out to lend a hand.

“I want to thank everybody who helped us out,” Terri said. “This is a big event and it takes an awful lot to pull it off. I appreciate it and I know the runners do, too.”

The Finish Line
Martin Seybold has been running competitively for more than three decades now.
He got his start as a boy growing up in Germany, progressing steadily from short sprints to 5Ks, 10Ks, half-marathons and marathons.

“It didn’t take me long to figure out I wasn’t fast enough to be a sprinter,” Martin said with a chuckle. “So, I started focusing on middle distance and distance events.”

Martin has run many smaller marathons (Twin Cities & Harrisburg) and all of the East Coast biggies (Philadelphia, New York). Seybold has competed in the Boston Marathon five times now, but still enjoys the smaller road races as well.

On Saturday, he got off to a strong start despite the stiff competition and brutal humidity. By the one mile mark, Martin found himself battling the likes of Sean Craig, Jason Kennedy and Rusty Tolliver for the lead.

“The course is very flat and fast,” Seybold said. “I wanted a better time, but I just did the best I could with all the heat.”

That turned out to be the best anyone could do on this particular day.

Seybold drew on his years of experience in all types of running events to win the 23rd Annual Dr. Perkins Memorial 5K. Martin crossed the finish line in a time of 17:40.3, good for a nearly 13-second bulge over his closest pursuer.

Jason Kennedy claimed runner-up honors with a time of 17:52.9. Rusty Tolliver of Island Lake Camp took third at 18:02.6, while Sean Craig ended up fourth in a time of 18:46.

Lindsey Pender cracked the First Five with an inspiring performance of her own.

Just four months removed from giving birth to her son Owen, Lindsey captured first place in the women’s division. The former HHS cross country star covered the 5K layout in 18:53. That time was pleasant surprise to the new Mom.

“I’m very, very happy with how well I ran,” she said with a big smile. “I just came out to see what I could do. I really don’t like running in races like this. I’d much rather just go for a run by myself. But, I thought I had something to prove to myself.”

Two years ago, Lindsey posted a time of 18:46. This summer...in less-than-ideal conditions...she came within seven seconds of that mark.

Another local Mom just bouncing back into “fighting trim” after a recent birth is Kari (Gibbs) Kromko. A former multi-sport star at Western Wayne, Kari scored more than 1,000 points in her scholastic basketball career. She went on to enjoy success on the collegiate level before returning to Wayne County as the Lady ‘Cats varsity hoops coach.

Kari put her coaching career on hold to start a family with husband Kevin Kromko. The happy couple welcomed their second child, Karsyn, just 10 months ago. Nevertheless, Kari sprinted her way to a highly-respectable time of 24:22.6.

Rounding out this year’s Top 10 were: Vicki McGraw (18:55.3), James Mayeski (18: 58.2), Kieran Pierce (18:58.4), Amy Rome (19:04.1) and Ryan Kelly (19:04.6).

Never Surrender
Fred Howell is one of the area’s Founding Fathers when it comes to road racing. He’s traveled all over the world, competing in everything from 5K events to marathons.

On Saturday, Fred was once again at the fairgrounds starting line. He’s only missed two Perkins Races in the past 23 years, but there was some question about this one.

“I haven’t done a 5K in about a year,” he said. “I’ve had some trouble with arthritis in one of my knees and a little bit of tendonitis in the hip flexor. But, I felt pretty good today, so I decided to give it a try.”

Fred did more than just that. One of the races true elder statesman, Howell battled his way to a spot in the Top 100. He crossed the line in a time of 25:39.1, good for 98th place in the overall standings.

Back in April, Fred competed in the Lehigh Valley half-marathon. The 68-year-old attorney finished 11th in his age category (65-69) with an impressive time of 2:15:46.

“I love running,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been doing this competitively for 32 years now and I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon. Only the good Lord will stop me from running.”

Cathy Howell also competed in this year’s Perkins Run. One of Honesdale High School’s track & field pioneers, Cathy finished up in 118th place overall. She stopped the clock at 28:50.6.

Across the Board
In addition to local entrants, runners from a pair of District Two cross country powerhouses were also in the field Saturday.

Dallas High School made the trip up from the Wyoming Valley Conference, while Blue Ridge trekked down from the Lackawanna League’s northern tier.

Amy Rome was the first Lady Mountaineer across the line. She finished in time of 19:04.1, good for 9th place. Lisa Giacometti also cracked the Top 20, clocking in at 19:27.7 for 13th place. Megan Pietraccini ended up 20th (19:57.6), while Alexis Arnold finished 30th (21:00.2).

Erica Riecke was the first Lady Raider to complete the 5K course. She stopped the clock in a time of 19:51.9 (19th place). Allison Hall cruised home in 20:38.5 (24th), while Megan Lewis finished in 20:55.8 (29th) and Megan Kleiner in 21:04.4 (31st).

Other top local runners included: Tiffany Leventhal (19:51.7, 18th place); Erin Craig (20:20.7, 22nd); Jarod Przywara (20:39.7, 25th); Jim Manganello (21:11.2, 32nd); Jerry Theobald (21:23.5, 39th); Moriah Diamond (22:07.5, 43rd) and Lucie Henry (22:14.2, 45th).