One of the traditions that go hand-in-hand with the arrival of Homecoming is the 5K Race. This event was organized by The Department of Campus Recreation and consisted of a scenic 3.1 mile trek around the Stony Brook campus. There were 103 men and women, a number that exceeded last year’s total by 51 participants that paid their entrance fees, participated in, and completed the race.
There are constantly packs of people roaming around the SBU grounds. Sometimes there are herds of friends going to or from class, herds of faculty going out to lunch, or herds of prospective students examining what the college has to offer them. However, this particular herd of individuals was unique due to the fact that it was composed of exuberant people from each of the aforementioned categories. At 10 am on Sunday October 8th huddled together at the starting line set up at the Sports Complex there was an assembly of students, alumni, faculty, staff, community members, and family members yearning to begin the race.
The event commenced promptly on schedule and, once the signal to start sounded, the pack was off. Some chose to run while others chose to walk. Regardless of the style of leg movement the person chose, everyone traveled through the course with wide smiles and high spirits.
To ensure the safety of the participants, water stops were available at each mile and a series of checkpoints were set up, each one containing at least one person ready to offer his or her aid to anyone who required it. There were also people stationed at the various locations to direct the runners down the proper path to make sure that none of the competitors strayed off line.
Once all of the walkers and runners had crossed the designated terrain, a plethora of awards were given out to many of the people who were a part of the festivities. Immediately following the race the award ceremony and the raffle drawing, where gift certificates to local restaurants and shops were given out, took place in the Pritchard Gymnasium. Awards were given to the top male and female competitors, the top male/female SBU student, faculty/staff, and alumni, the top two male and female walkers, and the top two competitors male/female in the following age categories: 12 & under, 13-17, 18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64,65-69, 70-74, 75-79, and 80 & over. Although his time this year was 16 seconds behind his time in the 2005 race, for the second consecutive year Doug Boyer, with a time of 17:29, was the top male runner and the overall winner of this year’s race. Coming in 2nd place overall and receiving the award for the fastest SBU male student was Evan Rotar with a time of 19:11. Finishing with a time of 21:33 Lisa Bonanni came in 11th place in the overall race and finished first out of the female competitors. The fastest female SBU student was Andrea Fischer who completed the course with a time of 23:03. For a complete list of all the award winners you can visit http://studentaffairs.stonybrook.edu/recreation/events/homecomingrun.
The next Campus Recreation scheduled race is the annual Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk on Sunday November 19th at 10 am. So if you have a passion for running or fresh air, or just want to support your school be sure to register for this event by November 15th.
