Runners, take your marks!


Strap on your running shoes and don’t forget to stretch — the 11th annual Shelter Island 5K Run/Walk is just around the bend. The race starts on Stearns Point Road at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 16. Runners will gather on Crescent Beach before the race for registration. Registration after today costs $30, but there’s still time to register online for $25 at shelterislandrun.com. Children 14 and under register for $10. Currently there are just over 300 runners registered, but Race Coordinator Mary Ellen Adipietro wants you to be one of the additional 150 runners she hopes will sign up.

Race participants will receive a T-shirt, goody bag, a free ticket to a raffle and a post-race therapeutic massage and barbecue. (Non-participants can join the barbeque for a nominal fee.) A stretch clinic run by Oscar Gonzales will also be provided, courtesy of Moussa Dramé. This year, every participant will receive a medal, sponsored by Dr. Frank Adipietro. Race coordinators will run a free shuttle from North Ferry to the staging area between 8 and 9:15 a.m. and back to the ferry until 12 noon.

This fall’s race is dedicated to Patty Conway, whom Ms. Adipietro described as always being a “good friend of the race” and contributing a free golf lesson as a raffle prize year after year. She lost her battle with cancer and passed away the day after the race in 2009.

In its 10-year history, the 5K has raised over $200,000 for the North and South Fork Breast Health Coalitions. This year, the money will be split evenly between the North Fork Breast Health Coalition and the newly-formed Coalition for Women’s Cancers at Southampton Hospital, whose focus is not just breast cancer but also other women’s cancers.

The raffle following the race will benefit Lucia’s Angels, an organization dedicated to helping patients with late-stage women’s cancers and their families. You must be present at the raffle in order to win a prize. Ms. Adipietro hopes the race will raise a combined $18,000 to $20,000 for the Breast Health Coalitions and Lucia’s Angels.

For more information, or if you’re interested in volunteering, call Ms. Adipietro at 774-9499.