By Justin Gottschalk
WURTSBORO — April 12, 2005 – The fourth annual Wurtsboro Mountain 30K Road Run was held on Saturday morning in the village of Wurtsboro.
The runners lined up to start in front of the Emma Chase Elementary School, just down the street from the Wurtsboro Fire Department. It was a clear, sunny morning, and participants from all points of Sullivan County and many runners who reside beyond the county’s borders traced the scenic, hilly route.
Wappingers Falls resident Mike Slinsky won the race in a record time of 1 hour, 49 minutes and 41 seconds.
“I’ll tell ya, that is the toughest race I’ve ever done,” Slinsky said moments after crossing the finish line. “And I’ve done some tough races.”
In second place was Stephen Marsalese of the Bronx, who finished in 1:56:55. First place for the women runners and third place overall went to Manhattan resident Stefani Jackenthal, who “thought the course was gorgeous.”
“It’s hard to find long and really well put together races, and this looked like one and it was,” she commented. “The volunteers are awesome, and they put together a beautiful course. My legs are killing me. We had a gorgeous day, and I’m just thrilled. I’m just pleased as punch to be here.”
Jackenthal’s official time was 2:11:15.
According to organizer Tom Manza, “the race is put on by the Sullivan Striders club as a whole.”
“The course is a tremendous course – it does take a very strong runner to do this course because of the distance and the difficulty,” Manza said. “It’s not for everyone, but there’s a lot of dedicated and hard runners that are out there today. They’re working hard and you can see it on their faces.
“And to have weather like this,” he added, “you can’t buy weather like this.”
Sullivan Striders Executive Vice President Dennis Toscano explained the race’s history.
“Sullivan Striders took over the race from Brian Cavanaugh and we were able to keep it going,” Toscano said. “This is the first year we’re running it as a club, and it would have gone with the wind. But we were able to keep it and it’s a great day, the weather’s beautiful.”
That seemed to be the consensus among organizers and runners.
The complete race results, including the place, name, time, city and age of each runner, are as follows. (Those with the word “Early” preceding their names began the race before the designated start time – with the permission of race organizers, of course.)
1. Mike Slinsky, 1:49:41, Wappingers Falls, 35 years.
2. Stephen Marsalese, 1:56:55, Bronx, 39.
3. Stefani Jackenthal, 2:11:15, New York, 38
4. George Shurter, 2:11:50, Middletown, 50
5. Jim Clancy, 2:13:03, Walden, 50.
6. Gregg Barbee, 2:13:22, Wappingers Falls, 43.
7. Kieran Garvey, 2:15:53, New York, 25.
8. Franz Scholten, 2:15:56, Greenville, 43.
9. Frank Colella, 2:19:21, Scarsdale, 42.
10. Mimi Boyle, 2:20:56, Tarrytown, 32.
11. Bob McPhillips, 2:21:28, Montgomery, 48.
12. Sterling Harris, 2:21:48, Bullville, 42.
13. Jordan Kintz, 2:22:14, West Point, 21.
13. Luke Keller, 2:22:14, West Point, 19.
15. Daniel Vallone, 2:22:15, West Point, 20.
16. Jure Himelrajh, 2:22:53, West Point, 23.
17. Widmar Roman, 2:22:54, West Point, 21.
18. Scott Davis, 2:23:17, Beacon, 30.
19. Steven Cangemi, 2:26:06, Red Hook, 44.
20. Douglas Murray, 2:26:40, Carmel, 44.
21. Scott Coddington, 2:26:45, Wurtsboro, 46.
22. Doug Carter, 2:28:53, Chester, 51.
23. Alec Burtner-Abt, 2:30:04, West Point, 19.
24. John Oliver, 2:30:09, West Point, 21.
25. Bruce Brekke, 2:30:52, Hopatcong, 55.
26. Jamie Mazurowski, 2:33:02, Hyde Park, 37.
27. Dave Getz, 2:33:26, Warwick, 47.
28. Edward Lhotak, Allendale, 56.
29. Brando Jobity, 2:34:59, Middletown, 25.
30. Bruno Ablkhzir, 2:35:15, New York, 39.
31. John Finnigan, 2:35:26, Washingtonville, 44.
32. Courtney Harding, 2:37:32, Wappingers Falls, 33.
33. Andre Maldonado, 2:39:47, North White Plains, 36.
34. Mark McSweeney, 2:39:49, Warwick, 32.
35. Brian Rivenburg, 2:41:54, Middletown, 51.
36. Marie DuSault, 2:42:06, Washingtonville, 42.
37. Don Capone, 2:42:18, Norwalk, 56.
38. Jim Kennedy, 2:45:25, Goshen, 57.
39. Joanne Shurter, 2:45:56, Middletown, 45.
40. Bridget McSweeney, 2:46:48, Warwick, 32.
41. Cindy Benedict, 2:48:42, Middletown, 48.
42. Stacy Judice, 2:49:15, New York, 26.
43. Christine Kawoczka, 2:49:40, West Point, 19
44. Ingrid Arlt, 2:50:04, Mt. Hope, 40.
45. Fred Lauf, 2:50:10, Salt Point, 40.
46. Jim Freiband, 2:50:35, Highland Mills, 61.
Early: John Buzansky, 2:50:41, Jamison, 43.
47. Robert Baxter, 2:51:59, Ellenville, 33.
48. Bruce Casulli, 2:53:33, Port Jervis, 43.
49. Mary Harjes, 2:55:03, Bloomingburg, 42.
50. Michelle Fields, 2:55:26, Middletown, 44.
51. Barbara Guarnuccio, 2:56:50, Middletown, 45.
52. Camille Vassari, 2:58:16, Hopewell Junction, 48.
Early: Peter Briggs, 2:59:04, Rock Hill, 44.
53. John Ferrara, 3:01:21, Barryville, 48.
54. Ojars Stikis, 3:06:20, Englewood, NJ, 69.
55. Barbara Sorell, 3:08:38, Delmar, 47.
56. Greg Taylor, 3:14:21, Delmar, 58.
57. Benita Auge, 3:15:18, New Windsor, 57.
58. Phillip Melillo, 3:15:34, Warwick, 57.
Early: Suzanne Meier, 3:15:54, Bloomingburg, 45.
59. Willis Easley, 3:16:56, Liberty, 50.
60. Lawrence Byrne, 3:18:09, New Windsor, 53.
61. John Singer, 3:20:42, Suffern, 64.
62. Bill Grennille, 3:22:11, Montague, NJ, 52.
63. Erika Abraham, 3:29:56, Cornwall, 66.
Early: Eliot Collins, 3:55:17, Raitan, 53.
Early: Ann Singer, 4:24:49, Suffern, 61.