Around the Island

Summer Islander first at Ellen’s Run for Breast Cancer

COURTESY PHOTO | Shelter Island summer resident Robert Beit,100 meters from the finish line, took first place Sunday in the 18th Annual Ellen Run to benefit the Ellen Hermanson Foundation for breast cancer.

A member of the Shelter Island Running Club won the 18th Annual Ellen’s Run for Breast Cancer Sunday in Southampton.

Robert Beit, a Shelter Island summer resident and a recent graduate of Deerfield Academy in western Massachusetts, placed first among 850 runners with a time of 16.47 for the 5-kilometer race. He had placed second last year.

Two other Shelter Island Running Club members — both summer residents — posted their own achievements Sunday. Conor Bindler, a high school junior from the United Kingdom, finished in ninth place with a time of 17:44. Harry Helbock, a junior from Cohasset High School in Massachusetts, posted a personal best time with a 19:53 race.

The run benefits the Ellen Hermanson Foundation started in 1997 to honor the memory of the activist who used her journalistic talents to bring attention to the needs of breast cancer patients and their families. The foundation provides education, psychosocial support services and research into improving pain management. Proceeds help support the new Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Southampton Hospital. Past runs have funded much state-of-the-art technology at Southampton Hospital. Through the years, the race has garnered $2.7 million in grants.