By Nathan Mayberg
ROCK HILL — March 12, 2004 – They came all the way from Ecuador last Sunday morning to run 13.1 miles from the Dodge Inn, up the steep hills, and around the Rock Hill neighborhood.
By the end of the Celebrate Life Half-Marathon, Michael Slinskey of Wappingers Falls had completed the course in 1:12.32 to win the event. Slinskey’s time was more than a minute faster than that of second place finisher Andy Latincsics of Newton, NJ. Latincsics, who crossed the finish line in 1:13.38, was more than three minutes ahead of the third place finisher.
In the overall female category, the winner was Susan LaBurt of Greenwood Lake. She ran the course in 1:32.24. Dalton Polizzi of McAfee, NJ was the first place finisher in the overall male cancer survivors category, posting a time of 1:36.24. In the overall female cancer survivor category, Debbie Frederick of Newburgh was first in 1:45.04.
A total of 223 runners participated in the event, which was organized by Myriam Loor and Kathleen Rifkin, to raise money for Citizens United to Overcome Cancer (CUOC). That organization assists those who have recovered from cancer or are currently going through cancer recovery. The group also donates money to cancer research.
Following the race, Loor noted that “it’s been an incredible success.”
“We exceeded our own expectations and goals,” she said.
The event raised over $5,000.
When asked about the race, Slinskey said “it was great.”
“Andy and I ran together for several miles,” said Slinskey, who eventually started to pull away from Latincscis.
Slinskey said there were rolling hills everywhere on the course and two particularly steep inclines.
“One was straight up,” he commented. “[It was] definitely a good course.”
The top Sullivan County finishers were as follows:
15. Andy McKean, Jeffersonville, 1:25.40
16. Tom Manza, Rock Hill, 1:25.53
28. Frank Wipple, Grahamsville, 1:31.23
42. Scott Coddington, Wurtsboro, 1:36.38
44. Joseph Loughlin, Rock Hill, 1:37.17
48. Eric Shulman, Rock Hill, 1:38.37
59. Jean Norton, Wurtsboro, 1:40.40
65. Richard Hujus, Bloomingburg, 1:42.20
83. Colleen Hujus, Bloomingburg, 1:46.53
89. Craig Schumacher, Callicoon 1:48.39
90. Jerry Murphy, Jeffersonville, 1:48.45