News
Bob Sielski ’64 Just Keeps Pushing the Running Envelope
In the July 13, 2023 eDelt, we featured an article on Bob Sielski ’64 Michigan Delta Chi who had recently completed his goal of running the 26-mile marathons in all 50 states. (My New Experiences as a Runner – Delta Chi (deltachimichigan.com)
He completed his 50th state marathon in Hawaii in December 2022. You would think he would finally stop and claim victory, BUT he just seems to keep pushing along like the Energizer Bunny.
Why do the co-editors of the eDelt keep talking about him? Possibly because Frank Morrey is ’81 and Keith Hellems is ’83. They marvel at his continued ability to do such a Herculean feat. We think everyone should know about this, and since we’re the editors, we control the dialogue (we would like to have other Brothers to control the dialogue, too, so let us know if you would help us out). Bob posts on Facebook. The best part of these posts are the photos and his comments about how he did and what place he came in. These are included in this short update. Since Hawaii, he did his 74th marathon in Melbourne, FL on Feb. 13, 2023, followed by the London Marathon in April 2023, and the Space Coast marathon in Cocoa, FL on Nov. 26, 2023. Being a good neighbor, he has run multiple 5K races in fund raising events. How about the half-marathon on the Great Wall of China in October where he also gave a presentation at the International Workshop on Ocean Space Utilization in Wuxi, China? The half-marathon in the Antarctic Ice Marathon on the Union Glacier was held on December 13. See his comments below. His running has been sprinkled with the Pineappleman Triathlon in Melbourne Beach June 4, 2023, where he ran a 5K, swam half a mile and rode a bicycle 12 miles.
A few of his comments and pictures are included below for your perusal.
I finished the London Marathon yesterday, Sunday, April 24, 2023. A somewhat disappointing time of 7 hours 18 minutes because I gave out at about mile 20 and walked the rest of the way. However, I was #48,224 of 48,598 overall, #28,274 of 28, 389 men, and #11 of 12 for men over 80. (Some of those geezers can really run!) Here are a few photos (official photos have not been posted yet).
I finished the Pineappleman Triathlon today, June 4, 2023, in Melbourne Beach. Times were:
¼ mile swim: 21:22
12- mile bike: 59:35
5K run: 45:15
Total with transitions: 2:09:38
Not spectacular, but good enough to give me First Place (by default) in the Male 80-85 age group, and #200 of 201 finishing.
My time for the 5K was only two minutes slower than when I last ran a 5K without the swim and bike beforehand, so that isn’t so bad.
The only awards that are given for age group winners are a pineapple, with a small tag that says 1st place, which you can’t see in the picture.
I finished the Space Coast marathon today in Cocoa, Florida. With a time of 7 hours, 48 minutes, I finished #857/858 overall, #535/535 Males, and #2/2 Males 80+.
I can’t complain about coming in next-to-last; around mile 22 there were about 10 runners behind me, most of whom I had passed as they slowed down more than I did. However, all except for one dropped out of the race and got a ride to the finish. I am not a quitter!
The conditions didn’t feel bad, temperatures in the mid-70’s, but I noticed that most of the intermediate runners, finishing at 4 to 5 hours, were walking (not run-walking) for the last 4 or so miles. That is unusual, because most of those will run the entire distance. Partially because I had an upset digestive tract, I didn’t take in enough water, and lost 7 pounds in the event.
I ran the Great Wall of China Marathon (Nov 2023) today near Beijing. It was much more challenging than I expected so I only finished a half-marathon because of time limit. (He also gave a presentation at the International Workshop on Ocean Space Utilization in Wuxi, China)
ANTARCTIC ICE MARATHON –I am just finishing up an adventure of a lifetime! On Wednesday, December 13, 2023, I ran (Walked, limped) a half-marathon in the Antarctic Ice Marathon. It was conducted on the Union Glacier in Antarctica. We were flown to camp on Tuesday in a B757 airliner, which landed on the packed snow runway, which is a layer of snow several feet thick on top of the glacier, which is several thousands of feet thick. We slept overnight in double-walled tents, which were kept fairly warm in the freezing temperatures by the 24 hours of continuous sunlight. On Tuesday we did a short two-mile practice run on the course. It was the packed snow that had been leveled by dragging a heavy sled on top of it. There were photo ops then, including individual runs in a spot where the snow had been softened up to a consistency similar to running on soft sand. Unfortunately, I overdid it on that practice run and re-injured my right hip. That really slowed me down so that I was only able to finish a half-marathon on Wednesday, taking more than four hours, but barely walking at the finish. Although I didn’t reach my goal, it was great fun with some great people; other runners.
If you want the real flavor, go to his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/robert.sielski.7. If you want to view some newspaper articles about him go to:
onseodSrtpag1a3c 39t9:c MA336hcchha4lmf019aa80754Mcf 892r f6