Shelter Islanders run strong for home

Distance running, unlike most sports, is a test of the individual who must battle the competition, the course and most of all what each runner can endure, fighting through mental and physical fatigue.

But for Tyler Cardillo and Jennifer Keller — the first Island man and Island woman across the finish line at Saturday’s Shelter Island 10K  Run — fierce rain, a sloppy course and a tough hill near the end of the race presented no serious problems.

For Mr. Cardillo, a summer resident who ran the10K in 35 minutes and 10 seconds, the spectators, fewer than in previous years but just as enthusiastic, carried him home past any fatigue.

“I loved seeing the people in their rain jackets, hearing the ringing of cow bells,” said Mr. Cardillo, who winters in Punta Gorda, Florida. ”They focused me.”

It was a family affair for Ms. Keller, who ran her third Island 10K in 43 minutes, 59 second. The Deer Park Lane resident had her husband, Michael and two boys, Rhys, 7 and Dax 4, and other family members at the finish line as inspiration.

“The boys were waiting for me,” Ms. Keller said. “They were actually more excited to see Meb, but that’s O.K.,” she added, speaking of racing pro Meb, who is rapidly becoming a folk hero to Islanders.

Her sister Erin Brosch ran with her, as well as a new addition to Ms. Keller’s family, Cody George, “my new stepbrother,” she said. Her father was remarried at a ceremony three hours before the race. Cody finished just a second behind her.

Mr. Cardillo had been around the course before “but had never raced it,” he said, noting that last year he “jogged it.” A record breaking high school runner for his school’s team in Florida, Mr. Cardillo was the number three high school indoor miler in the nation in 2011.

He got a track scholarship to Florida State, but ran for only one year. His goal is to be a physician, and his pre-med schoolwork took priorities over athletics. Graduating this year, he’s working at South Ferry for the summer.

Ms. Keller, who is on the board of the Mahsomack Preserve, was a little worried about the conditions before the race Saturday. But she had experience competing in the rain, just recently running in the soggy Rome Marathon. Her main concern was vision, with pouring rain obscuring the course and getting in her eyes.

“But I just put my cap on and I was O.K.,” Ms. Keller said.

Waking up Saturday and looking out the window, Mr. Cardillo’s first thought was about the spectators. “I was a little bummed because I wanted good weather for a great crowd turnout,” he said, mentioning Race Director Mary Ellen Adipietro and race co-founder and guiding spirit Cliff Clark, “who worked so hard all year long.”

Bu then watching gray clouds flowing by, his competitive fire took over. “I realized,” he said with a laugh, “there will be good conditions to race.”

Not used to running there were some problems with traction, but the main obstacle was wide and deep puddles, Mr. Cardillo said.

He went off with the gun with a goal of running the first 3 miles “at a tempo pace” of 6 minute miles. “After some runners thinned out I was running mostly by myself,” he said.

The toughest moment? Taking the hill up to the Dering Harbor Inn. “But the people were great and I had a good finish,” Mr. Cardillo said.

Ms. Keller was thankful for the cool temperatures. She missed the big crowds from past years, but was touched by those who braved the rain to cheer her and the other runners on. She, too, felt the run up the hill to the Dering Harbor Inn was a challenge.

“But then I came up to Joey’s Mile,” she said, and felt a surge to finish in her best form.

Ms. Keller was one of the volunteers who placed more than 6,000 flags along the last mile of the course, one each for soldiers and Marines killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq, and dedicated to Lt. Joseph Thienert who died serving in Afghanistan. Running along, “I thought about each flag,” Ms. Keller said.

The last mile had special poignancy this 1OK, she added. Her sister Erin is a captain in the U.S. Army and will be deployed to Afghanistan by the end of this year.

Across the finish line was her waiting family and a hug from Meb. Her exhilaration was not just an adrenaline rush, not just a sense of accomplishment, but also something more.

“I was telling myself – this is a special Island,” she said.
Mr. Cardillo crossed the finish line on the wet grass of Fiske Field to cheers. He too, had an inescapable thought: “I love the heart of this Island.”