Over 3000 finishers at Rockland’s biggest race event!

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By NANCY HAGGERTY

They would run together and read together. Fantasy stories were her favorites. When she got older, Marisa Goldwasser told her dad, Dave, that after she graduated from Duke University they’d write a fantasy book together. There are three fantasy books now. with a fourth, non-fantasy in the works. But Dave is the only author. He writes, just as he runs the annual Rockland Road Runners Turkey Trot, with a single-minded purpose: To raise money to help kids like his daughter.

Marisa Goldwasser, a 2001 Clarkstown North graduate who played soccer and lacrosse and ran for the Rams, never helped her dad write those books because she never lived long enough to graduate from Duke. When she was 16 she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the most common cancer in people ages 15 to 30. After initial treatment, Marisa’s “cancer was quiet,” her dad said. But the disease returned and, as is typically the case with Hodgkin’s, the second time around it was a much nastier foe.

In 2003, Marisa, who did get to Duke for a little while, died of complications from her treatments. She was 20 years old.
This was only 18 months after her mother – Dave’s wife – also died. That would drain all the fight out of most people. Instead, it has fueled Dave’s.

In 2005, he started The Marisa Fund, a response, he said, to the many people who loved his daughter and wanted to do something to honor her. His initial dream was to raise $1 million to cure pediatric cancer. But he also set the more obtainable goal of providing thousands of dollars to find new, effective treatments for pediatric cancer that are less harmful to patients. He has accomplished that and much more.

The Marisa Fund, whose moneyraising through racing began with a 23-person field for a two-mile Rockland Road Runners race in South Nyack, raised $85,000 in 2016. The most was through the Turkey Trot Goldwasser and his daughter used to run and which drew about 3,500 runners this time with countless “goodhearted” club members helping out. Almost every cent will go directly toward the pediatric cancer fight and toward making the lives of ill kids and their families better.

A central figure in the research is Marisa Fund board member Dr. Mitchell Cairo, chief of pediatric hematology, oncology and stem cell transplantation at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and New York Medical College in Valhalla. Cairo figures the non-profit charity has contributed between $600,000 and $700,000 to developing new treatments. “Without it, many lives might not have been saved,” he said.
Cairo said new medications “unleash the brake on immune cells” that fight the disease. New immune-based therapies also provide a targeted approach to attacking Hodgkin‘s cells. And cells are being genetically engineered to attack Hodgkin’s cells. Treatment toxicity can render young patients infertile, so money has also funded procedures to store tissue to ensure “fertility preservation.”

This all started, of course, with one young athlete losing her battle – a kid Cairo recalls for her “courage, maturity, incredible intelligence and the way she made people feel at ease.”

“You couldn’t help but admire her resilience,” he said. Resiliency is also something required of patients’ families. In many cases, their “financial strain is off the charts,” stress is high and, in turn, so are divorce rates, Goldwasser said. And so the fund helps out, sometimes helping pay property tax bills or electric bills or funding car service to and from the hospital. It has also paid for getting young Fareri cancer patients to places like Boston’s Fenway Park to meet pitcher Jon Lester, a cancer survivor. “If we help one kid or 1,000 kids, it doesn’t matter,” said Goldwasser, a retired nurse and teacher, who now lives in Haverstraw.

Of course, an exact number will never be known but it’s clearly more like thousands. Goldwasser has seen survival rates significantly rise but also said some kids later develop other types of cancer as adults. And so his work will continue until, he hopes, one day it can end.

Noting, as Turkey Trot organizer, he hasn’t done the race in many years, he said, “I hope someday cancer will be cured and I can just run.”

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Rockland’s flattest 10K!

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On March 25th in Lackawaxen, PA, JC Santa Teresa completed his 250th marathon at the Two Rivers Marathon with an impressive sub-4 hour finish! JC continues to impress and inspire us all and is such an amazing asset to our club.

Join us in congratulating JC on another amazing accomplishment!

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The RRR Kids Program is back! We will help your kids stay active and engaged! Kids are natural runners, whether they’re accompanying you on a run or participating on an organized team or school program. They require care at each step of their development.

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Distance: 13.1 miles & 5 kilometers
Date/Time: April 30, 2017, 8:00 AM
Location: Rockland Lake, NY

View Results

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The Rockland Road Runners raised $7,000 for Meals on Wheels Programs & Services of Rockland during the 7^th Annual Bill Fortune Memorial 10k/5k on March 11^th at Rockland State Park. The check was presented to Meals on Wheels on May 15^th at the general meeting. RRR also donated to the Valley Cottage/Congers Ambulance Corps and the Scholarship Fund. An additional $1000was raised for the Sloan Kettering Cancer Fund.

Despite cold weather several hundred runners toed the line for the 10k and the 5k. The wind chill dropped the temperature to close to 0 degrees, but that didn’t stop runners of all ages from crossing the finish line with a smile. The 10k course took runners around the lake two times and the 5k once.

Alex Alvarado won the 10k with a time of 36:56. Jordan Wolff and Gary Holland finished 2^nd and 3^rd respectively with times of 38:32 and 39:53. Jamie Lord finished 3^rd overall and was the first female finisher with a time of 38:33. Meghan Hand and Karen Finnerty finished 2^ndand 3^rd with times of 44:01 and 45:00.

For the 5k, Rinon Christian finished first with a time of 19:27 and Jenny Kurz was the first female with a time of 20:35. Stephen Buckley and Andrew Pearson finished 2^nd and 3^rd with times of 19:38 and 19:51. Kristen Nicolais and Janine Tedesco finished 2^nd and 3^rd in 21:23 and 21:33.

Special thanks to DICK’S Sporting Goods and OrangeTheory Fitness of Nanuet.

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30 DAY COUNTDOWN to the 30th Annual Women’s Distance Festival on July 8, 2017! We’ll be posting 30 videos in 30 days to highlight important figures & moments in WDF’s 30 year history.

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On Wednesday, June 14, the Rockland Road Runners recognized its top scholarship recipients during its summer track workout at Pearl River High School. Dylan Serino of North Rockland High School and Rachel Ludwikowski of Suffern High School each were awarded a $1,500 college scholarship for their outstanding leadership, academics, community involvement and dedication to leading a healthy lifestyle through running and volunteering in high school.

We congratulate both Dylan and Rachel, along with the other applicants, and wish them the best of luck at college. We also thank all the contributors to the scholarship, including our volunteers who served on the committee, and race directors, members and residents who donated to the fund.

The top male and top female were awarded scholarships of $1,500 each.

You can learn more about our scholarship program here: RRR Scholarship Program

2017 RRR Scholarship Award Winners

In addition to our main scholarship winners, in 2017 we recognized the following students with $750 scholarship awards:

• Dylan Mitlof
• Kerry Qualter

In addition to our main scholarship winners, in 2017 we recognized the following students with $500 scholarship awards:

• Allison Cole
• Andrea Mungroo
• Brendan Hehir
• Brandon Milch
• Jason Hirsch
• Madjeanna Brutus
• Meaghan Burke
• Patrick Angarola
• Ryan Guzinski

Our 2018 scholarship information will be posted soon. The first race that 2018 Rockland County high school seniors who may qualify for the scholarship can volunteer for is the Rockland Road Runners’ Women’s Distance Festival 5k Run/Walk, taking place Saturday, July 8, 2017 at 8am. For more information, visit the RRR Scholarship page or email scholarship@rocklandroadrunners.org.

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Carissa and I would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who made the 30th Anniversary Women’s Distance Festival such a phenomenal success!

We set an ambitious goal of getting 1,000 women and girls to register for this special anniversary race, and we succeeded! On Saturday morning 1,100 women and girls came together to run and walk in solidarity with all victims of crime and say “NO MORE” to domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. This year’s event raised a record gross amount of $50,000 and set a new participant record in the 30 year history of the Women’s Distance Festival.

Thank you to all that served with us on the race committee, the Rockland Road Runners, our sponsors and other generous contributors, the Party in the Park vendors, all the participants, and the many dedicated volunteers who made this all possible!

This event was truly a historic success, and it shows the power that we all hold when we come together as a community to rise up in solidarity with victims and survivors.

Mike and Carissa

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Rockland Road Runners successfully hosted the annual Masters Challenge on July 26 at Rockland Lake, taking advantage of a beautiful midsummer evening to enjoy a friendly competition against our neighboring clubs from east of the Hudson, Westchester Track Club and the Taconic Road Runners Club.

Westchester swept the men’s 40-49, 50-59 and 60-69 age categories, and added the women’s 60-69 team title as well. Taconic captured the women’s 40-49 and 50-59 divisions, while Rockland dominated the men’s and women’s 70+ age brackets.

Joseph Ekuom, 47, of Westchester claimed the individual championship with a time of 17:59.3 over the flat 3.1-mile loop around the lake. Suzanne LaBurt, 54, of Taconic topped the women’s field and finished ninth overall in an impressive clocking of 19:36.9. RRR was paced by “VT,” Voytek Cieszkowski, who came in third place in 18:31.8, and Alyssa Holland, sixth in the women’s division and 27th overall in 22:54.2.

RRR came out in force to support the race with 50 participants, followed by Westchester with 20, Taconic, 17, and Rivertown Runners, 2.

The post-race party featured food and beverages supplied by the club as well as main dishes and desserts provided by members of each club. Thanks to Enilda Indyk for the delicious homemade food, Jim Malone for the bottled water, and everyone else who contributed to the post-race feast. A tip of the cap to RRR President John MacKenzie for his coordination, and other volunteers who helped with set-up, finish-line management and scoring.

2017 Masters Challenge 5K
July 26, 2017
Rockland Lake State Park

Team participation

1. Rockland Road Runners, 50 (28 men/22 women); 2. Westchester Track Club, 20 (16 men/4 women); 3. Taconic Road Runners, 17 (11 men/6 women); 4. Rivertown Runners, 2.

Team results

Men’s 40-49
(top 7 finishers score: 1st = 20 points; 2nd = 15; 3rd =10; 4th=8; 5th=6; 6th=4; 7th=2)
1. Westchester TC, 41; 2. Rockland Road Runners, 24; 3. Taconic Road Runners, did not score.

Women’s 40-49
(top 7 finishers score: 20-15-10-8-6-4-2)
1. Taconic, 38; 2. Westchester, 23; 3. Rockland, 4.

Men’s 50-59
(top 7 score: 20-15-10-8-6-4-2)
1.Westchester, 43; 2. Rockland, 14; 3. Taconic, 8

Women’s 50-59
(top 5 score: 20-15-10-8-6)
1. Taconic, 44; 2. Westchester, 19; 3. Rivertown Runners, 2; Rockland, did not score.

Men’s 60-69
(top 5 score: 20-18-15-10-8)
1. Westchester, 27; 2. Taconic, 22; 3. Rockland, 16.

Women’s 60-69
(top 5 score: 20-15-10-8-6)
1. Westchester, 20; 2. Rockland, 18; 3. Taconic, 15

Men’s 70+
(top 5 score: 20-15-10-8-6)
1. Rockland, 39; 2. Taconic, 20; Westchester, did not score.

Women’s 70+
(top 5 score: 20-15-10-8-6)
1. Rockland, 53; Taconic and Westchester, did not score.

Individual Results

(89 finishers) 1. Joseph Ekuom, WTC, 17:59.3; 2. Conor O’Driscoll, WTC, 18:14.7; 3. Wojciech “VT” Cieszkowski, RRR, 18:31.8; 4. Matthew Goldstein, RRR, 18:50.4; 5. Patrick McCarthy, WTC, 18:53; 6. Gary Holland, RRR, 18:58.7; 7. Paul Serra, RRR, 19:02.2; 8. Logan Scott, RRR, 19:28.0; 9. Suzanne LaBurt, TRR, 19:36.9; 10. Bruce Semer, WTC, 19:41; 11. Jamie Kempton, RRR, 19:54.4; 12. Ken Pfaff, TRR, 20:01; 13. Gregg Schroko, TRR, 20:14.6; 14. Stuart Allen, WTC, 20:22.6; 15. Charlotte Rizzo, WTC, 20:38.1; 16. Evan Bender, WTC, 20:41.2; 17. Greg Cohen, TRR, 20:54.4; 18. Glenn Coleman, RRR, 21:23.2; 19. George Gerbacia, WTC, 21:52.4; 20. Kerry Monahan, TRR, 22:07.8; 21. Suzanne Myette, WTC, 22:18.2; 22. Matt Ammer, RRR, 22:26.9; 23. Daniel Uzcategui, TRR, 22:30.7; 24. Ruthie O’Driscoll, WTC (under-age), 22:34.8; 25. Bob Albanese, WTC, 22:42.1; 26. Maria Calidonna, TRR, 22:47.3; 27. Alyssa Holland, RRR, 22:54.2; 28. Karen Davies, TRR, 23:02.9; 29. Wayne Rubin, WTC, 23:04.0; 30. Alister Renwick, RRR, 23:05.9; 31. Ted Pernicano, TRR, 23:08.7; 32. Rob Fursich, WTC, 23:14.4; 33. Elliott Swann, WTC, 23:18; 34. Mark Selig, Rivertown Runners, 23:18.4; 35. Judy Rubin, WTC, 23:32.8; 36. Marjory Selig, Rivertown, 23:38.1; 37. Maria Murphy, RRR, 23:56; 38. Pat Parietti, RRR, 24:12.3; 39. Carlos Gonzalez, TRR, 24:17.3; 40. JoAnn Hodges, RRR, 24:25.5; 41. Michelle Caton, RRR, 24:32.9; 42. Minhua Lu, TRR, 24:34.2; 43. Narcis Aron, RRR, 24:36.3; 44. Brian Galfano, TRR, 24:45; 45. Elissa Koenig, RRR, 24:46.7 ; 46. Cori Roden, RRR, 24:56; 47. Nick Mitchell, WTC, 24:56.8;

48. Bruce Meyer, RRR, 25:03.4; 49. Eszter Friedman, RRR, 25:27.2; 50. Tom Maile, TRR, 25:30.5.

51. Tom LaTorre, RRR, 25:35.7; 52. Teresa Kenny, RRR, 25:48.2; 53. Harry Wagner, RRR, 25:59.6; 54. Fran Pisano, TRR, 26:09.2; 55. Bill Carpenter, RRR, 26:31.1; 56. Nick Copulos, WTC, 26:40.9; 57. Victor Lane, RRR, 26:42.3; 58. Rob Trawick, RRR, 26:47.3; 59. Steve Ozer, RRR, 27:05.7; 60. Dan Mitlof, RRR, 27:09.6; 61. Ed Brown, RRR, 27:16.7; 62. Cary Handelman, WTC, 27:27.5; 63. Mike Rauh, WTC, 27:45; 64. Andrew Chasen, TRR, 27:46; 65. Anthony Galfano, TRR, 28:09.3; 66. Gail Cirlin-Lazerus, RRR, 28:20.7; 67. Mike Seidenfrau, RRR, 28:21; 68. Eavan O’Driscoll, WTC, 28:45.6; 69. John Singer, RRR, 29:16.5; 70. Mary Pat Wolff, RRR, 29:29.9; 71. Amanda Trigg, RRR, 29:35.3; 72. Niels Dua, RRR, 29:42.5; 73. Benny Kim, RRR, 29:49.4; 74. Stephen Beckerle, RRR, 29:58.4; 75. Nancy LaTorre, RRR, 30:56.6; 76. Eric Schatz, RRR, 32:05.5; 77. Ayako Yamazaki, RRR, 32:15; 78. Jc Santa Teresa, RRR, 32:15.6; 79. Barbara Paer, RRR, 32:17.6; 80. Marie Killeen, RRR, 33:16; 81. Skip Hovdestad, TRR, 33:36.5; 82. Patty Ciardullo, RRR, 3:02.5; 83. Tracey Finan, RRR, 36:22.7; 84. Teri Cantor, RRR, 37:17.4; 85. Tracey Umer, RRR, 37:17.6; 86. Enilda Indyk, RRR, 37:39.5; 87. Jesse Hackell, RRR, 43:55; 88. Alexandra Finger, RRR, 49:53; 89. Ann Singer, RRR, 49:53.

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The September 12th Rockland Road Runners meeting at Prohibition River was one to remember. We were able to hear about the work of three of local community organizations while presenting them with checks in support of their causes. In total, over $40,000 was presented! Here’s the rundown:

The Rockland Road Runners have partnered with the Center for Safety and Change for 30 years to help the Center in its mission to end domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking and to provide shelter and support to the victims of these crimes. The Rockland Road Runners and the Center came together on July 8th for the historic 30th Annual Women’s Distance festival with 1100 women and girls, along with our sponsors, hundreds of fans, volunteers and supporters to raise over $33000 shattering last year’s records of 750 women and girls and $14000. Thank you to all for your support in truly making a difference and rising up to end domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. We are going for 1000 women next year, and every year, so save the date, July 14 2018.

Senator Carlucci accepted a check for $2,700 for the Larisa Karassik Foundation. The foundation raises awareness about drunk driving in the memory of Larisa Karassik, killed by a drunk driver on May, 23, 2015. The money was raised during the Senator David Carlucci 5K Fun Run at Rockland Lake in May. We’re glad to help support this critical cause and help preserve the memory of Larisa.

Finally, Rockland Road Runners presented a $5500 check to Kathy Bookman, Director of Development.  The money raised will help United Hospice of Rockland in improving the quality of life for patients and caregivers when a loved one is facing serious illness or loss.

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