The Mountain Ultra Trail Council of USA Track & Field has designated the Caumsett State Park 50 Kilometer Run to once again be the USA Track & Field National Championship 50K Run for 2010.The 50K run will take place at Caumsett on Sunday, March 7. The accompanying 25K run will serve as the 25K Championship for USATF’s Long Island Association.
The finest endurance athletes from all over the United States will be making their way to Caumsett on March 7, with the best of them setting their sights on breaking the course record of 2 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds set by Michael Wardian of Arlington, VA, in 2008 or the new women’s course record of 3:29:20 established by Kami Semick of Bend, OR, in 2009.
In addition to the overall prize structure, there will be a $1,000 bonus if the first male finisher breaks Josh Cox’s USATF National 50K record of 2:47:17 or if the first female finisher breaks Janice Klecker’s USATF National women’s record of 3:13:51. This is the fourth year in a row that Caumsett has achieved National Championship status.
The Caumsett 50K and 25K are not “just” championship events. They are most definitely open to the average recreational Long Island runner who wants to test his or her skill and endurance at either of two classic distances. The course is a 2.6 mile “loop” course on a paved path though the park, with one aid station per loop, fully stocked with water, sports drinks and food snacks. Each entrant will receive a top quality commemorative shirt.
Local athletes are expected to be prominent in the 2010 Caumsett 50K once again as well. In the 2009 running of the event, Hicksville’s own Anna Lau navigated the 50K course in a very creditable 6:38:17, and race officials look for her to be back again in 2010 and hope for several other Hicksville endurance runners to join her as well. Several local athletes successfully completed the 25K in 2009, and it is hoped that many of them will either repeat the 25K or move up to the 50K in 2010.
The run will once again be managed by the Greater Long Island Running Club (GLIRC) with GLIRC’s Amy Goldstein serving as the event director. USATF-Long Island Mountain Ultra Trail Council Chair Carl Grossbard will serve as the USA Track & Field liaison for the run.
“We are thrilled that USA Track & Field has once again chosen Long Island’s own Caumsett Park as the site for its 50 Kilometer Championship,” said Goldstein. “We are going all out to welcome the best of the nation to compete against Long Island’s top runners in what has become a classic endurance competition, and every runner who enters has my personal assurance that they are in for a great race and a great morning.”
For entry forms or more information, contact Amy Goldstein, event director, at 349-7646 or theamygold@optonline.net.
