More than 2,800 runners and walkers took to the streets for the 40th Annual Port Washington Thanksgiving Day 5-mile Run on Thanksgiving morning. The top overall finishers, all from Port Washington, were Marco Bertolotti, age 23, at 25:58, Taylor Titcomb, age 21, at 26:20 and Aaron Siff-Scherr, age 16, at 28:14. Bertolotti and Titcomb ran track at Schreiber, going on to run for Stanford and Wesleyan, respectively, while Siff-Scherr is a junior at Schreiber. Coming in at first and second for the women were Joelle Feinberg, age 19, of Port Washington and her current track mate at Brown University, Alexis Van Pernis, age 19, of Hawaii. Feinberg and Van Pernis, in a show of their team bond and friendship, held hands while crossing the finish line together at 31:20. Rounding out the women was Bianco Luparello, age 20, at 32:40.
Local residents finishing first in their age categories were Matthew Scardigno, age 12 (33:19), Ribecca Sperry, age 12 (39:55), Ben Goldstein, age 14 (30:55), Lucy Hurt, age 15 (33:07), Leo Potters, age 19 (28:32), Maria Kogan, age 16 (32:50), Mike Atchoo, age 24 (32:11), Emily Pillar, age 28 (35:30), Brendan McCarthy (30:44), Alexandra Lane (35:35), Gareth John (31:35), Karen Melara (35:00), Stacy Levens (36:58), Ann Marie Fitzpatrick (35:05), John Antretter (34:21), Bernie Cunningham (38:51), Andre Bertolotti (33:39), Tina Fuchs (40:23), Nancy Harvey (45:24), Bob Owens (35:58) and Angela Scaringi (55:58). Many local residents finished top three in their age categories. For complete race results go to www.flrrt.com.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the run, which is presented by The Community Chest of Port Washington and the Town of North Hempstead, with proceeds going to the Community Chest. This event is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Community Chest, a charitable organization that awards grants to Port Washington residents. The Community Chest provides a wide range of services including social and nutritional programs for senior citizens, leadership programs and scholarships for children, childcare and parenting education, domestic violence and bullying prevention.
“We are grateful for the generosity of our sponsors and the participation of the runners. Together they make helping our neighbors possible,” says Julie Meer Harnick, Community Chest executive director. Meer Harnick said that the assistance of more than 100 volunteers (including Schreiber Key Club members) under the direction of Jeanne Rizzo, Community Chest events coordinator, and the support of the Town of North Hempstead, is vital to the logistical success of the event. The Port Washington police and fire medics, the Sands Point and Nassau County police departments, Nassau County Department of Public Works, the town’s parks department, the Villages of Manorhaven, Sands Point, Baxter Estates and Port Washington North are all instrumental to the success of the run.
