Storm King Run was one of first in-person events this year
In one of the first ‘real’ races held in the lower half of New York State in 2020, the West Point-Highland Falls Rotary Club hosted it’s ninth annual Storm King Run on Sunday morning.
One-hundred and fifty-one runners and walkers took part, with many of those athletes signing up the morning of the event.
The race, which raises money for the Rotary’s scholarship funds, takes place on Rt. 218 over Storm King Mountain between West Point and Cornwall-on-Hudson. Runners familiar with the course love that most of it is in the shade, but don’t necessarily love the hills involved!
The race was modified due to COVID-19 restrictions. Runners, both 10K and 5K started in groups of 10, so that there was more distance between the runners on the course. Racers were staged in the Victor Constant Ski Slope parking lot, with bathroom and sanitizing stations set up there, as well as plenty of parking, food and water. The participants gathered — six feet apart — just prior to the race as Race Director John Willis not only explained some of the basic safety precautions (like throwing used water cups into a garbage can instead of on the ground like typically happens at water stations) and also held a large American flag as the National Anthem was played.
Race timing was by SuperRace Systems from Garrison, and Rotary members served as the volunteers at all the various stations of the event. Town of Highlands police sat at the entry to the race course to stop traffic; as usual, Willis had secured the okay of the state Department of Transportation and the municipalities on either side of the mountain to have the road closed to traffic during the event.
Willis was pleased with the way the day turned out.
“Since March of 2020, nearly every physical race event in the country has been cancelled. The community has been longing for an opportunity to gather and compete,” Willis said. “We were thrilled and thankful to have the full support of NYSDOT and the towns of Highlands and Cornwall to execute our 9th annual run with protocols in place to ensure the safety of runners and our staff. It was a beautiful day for a race and we’ve received only positive feedback on the event. We look forward to hosting our 10th annual race next August!”
The race participants also seemed happy to be out and running, saying they were happy to not only be competing, but competing in person, instead of in the increasingly common ‘virtual’ runs, where an athlete completes a certain length course and then submits their time online.
Runner Justin DePierro, from Warwick, who finished 10th overall in the 5K, was pleased with the race.
“I want to thank you and your entire staff for putting on a wonderful race today,” he wrote in an email to Willis on Sunday afternoon. “Very well done, and much needed! I was overjoyed through the suffering of the final mile to finally be able to get out and race again. I can tell you there was so much shared positivity, enthusiasm and happiness in the parking lot from all the competitors following the race. Bravo! I look forward to seeing you guys next year.”
Due to social distancing restrictions, the Rotary didn’t host any of it’s normal in-person awards presentations. Instead, racers were able to access their finish times online immediately after the race and awards for top finishers will be sent by mail.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t festive as runners and walkers started and finished the course, John Flynn of PartyTime Productions was on hand with peppy music to motivate the moving!
Finishing first in the 5K was Michael Tanzi, 36, of Lagrangeville, with a time of 17:37. Second in the 5K was Suzie Clinchy, 31, of Brooklyn, with a time of 20:13.
First in the 10K was John Pozo, 35, of Cornwall, with a time of 41:17. Second was Natalie Tanner of Rye with a time of 44.23.
Complete race results are available at: www.rotary-wphf.org
