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Runners, walkers gear up for 5k

JOANN KIRKLAND PHOTO Race director Mary Ellen Adipietro (left) presented a bouquet of flowers to Ann Cronin at last year’s Shelter Island 5k.
JOANN KIRKLAND PHOTO
Race director Mary Ellen Adipietro (left) presented a bouquet of flowers to Ann Cronin at last year’s Shelter Island 5k.

When Ann Cronin was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, one of the first calls she made was to Mary Ellen Adipietro, with whom she had been working for 10 years on the Shelter Island 5K Run/Walk to benefit the North Fork Breast Health Coalition and the Coalition for Women’s Cancers at Southampton Hospital.

Another call went to Louise Clark on the race planning committee.
While Ms. Cronin hasn’t been helping to plan Saturday’s race, the 15th annual, it’s not because of health-related issues.

“I’m doing great,” she said.

“I’ll really miss it,” she said about the race during a telephone interview last week.

It has been a year since her first double dose of chemotherapy and she is among the fortunate who caught the presence of cancer early and could be a poster child for early detection. But what’s really critical, she said, is that she had a 3D mammogram at Southampton Hospital that revealed the cancer early enough to be successfully treated.

While she won’t be here Saturday, her sister, Dorothy Nolan, and cousin, Nancy Dickey, will be participating, Ms. Cronin said.

Ms. Adipietro and her team of volunteers — Patti Bumsted, Cliff Clark, Louise Clark, Betty Fogarty, Dede Gray, Gina Kraus, Linda Kraus, Ann Loeffler, Lisa Shaw and Linda Springer — have been working for several months, and if the forecast holds, runners and walker will see sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60s Saturday.

The 5k Run/Walk begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at Crescent Beach.

In addition to the major beneficiaries that share equally in the money raised, receipts from raffle tickets will support Lucia’s Angels, a foundation named for Lucia Terzi Bagan, who succumbed to breast cancer when she was just 47. Ms. Adipietro was among the founders of that organization to honor her friend and another of her former race volunteers.
Lucia’s Angels assists women with late-stage cancers with numerous needs as well as providing special wishes for terminal patients.

Raffle prizes include a gift certificates for various restaurants and shops; golf lesson with pros Robert DeStefano and Leigh Notley; gift baskets; and New Jersey Nets basketball tickets. Winners of tickets sold on Saturday must be present to claim their prizes.

Medals will go to the top finishers with results posted at www.auyertiming.com/results.php#. Awards will also go the first place breast cancer survivors in both the run and the walk. And a prize will be awarded to the team with most participants.

A free shuttle bus will be available for participants coming to Shelter Island by North Ferry. The bus will run from 9 to 10:15 a.m. from North Ferry to the staging area at Crescent Beach. After the race, buses will carry participants back to North Ferry until 1 p.m.

To register in advance, visit the race website at shelterislandrun.com/5k. Adult pre-registration through Thursday is $25 or $35 on race day. Registration for children 14 or younger is $10.

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