Fifteen members of the Green Vale Pacers, a girls’ running club, ran the 5K Race of the Long Island Marathon held at Eisenhower Park on May 4. All 15 finished the race and a few finished at the top of their age divisions and within the top 10 for all 354 female racers!
Fourteen-year-old Elle Simek was the fastest runner in her age division and finished in second place for female racers of all ages, with a time of 22:26. Not far behind her, 11-year-old Delaney Eichorn placed third in her division and sixth overall, and 10-year-old Ella Barry came in first for her division and seventh overall!
Also finishing within the top 10 for their age bracket was Avery Bysrton (second), Margaret Collett (fifth), Kathryn Foley (seventh), Emma Knopf (third), Helen Marcell (sixth), Rachel Smithie (fourth) and Sasha Smithie (fourth). Yusra Azaz, Sonia Bogolubov, Jessica De La Bastide, Leigh Iglesias and Nicole Passarella also finished the 5K within the top half for their age brackets!
Cami Gallagher, fourth grade teacher and a Pacers coach, also ran the 5K and finished in seventeenth place for all female racers. Corinne Maron, a Pacers coach and fifth grade teacher, ran the half-marathon of the LI Marathon on Sunday and finished in the top half of all 1,723 female racers.
The third Pacers coach, Jen Moreano, was not able to run with the girls this time but she enjoyed her role as photographer and head cheerleader. The school librarian spoke for all three coaches.
“The girls and their parents took the time to run this 5k race at a very busy time of the school year,” she said. It is a testament to their dedication, athleticism and leadership qualities. We are very proud of their running and that they ran for a good cause – research funding at Cold Spring Harbor Labs.”
Five Green Vale parents who also completed the 5K – John and Elizabeth Collett, Laura de La Bastide, Heather Knopf and Andrew Marcell, as did Green Vale alumna Carly Knopf, who finished the race in the top 10 for her age bracket.
