Year in Review: Women’s record broken at 37th 10K

The 37th annual Shelter Island 10K race on June 18 was one for the books, with Lansing, Michigan’s Nancy Nzisa breaking a record for women runners that had held for nearly two decades.

Ms. Nzisa, 24, who was born in Kenya, ran a sizzling 33:01 on a hot, windless afternoon under a punishing sun.

She had few challenges near the end from other racers in her division, as she broke the Shelter Island 10K women’s record set by Mexico’s Maria Luisa Servin, who ran a 33:12 in 1997.

Ms. Nzisa was unavailable for comment after the race.

There was an electrifying finish in the men’s division. Five athletes came pounding down the grass of Fiske Field to the tape separated by a total of 12 seconds and the first two finishers were only two ticks of the second hand apart.

Senbeto Geneti Guteta, 23, and Ayele Megersa Feisa, 28, both Ethiopian-born athletes who have settled in the New York City area, were one-two, with Mr. Guteta surging ahead of his countryman over the final few yards to run the race in 29:43.

By finishing second at 29:45, Mr. Feisa just missed collecting an astonishing daily double of racing.

Earlier in the day he competed in the Queens County 10K — which he won.

“I lost power here,” Mr. Feisa said about his remarkable 20 kilometers of racing on Saturday in two counties separated by about 100 miles. He spoke with his arm around Mr. Guteta as they stood beyond the finish line.

Ms. Nzisa’s record setting pace and the men’s finish belied the difficult weather conditions most racers faced. It was hotter and more humid than had been forecast. The medical tent was busy after the race, with many runners suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration.

Joshua Green, 16, a junior at Shelter Island High School and a member of the varsity cross country team, was the first male Islander across the finish line at 40:40. The heat at times was a brutal opponent, Joshua said after the race.

“Really hot,” he said, adding that when he runs in organized events he doesn’t use the water stations, but on Saturday, “I couldn’t help myself. I’d grab a cup and throw it on myself.”

Joshua hit a wall going into “Joey’s Mile,” the last stretch of the 10K with small American flags lining the roadside to honor 1st Lt. Joseph Theinert, killed in action in Afghanistan in June 2010. “Towards the end I had to push myself,” Joshua said.

He’s the son of Toby Green, one of his coaches on the cross country team and a great Island runner in his day. Coach Green was named All-League in 1983, 1984 and 1985, as well as an All-County runner in 1984 and 1985, and set six Shelter Island High School running records.

Joshua’s goal had been to run a 37-minute 10K, but he settled for his time and being the first Islander to break the tape.

“It was a PR,” he said, using runner’s lingo for “personal record.”

Jennifer Newman, 33, was the top finisher among Island females, running a 43:23 in her first hometown 10K.

Ms. Newman joined the chorus of runners noting that the heat was a serious obstacle to overcome. “I think that the 5:30 p.m. start had something to do with it,” she said. “The sun was on the pavement all day and you could feel it.”

She really began to feel it hitting Midway Road, but the support of the crowds lessened the burden, she said.

On the green grass at Fiske Field, the overall winner, Mr. Guteta, accepted congratulations from other elite runners immediately after the race. Soaked in sweat, taking deep breaths, the winner responded to questions from a reporter accompanied by smiles and separated by large gulps of water.

Now living in New York, Mr. Guteta said he trains in Central Park. He recently moved from North Carolina to the city, because there are better training facilities available, and a large Ethiopian community that supports him there. He won the Buffalo marathon last month.

Mr. Guteta praised the race organizers and “the community, all of the people, all of the families that were cheering us.”