Annual race is the opener for the Oyster Festival, Saturday, October 13
Runners, walkers and wheelchair athletes of all ages and levels of ability are invited to join in the fun on Saturday, Oct. 13, and accept the challenge of the Oyster Bay Town Supervisor’s 5 Kilometer Run. It is the opening event for the 29th Oyster Festival to be held Oct. 13 and 14 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Run will once again start on South Street in the heart of downtown Oyster Bay, head up Berry Hill Road, turn down Sandy Hill Road, with a great finish on East Main Street to Townsend Square. This is the sixth year that the Run will be utilizing a unique course that will show you the scenic beauties of Oyster Bay at their best!
Everyone who registers for this year’s Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor’s 5K Run will receive one of the snazzy commemorative shirts that are the trademark of the event.
The Oyster Bay Town Supervisor’s 5 Kilometer Run has been an increasingly successful fixture on the Long Island running calendar for a quarter of a century, and in recent years has developed into perhaps the single most competitive 5 Kilometer road race on Long Island. The 2011 edition of the run was won by 23-year-old Rockville Centre speedster Conor Shelly in 15 minutes, 26 seconds. Bayville 25-year-old resident Samantha Snukis, was the women’s winner in 18:40.
The run will be conducted once again under the auspices of the Town of Oyster Bay and its Department of Parks and Recreation, with race management handled by the Greater Long Island Running Club (GLIRC). Timing and scoring will be handled by John Snitko of JMS Racing Services, utilizing the newest technology with the timing chips built right into the bib numbers.
Race officials are pleased to welcome the leading Nassau County law firm of Sahn Ward Coschignano & Baker, PLLC as the presenting sponsor of the event once again, and word has it that Chris Coschignano, an Oyster Bay Town Councilman who is also a partner in that firm, will be running in the event. Also sponsoring the event is the ever generous Farmingdale running/multisport specialty store The Runner’s Edge, and its proprietor Bob Cook, and All Round Foods and its CEO Glen Wolther, who will once again be supplying an incredible array of post-race refreshments.
The newest addition to the list of sponsors is Pro Sports Physical Therapy and its principal Donna Chisholm. Pro Sports now has a facility in Huntington, and will be opening up a new facility in Oyster Bay in late October.
Bib number and sweatshirt pickup will be in the Oyster Bay Community Center in the parking lot behind Townsend Square, just off East Main Street in Oyster Bay from 7:15 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on the 13th, with overflow parking available in the parking lot of Oyster Bay-East Norwich High School.
The Run will once again be part of the USA Track & Field-Long Island’s Grand Prix of Long Island Road Races, a Grand Prix team event, and the USATF-LI 5 Kilometer Championship for 2012, with outstanding refreshments, an excellent raffle, and awards five deep in five-year age groups through 80-plus, and awards to the top Athena/Clydesdale runners and racewalkers! There will also be special awards to the oldest and youngest finishers who are residents of the Town of Oyster Bay.
The top male and female finishers will receive a cash prize of $250 each, the 2nd-place male and female finishers will receive a cash prize of $150 each, and the 3rd-place male and female finishers will receive a cash prize of $100 each, courtesy of The Runner’s Edge. Note: only bona fide residents of either Nassau or Suffolk County are eligible to win prize money!
The 2012 entry fee remains at only $20 for those who pre-register this year, and only $17 for pre-registered Town of Oyster Bay residents. The entry fee goes up to $25 for those who wait until the day of the race to register.
For more information or entry forms, call Mike or Linda at the Running Club office at 349-7646, or call Diane at the Oyster Bay Parks Department at 797-4125. You can register on line at glirc.org.
