By Richard L. Gaw
Staff Writer

As the rise of the morning sun began to splash its way around the Kennett Borough Hall parking lot before the start of the tenth running of the Mushroom Cap Half Marathon and FunGI Five-Miler on Nov. 8, pockets of humanity attired in running gear arrived.

They stretched, slurped from jugs of hot coffee and cool energy drinks, nibbled on protein bars and chatted among one another in the glossary of running: PR (personal record), base mileage, cool down and GCT (ground contact time). When the race kicked off at precisely 8 a.m. at the corner of East South and South Broad streets, the results of what has made this event one of the premiere competitive races in southeastern Pennsylvania came fully into view: a thicket of nearly 1,000 competitors – from top runners to weekend joggers – who proceeded into the courses that lay ahead of them. 

When Mushroom Cap Half Marathon co-founder Kara Gibbons woke up in the early-morning hours before the race, she said she was grateful that the rain that poured in Kennett Square the night before had given way to a picturesque fall morning, which would better ensure the safety of the competitors and the race’s 250 volunteers. 

“Ten years of this race is incredibly hard to believe,” Gibbons said. “Someone told [co-founder Sarah Nurry] and I that the Mushroom Cap Half Marathon is becoming an institution in our town, and someone else told us that it was a staple in our community. Those are very powerful words that I hold dear to.”

This year’s Mushroom Cap Half Marathon was won by Jt Newton of West Chester, who clocked 13.1 miles in a time of 1:14:52, followed by second-place finisher Eamonn McCullough of Phoenixville (1:17:13) and Connor Muse of Landenberg, who finished third with a time of 1:18:31.

The top women finishers in the half marathon were first-place winner Kim Speese of Exton, who recorded a time of 1:25:10; Dorcas Huang of Philadelphia, who finished second (1:32:26); and Emily Magoon of Newark, Del., who ran a time of 1:32:28.

In the FunGI Five-Miler, Greyson Cowan of Oxford took home the top finish with a time of 29:44. Alexandra Didonato of Philadelphia finished in a close second with a time of 29:48, and Bradford Polansky of Kennett Square took third place with a time of 30:38.

For a complete listing of all finishing times, visit https://fusionracetiming.com/results.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].