Some of the best women runners in the world joined with most of the competitive runners from Long Island for the 21st annual Vytra Women's Run, held on the roads of Farmingdale on Saturday morning, July 10 - and local runners did very well indeed.

A pair of Russian Olympic hopefuls - 22-year-old Tatiana Chulakh and 29-year-old Ludmila Biktasheva - outlegged Ethiopian star Atalelech Ketema to finish first and second overall. Chulakh crossed the finish line on the track at Farmingdale High School in 16 minutes, 1 second, six seconds in front of Biktasheva and 16 seconds in front of Ketema. Veteran Kenya star Teresa Wanjiku was fourth in 16:42.

The first American finisher was Annie Kugler of New York City in 6th place overall with a time of 16:55. Top Long Island finishers were National masters champion Kathy Martin of Northport in 12th place in 18:09, Holy Trinity High School champion Katie Di Camillo of Garden City scoring 13th overall in 18:12, and 27 year old Lauren Jasinski of South Huntington in 15th place overall with a time of 18:25.

Top local finishers included Shari Mark of Massapequa Park (3rd 25-29, 18:42), Trisha Fasini of Massapequa (4th 25-29, 18:50), Colleen Kenney of Farmingdale (5th 30-34, 21:20), Joan Ackerman of Farmingdale (3rd 60-64, 34:04), and Ruth Maller of Massapequa Park (2nd 70 plus, 35:39). At age 75, Ruth was the oldest finisher!

This year's Run was once again conducted by the Greater Long Island Running Club in conjunction with the Town of Oyster Bay, with the very generous folks at Vytra Health Plans once again coming on board as the title sponsor, with a big assist from Bob Cook and his great staff at The Runner's Edge.

GLIRC's Ellen Weinstein was the Director of the event once again, with GLIRC's Dawn Farina serving as the Coordinator of Elite Athletes. The 2004 edition of the Run was again part of the Vytra Grand Prix of Long Island Road Races, conducted under the auspices of Long Island Track & Field, and was the 2004 Long Island Track & Field Women's Championship event.

The main event was preceded by a 1/4 mile fun run for future female Olympians age 12 and under, with special Vytra Fun Run Medals presented to all Fun Run finishers.

A portion of the proceeds was presented to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island, and its mission to promote the positive growth and development of Long Island's children by providing families with quality mentoring, education and support service.

Úquot;This may have been the strongest and deepest field of international women runners ever assembled on Long Island,Úquot; observed Dawn Farina, Coordinator of Elite Athletes for the host Greater Long Island Running Club, Úquot;helping Long Island to enhance its reputation as being one of the strongest centers of distance running in the nation. We were especially thrilled to have such a strong contingent from Farmingdale and the Massapequas, and are pleased that they did so well!Úquot;