Joshua Green and Stacey Kehl first Islanders in hometown race

Joshua and Jason Green were the crowd favorites at the Shelter Island 10K Race on Saturday, June 20. While an Islander has yet to win the historic race, Joshua, 26, came close to achieving that feat on Saturday, June 20.

He maintained the lead all the way through the fourth mile in Dering Harbor, when Abraham Longosiwa, the overall race winner, passed him. “I realized then that was his strategy,” Joshua told The Reporter following the race.

“Now I had to suck it up, put in the hard miles, and try to hang on,” he added. While Mr. Longosiwa held on for the final stretch back to the center of town, Joshua still said it was the “best-case scenario for today.”

After a grueling winter, where training out in the cold and snow was hard duty, Joshua said the plan going into the race was to play it by ear. “I’ve been injured for a while, a little bit of over-training, and I just wasn’t sure what kind of shape I was in,” he explained.

But when he stepped onto the start line, Joshua said, “Normally I have nerves. But I trusted the training this time. I trusted what I was doing, and even if I blew up, I wasn’t going to get upset with myself.” He added that the first mile “felt really easy,” though he decided to slow down, since “I don’t have the endurance for a 10K. I know with the time I just ran, you may think I’m crazy, but for the type of training I do, I’m more of a strength-based athlete.”

After being overtaken in the fourth mile, Joshua says he felt a boost in the final stretch. “Right when you get to Joey’s Mile, it’s the real local Shelter Islanders. Not to say that everybody else on the course isn’t local, but it’s the people who I grew up with,” he said. He added, “When I saw my grandparents and supporters out there cheering me on, I just wanted to give a strong finish and make everybody proud.”

Joshua did just that, finishing 17.14 seconds behind Mr. Longosiwa. Though the finish makes Joshua the overall second-place finisher, his brother Jason finished two minutes behind him in third overall. “Until today, the Shelter Island local record was a sixth-place finish,” Joshua said. “Now it’s second place,” he said.

“I grew up running this race with all of my friends, the cross country and track teams, and my brother. To just be able to perform this well really gives me hope for the future,” he said.

Stacey takes women’s crown

It was a runner’s worst nightmare. Stacey Kehl got a cramp in her leg just a mile into the Shelter Island 10K. “My goal was to beat my best pace from a few years ago,” Stacey said following the race, adding, “But unfortunately, I got a stitch in my leg. I don’t really ever get cramps, but it took almost three miles to work its way out.”

That didn’t stop her from giving it her all, and by the time she made it to the final stretch that wraps around Fiske Field to the finish line, Stacey was the first Island woman to cross the finish line.

Growing up on Shelter Island and attending school here, Stacey says she remembers running the 10K race “back to my sophomore or junior year.” She’s continued to run the race to this day, and this past Saturday was joined by her son Colby and daughter Kaisley, who both ran the 5K race. “Seeing that my son had actually finished the 5K right before me, it was nice to see his face at the end, also knowing that he ran a great time,” she said. “He took three minutes off his time from last year, finishing in 26 minutes. I am very proud of him,” she added.

Stacey says she felt excited on the start line and quickly settled into a comfortable pace. “I opened with around a 6:30 pace. I felt like it was pretty good,” she explained. Despite the setback with the early cramp, she said, “I was still able to maintain the pace.”

But by the time the course wrapped around into Dering Harbor, the cramp had disappeared, and the end was in sight. “Coming down into Dering Harbor, I got a good pick-me-up. And getting to Joey’s Mile was my favorite part of the race. Seeing familiar faces and the meaning of the mile really sets in,” she said.

She finished the race with a time of 48 minutes and 50 seconds, shortly behind Tara Wilson, who grew up on the Island. Stacey said the Island female title “feels great.” She added, “It encourages me to keep going and training.”