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OHIO VALLEY UNSUNG HERO: Delbert embraces race community

WHEELING — There can only be a handful of winners at the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic.

Saturday, Dennis Delbert did his best to make everyone feel like one.

From his position in the announcer’s stand high above the corner of Main and 14th streets, Delbert spent nearly three hours announcing the name of almost every participant of the 41st annual event as they crossed the finish line.

”I have two things going for me,” Delbert said, his glasses perched at the bottom of his nose. ”I have a monitor here to help me, and knowing a lot of runners and walkers over the years pays off.”

Delbert has been a part of the Memorial Day weekend staple since it first stepped off on the streets of Downtown Wheeling. And, frankly, he can’t think of a better way to spend the final Saturday of May.

”If they want some help, I do it,” he said. ”If anyone ever needs help with a race, like (Saturday), I do it. Whatever capacity we have to work with, I do it.”

Announcing isn’t exactly Delbert’s forte, but when race organizers asked him to fill the role this year, he stepped right in.

”I’ve done a couple of races, but nothing of this magnitude,” Delbert said in between stating names to the crowd. ”To me, this is a mainstay race of this area. To be a part of it is just an honor.”

Delbert was especially honored, too, to be sitting in a seat that had been occupied for many years by Tom Fleming. Fleming, the former New York City Marathon champ and longtime friend and entrant of the Ogden, died last month of a heart attack at age 66 in New Jersey.

While he knew he couldn’t replace Fleming, or the flair he gave the race, Delbert said he tried to do the race justice by showcasing the hundreds of folks who are proud to call it part of their competition calendar.

”I know a lot of them personally,” Delbert said. ”I either see them through my own running or they come into my store. So, I have a personal relationship with a lot of them.”

The store Delbert mentioned is in Bellaire, and for the past 18 years has been geared toward runners.

”I love to help runners and walkers no matter what their age and capacity,” he said.

To that end, Delbert has been part of the Ogden race committee for many years, sort of in an advisory role.

”Over the years, (race director R.) Scat (Scatterday) has had three of us who’ve been runners for 30-35 years — me, Steve Habursky and Dr. Lance Tarr — we like to try and add in what we think runners would like.”

Delbert has, and continues to, pass his knowledge on to others through coaching. For years, he coached track and cross country at St. John in Bellaire, along with individual mentoring outside of the prep realm. This helps keep him involved in a sport that he’s cutback on participating in recent years due to a plethora of health issues.

”I ran (the Ogden) 25 times, but the last few years some surgeries have taken me out of racing. I still try to run, but racing is probably out of the cards now.”

Still, events like the Ogden keep Delbert part of the area racing scene.

”I started when I was 14 and I’m still going at 59, so I don’t see myself going away,” he said. ”I’m always going to stay at it.

”It’s in my blood. I think it defines me. Running has always defined me as a person.

”Maybe I can’t race as fast as I used to or run as fast as I used to, but it still defines me as a person to be one of the ‘old-timers.’

”And I’m Ok with that.”

If you know of someone in sports in the Ohio Valley whom I could feature as an Ohio Valley Unsung Hero, drop me a line at rthorp@timesleaderonline.com or via Twitter @RickThorp1

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