Staten Island Athletic Club's
3 Mile Fun Run
June 16, 2001
The Case of the Stolen Free Water
It was an abbreviated fun run with about half the runners, half the drama and, at the end, half the water coolers (more about that later). With the Ronaldson run scheduled for tomorrow, today’s fun run took a back seat to the second leg of the triple crown. Luis Oyola decided not to save his legs for the second leg, running a 17:53 for the win. Alma Ramos, who will not be running Ronaldson, scored her second fun run win in a row with a 21:11.
Oyola broke from the field in full sprint (as if he had just stolen a water cooler) opening up a huge lead early. He went through the first loop in 9:10 and had no challengers, and no water cooler on his person, eliminating him as a suspect. A few other men motored through around the 10:00 mark, but since none signed in, I can’t mention their names (hmmm, perhaps they had something to hide). Oyola went on to an easy victory, with Alma Ramos officially taking second. Bill Rivers took second for the men in 22:12 and Scott LaMorte took third in 23:05, but who took the darned water cooler. A bunch of shady suspects then crossed the line in a pack, probably trying to conceal something, as Andy Burek (24:20), Fred Rigolini (24:21), Mark Vogt (24:31) and Dave Panza (24:31) made off with places four through seven, and perhaps one water cooler. Stephen Ruberto (25:28), John W Ladley (25:35), Richard Ruberto (26:15) and John F. Ladley (25:35) closed out the top eleven. In both cases the sons outdistanced the dads on the day prior to Father’s day. Is that how a son shows his gratitude?
Alma Ramos had plenty of time to cool down before watching an unusually large women’s field finish. Linda VanName finished second in 25:31 with Ruth Fairbrother third in 29:07. Karie Gonzalez, a relative newcomer, was fourth in 29:30, and Kathlyne Roppolo closed out the top five with a 31:20. Hmmm, an unusually large field ….. a newcomer ….. this is getting suspicious.
So by now you might have guessed that someone actually made off with the water cooler during the race. What is this world coming to when someone steals free water? Then again can you actually steal something that is already free? Are people that desperate, or just very stupid; after all, the other cooler had Gatorade in it. In any case, the cooler had “SIAC” printed on it, so if you see this cooler anywhere, you are welcome to steal it back. Until then, everybody who was at the race will remain a suspect atlarge and will be questioned intently whenever they look a little too happy on a hot and humid day.
Results Place Name Sex Time Pace 1 Luis Oyola M 0:17:53 0:05:58 2 Alma Ramos F 0:21:11 0:07:04 3 Bill Rivers M 0:22:12 0:07:24 4 Scott LaMorte M 0:23:05 0:07:42 5 Andy Burek M 0:24:20 0:08:07 6 Fred Rigolini M 0:24:21 0:08:07 7 Mark Vogt M 0:24:31 0:08:10 8 Dave Panza M 0:24:31 0:08:10 9 Stephen Ruberto M 0:25:28 0:08:29 10 Linda VanName F 0:25:31 0:08:30 11 John W. Ladley M 0:25:35 0:08:32 12 Richard Ruberto M 0:26:15 0:08:45 13 John F. Ladley M 0:26:22 0:08:47 14 Mike Garone M 0:28:16 0:09:25 15 Ruth Fairbrother F 0:29:07 0:09:42 16 Karie Gonzalez F 0:29:30 0:09:50 17 Kathlyne Ropolo F 0:31:20 0:10:27 18 Lisa Rogolini F 0:31:48 0:10:36 19 Marie Garone F 0:40:14 0:13:25