Staten Island Athletic Club's
3 Mile Fun Run
April 7, 2001
Steve Muniz won his second straight Fun Run, easing through a 17:45 tour while sub-three-hour marathoner Anne Flynn, running her first Staten Island race, took the women’s crown in 18:43.
On yet another dreary and chilly Saturday, Muniz, fresh off his second place finish at last week’s Bill Welsh Run, set the early pace with A-Born Etchison in close pursuit. Chris Strumolo lurked in third place and seemed to be out of contention until he made a late run at Muniz and Etchison. He was partially successful as he caught Etchison, who had just dropped off Muniz after closing the gap to about 5 seconds with a half-mile to go. At the finish it was Muniz holding on for the win with the rallying Strumolo second in 17:53 and Etchison (17:58) third with his first sub-18:00 fun run of the year. After last week’s 17:18 5K, Muniz seemed to be taking it easy, though he made sure none of those “old guys” beat him.
Anne Flynn then claimed the women’s title, finishing fourth overall. Flynn, a 37 year-old mother of two from Michigan, was in town visiting her sister. She owns a 2:47 Marathon, which she ran at the 1998 Chicago Marathon. She competed in the Marathon at the 2000 Olympic Trials, though the heat prevented her from duplicating her PR. Her 18:47 fun run was squeezed in the middle of a long run and provided some tempo, as she would have easily broken 18:00 had she been racing. And for those with fragile male egos, that worked out just fine.
Thirteen year-old Kristen Farley, who we hope was watching the accomplished Flynn, took second in 20:27. At such a young age, Farley could certainly have an Olympic trials in her future, provided she works hard and avoids the high school party animals. Mom Barbara Farley couldn’t quite keep up with her daughter, finishing sixth in 23:36. She’ll have to pick up the pace if she wants to keep an eye on her daughter. Lissy Binder, third in 22:10, Debra Mahr fourth in 22:56 and Theresa Sorrentino, fifth in 23:02 all posted strong times.
Anthony Skomina ripped off his best fun run on the year with a 19:39 and Lisa Rigolini broke the 30:00 barrier for the first time with a 29:26.
We will be having a five race series to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the weekly fun run. While the fun run dates back longer than that, it became a weekly event 25 years ago. The scoring will be the average of your best four times, so you can skip one or drop that bad race when ya just didn’t have it. Awards will be given to the top 25 men and women in the series. Each of the five races will recognize a five-year time period, progressing backward in time, and will have music and fun run amenities from that era. If you still think “disco sucks” you might want to get your four races in before the last one. We will also be establishing a fun run hall of fame and honor the first inductees during each race of the series. The first race of the series will be the fun run championships on June 9, with the remaining 4 races held at regular fun runs between June and August. Dig out your old T-shirts, because we will be giving prizes for the best ones with a date within that race’s era. Check the web site for future updates on the series.
Place Name Sex Time Pace 1 Steve Muniz M 0:17:45 0:05:55 2 Chris Strumolo M 0:17:53 0:05:58 3 A-Born Etchison M 0:17:58 0:05:59 4 Anne Flynn F 0:18:43 0:06:14 5 Mark Vogt M 0:19:17 0:06:26 6 Dave Amarasena M 0:19:30 0:06:30 6 Bobby Guidera M 0:19:30 0:06:30 8 Anthony Skomina M 0:19:39 0:06:33 9 Scott LaMorte M 0:19:42 0:06:34 10 Kristen Farley F 0:20:27 0:06:49 11 Bob Polchinski M 0:20:54 0:06:58 12 Steve Woitkowski M 0:21:04 0:07:01 13 Fred Rigolini M 0:21:39 0:07:13 14 John Wowk M 0:21:42 0:07:14 15 Lissy Binder F 0:22:10 0:07:23 16 S. Martinez M 0:22:46 0:07:35 17 Debra Mahr F 0:22:56 0:07:39 18 Theresa Sorrentino F 0:23:02 0:07:41 19 Mike Sekulo M 0:23:30 0:07:50 20 Barbara Farley F 0:23:36 0:07:52 21 Andy Burek M 0:23:37 0:07:52 22 Dan Orlando M 0:24:23 0:08:08 23 Stephen Ruberto M 0:24:41 0:08:14 24 Paul Forster M 0:24:57 0:08:19 25 Angela Conte F 0:26:27 0:08:49 26 Mike Garone M 0:27:28 0:09:09 27 Ruth Fairbrother F 0:27:38 0:09:13 28 Richard Ruberto M 0:27:43 0:09:14 29 Sam Carollo M 0:28:02 0:09:21 30 Lisa Rigolini F 0:29:26 0:09:49 31 Marie Garone F 0:37:31 0:12:30