When the glaciers stopped advancing about 18,000 years ago, they did so smack in the middle of Long Island. I’m not a geologist, but I’m told that the “terminal moraine” of the glacier is at what is now Jericho Turnpike. The result is that the southern half of Long Island is relatively flat, but things get increasingly hillier the further north of Jericho Turnpike you travel.
This Long Island geological fact has important implications for the participants in the annual Long Island Greenbelt Trail 50 Kilometer and 25 Kilometer Runs that were hosted once again this year on May 10th by the Greater Long Island Running Club. The course starts at the GLIRC Clubhouse on Dupont Street in Plainview, enters the Greenbelt Trail at the Sunnyside Boulevard trailhead and proceeds due north up the trail to its Cold Spring Harbor terminus by Long Island Sound. The runners then turn around, head south on the Trail back to Sunnyside Boulevard, at which point the 25 Kilometer runners head back to the finish line at the GLIRC Clubhouse. The 50 Kilometer runners turn back onto the trail and do the whole thing again before returning to the finish..
Back to the geology – the course starts out as deceptively easy in Plainview, with the first few miles being relatively flat. After that things gradually get much hillier and much tougher to navigate, and the final stretch up to Cold Spring Harbor is as tough as anything you will see on an East Coast Trail.
The upshot of the above is that the Long Island Greenbelt 50K and 25K Runs are not easy, but require a considerable amount of both physical and mental toughness.
All that being said, lots of local runners were among the finishers in this year’s Runs. In the 50 Kilometer Run, Jonathan Zeif of Syosset crossed the finish line in 6 hours, 17 minutes, 18 seconds. In the 25 Kilometer Run, finishers included Maria Smit of Syosset, who finished in 2 hours,46 minutes, 42 seconds.
The event was made possible by a great cadre of senior staff, led by Race Director Nick Palazzo, Coordinator of Volunteers Lou LaFleur, Bob Sherman, Fred von der Heydt, Linda Ottaviano, Rich Innamorato, and Curt & Irene Robinson.
A hearty thank you to The Runner’s Edge and Jonas Chiropractic for sponsoring this year’s Runs.
