There is simply no better way for runners and their families to celebrate the Holiday Season than being part of the fun at the Carter, DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt Ho Ho Ho 5-kilometer run on Saturday, Dec. 19. This is the 28th annual running of the event, returning to the course from the John F. Kennedy Middle School in Bethpage that was launched in 2014.
Thanks to the continued generosity of the intellectual property law firm of Carter, DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt and Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW, this year’s edition of the run will offer all the great amenities of past year’s….and more.
Race Director Ric DiVeglio of the Greater Long Island Running Club (GLIRC) will be working with lots of volunteers to stage what should be another spectacular morning of family fitness and fun. Santa Claus will be making his annual visit to serve as the official starter, and hordes of reindeer, elves and other denizens of the holiday season are expected to be at the middle school to join in the fun.
There will once again be special prizes for the best holiday costume and for the first “centipede” team to cross the finish line. Runners and walkers are most definitely encouraged to run/walk in costumes appropriate to the season. No dogs are allowed at the run.
There will be a fun run for the youngsters on the grounds of the middle school before the main event.
Every entrant in the 5K will receive a special commemorative “thermal” shirt appropriate for the holiday season.
There will once again be a giant post-race door prize drawing that will be highlighted by the grand prize of a flat screen high definition TV and a second prize of a top-of-the-line digital camera. Everyone who is entered in the run has an equal chance to win a prize. The event will carry forward the GLIRC policy of offering a 50 percent discount for preregistered 5K runners age 16 and under.
A portion of the net proceeds will, as always, be turned over to The Opening Word, and education program hosted by the Dominican Sisters to provide poor uneducated immigrant women with the tools that they need to become productive members of society.
Bring an unwrapped toy to registration to benefit local children in need. Toys will be donated to the John Theissen Children’s Foundation. Register online at www.glirc.org or call the GLIRC office for information.
