Staten Island Athletic Club's
3 Mile Fun Run
March 25, 2001
Good weather, a competitive field and free water at the finish line made this week’s fun run a little more enjoyable than the recent cold and blustery Saturdays.
Stephen Muniz, who obviously wanted to be first in line for the free water, scorched the field with a 17:07 victory, while Barbara Byrne, fresh off her superb win at last week’s SIAC St. Patrick’s Day run, took the women’s title in 20:29.
After a little jostling at the crowded start (hey, come on guys, this IS a FUN run), a strong and deep lead pack formed. It looked like any one of a half-dozen runners could take the race. Veterans Alberto Garcia, Richie Orazem and Tim McCauley joined the lead pack near the half-mile mark, making it a nine-man race. By the halfway point Muniz, who runs for There to Care, had assumed control and then pulled away for the win with a 25 second cushion. There to Care teammate Maurice Harewood, made it a two-man sweep finishing second in 17:32. Harewood, however, had no comfortable cushion and had to hold off Alberto Garcia (17:35), Chris Strumolo (17:37), and the tag team of Richie Orazem and Tim McCauley (both 17:45). Shaun Roth closed out the sub 18:00 club as the seventh member in 17:59. Sub 18:00 club wanna-bees Justin Berg (18:16), Dave Panza (18:18), Steve Lauria (18:35) and Mark Vogt (18:51) settled for breaking 19:00 in places eight to eleven. By the way, with Strumolo consistently breaking 18:00 and Tiger Woods winning Bay Hill last week, all of my predictions have come true. Let’s see Mike Lupica do that.
On the women’s side, Barbara Byrne lead form start to finish in what amounted to a good tempo run for her. Last week she beat a strong high school and college field, all of who were less than half her age. Debra Mahr had a strong race in second place and broke the 23:00 barrier for the first time, running a superb 22:54. Theresa Sorrentino was close behind with a 23:15 time to close out the top three.
There will NOT be a fun run next week (the free water is putting a strain on the SIAC budget). So instead, go to the Bill Welsh 5K Run next Saturday, March 31 at 10am at Silver Lake Park. The race will start on the path north of the bridge, adjacent to the reservoir on the Victory Blvd. side. Awards will given to the 1st to 3rd males and females, the first male and female teacher, and the first 100 finishers who will receive the Bill Welsh commemorative medal. There will be a free party at Jody’s Club Forrest and I’ll bet they’ll have free water there. Check out the home page for an application.
Place Name Sex Time Pace 1 Stephen Muniz M 0:17:07 0:05:42 2 Maurice Harewood M 0:17:32 0:05:51 3 Alberto Garcia M 0:17:35 0:05:52 4 Chris Strumolo M 0:17:37 0:05:52 5 Richie Orazem M 0:17:45 0:05:55 5 Tim McCauley M 0:17:45 0:05:55 7 Shaun Roth M 0:17:59 0:06:00 8 Justin Berg M 0:18:16 0:06:05 9 David Panza M 0:18:18 0:06:06 10 Steve Lauria M 0:18:35 0:06:12 11 Mark Vogt M 0:18:51 0:06:17 12 Chris Merillo M 0:20:04 0:06:41 13 Scott Hall M 0:20:10 0:06:43 14 Bob Polchinshi M 0:20:13 0:06:44 15 Barbara Byrne F 0:20:29 0:06:50 16 Scott LaMorte M 0:20:43 0:06:54 17 Steve Woitkowski M 0:21:02 0:07:01 18 Fred Rigolini M 0:21:10 0:07:03 19 P.J. Gambardella M 0:22:02 0:07:21 20 Debra Mahr F 0:22:54 0:07:38 21 Theresa Sorrentino F 0:23:15 0:07:45 22 Stehen O'Brien M 0:23:26 0:07:49 23 John Kane M 0:23:38 0:07:53 24 Stephen Ruberto M 0:24:41 0:08:14 25 Paul Forster M 0:25:28 0:08:29 26 Joe Feldstein M 0:25:36 0:08:32 27 Steve Corrigan M 0:26:27 0:08:49 28 Mike Garone M 0:26:59 0:09:00 29 Richard Ruberto M 0:28:06 0:09:22 30 Marie Garone F 0:39:00 0:13:00