The 4th annual Main Street Mile is continuing a Labor Day tradition in Farmingdale growing every year. Once again, this event was presented by Bob Cook, owner of the Runners Edge on Main Street in Farmingdale, who was race co-director along with Mark Leff of Cisco Systems. Proceeds from the Main Street Mile supports the Companions in Courage Foundation (CiC), founded by former New York Islander and Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine, who participated in the event. Proceeds from this year's event exceeded $7,000, which was contributed to CiC. The race once again finished in front of the Farmingdale Firehouse and Village Hall, with the post race awards ceremony taking place at the gazebo on the Village Green. There were 310 participants in the race, 42 of them from Farmingdale and many from local towns such as Massapequa and Seaford, and as far away as Forest Hills, Westchester County, Connecticut and even Ontario.

The new title event sponsor was Meyer, Suozzi, English and Klein, P.C. of Garden City, NY. Other sponsors included Cisco Systems; Dr. Larry Lembo, a Farmingdale-based chiropractor; DHR Computer Services of Valley Stream, NY; The Defstefano Insurance Agency of Bellerose, NY; Stop & Shop (who once again very generously donated all the water and fruit given to race participants); The Library Café (who very generously donated the June sponsor luncheon ), Wikham, Bressler, Gordon and Geasa of Mattituck, NY; Anheuser Busch; The Farmingdale Observer; Dr. Joseph Ciaccio, DDS of Hewlett, NY; Long Island Triathlon Coach; The Nutty Irishman (who very generously made food and drink available after the race); Bill Romas, LMT; Jeffery Frey of SBRLI.com (who generously donated his time to be the race photographer); and Mejias, Milgrim and Alvarado of Glen Cove. There was also a kids fun run where 30 participants ran a quarter-mile up and down Main Street and received medals and free ice cream from Bollingers.

Dignitaries in attendance included Donna Darling, Esq. a partner in the law firm of Meyer, Suozzi, English and Klein, the title sponsor; Eric Scher, a representative of NYS Assemblyman Joseph Saladino, Nassau County Legislator David Mejias, and Oyster Bay Town Councilman Tony Macagnone; Farmingdale Village Trustee Cheryl Parisi, Jose L. Lopez, commissioner of Nassau County Parks, Recreation and Museums, and Pat LaFontaine, former NY Islander and National Hockey League Hall of Famer.

"I have had the honor to run in the Main Street Mile in support of Pat Lafontaine's organization, Companions in Courage, each year since the event came to Farmingdale. It's inspiring to see the turnout for the race increase over the years and knowing that the money raised at this charitable event is going to help sick children in our local hospitals." said Nassau County Legislator Dave Mejias, an avid runner and one of the sponsors of this year's race.

"Companions in Courage provides the most unique opportunity for children in local hospitals to not only enjoy recreation and temporary respite from their illness and treatment, but to have the thrill of actually interacting with their loved ones, celebrities and sports heroes," explained Donna Darling, Esq. "At Meyer, Suozzi, we believe our corporate support for these efforts is a perfect adjunct to the services we provide for so many children and families related to their medical and educational issues."

"There is no better way to kick off the Labor Day weekend than to see families competing and enjoying the Main Street Mile. Not only do they get to enjoy a healthy afternoon with their friends and neighbors, but they are also helping improve the lives of hospitalized children. We can't thank the volunteers enough who make this day so special," said Pat LaFontaine, former NY Islander and Hockey Hall of Famer, and founder of CiC.

The Main Street Mile once again produced a lot of great performances. The men's open division (under 40 years of age) was won by Chris Mammone of Merrick in a time of 4:11, followed in 2nd place by Franklin Diaz of Farmingdale in a time of 4:14 with Boyd Carrington of Amityville finishing 3rd in a time of 4:17. In the men's master division (over 40 years of age), John Daly of Massapequa put in a great performance, winning in a time of 4:46, followed by Stephen Duranti of Farmingdale finishing 2nd in a time of 4:46 and Martin Knapp of Bay Shore in a time of 4:56 finishing 3rd.

In the women's open division, Lesley Higgins of Kings Point won in a time of 4:51, followed in 2nd by Michelle Henschel in 5:05 and Tara Wilson in 3rd in a time of 5:09. The Women's Masters winner was Susan Snyder from Briarcliff Manor winning in a time of 5:22, followed by Karen Conklin of Massapequa finishing 2nd in 6:01, followed by Emma Riconda of Northport finishing in 3rd in a time of 6:01.

Farmingdale residents fared well in the race as well. Farmingdale participants included Franklin Diaz 4:14; Stephen Duranti 4:46; Jeffrey Deitel 5:02; Luke Alber 5:05; Kevin O'Toole 5:19; Jonathan Licandro 5:42; Noelle Cutter 5:53; Maggie Fleming 5:56; Michael Fernandez 6:05; Melisaa Norton 6:16; Nathalie Morrone 6:30; Jeffrey Morrison 6:41 ; Samantha Duranti 6:42 ; Bobby Zeno 6:53 ; Michaela Duranti 6:57 ; Justine Fernandez 7:04 ; Karlee Dessel 7:05 ; 9-year-old Emma Norton 7:05; Katie Phillips 7:08 ; Gina Cristallo 7:11; Carrie Godas 7:18; Madeline Burtis 7:20; Richard Gunzel 7:28; 9-year-old Cathy Fleming 7:45; Clara Velez 7:46; Timothy Burke 7:51; Trevor Duranti 8:03; 9-year-old Victoria Godas 8:32; 9-year-old Nicholas Rutig 8:44; Eric Rutig 8:44; Marguerite Macagnone 9:48; Fred Benlein 10:26; Joan Ackerman 10:32; Ellen Shapiro 11:06 ; Patty Johnson 11:12; Peter Johnson 12:01.

Massapequa residents also fared well in the race. Participants included John Daly 4:46; Greg Karl in 5:39; Robert Lemke 5:44; Michael Gluf 5:45; Karen Conkling 6:01; Kristin Daly 6:15; Mikayla Porr 6:27; Marty Shimmele 6:27; Tom Biggers 6:39; 9-year-old Brian Mohlin 7:40; Brenda Mohlin 7:57; Alison Valdini 8:24; 9-year-old Mackenzie Conkling 8:25; 9-year-old Emily Mohln 8:35; Norman Hershkowitz 8:41; John Thalasinos 8:50; Irene Drezen 9:09; Howard Kestenbaum 10:57.

The race's oldest finisher was 84-year-old George Dennis of Muttontown in a time of 11:50. This year's race was run in memory of John McManus, a long time member of the Long Island running community who passed away last year and last participated in the 2006 Main Street Mile.

Proceeds from the race go toward LaFontaine's nonprofit organization Companions in Courage (CiC). As seen at www.cic16.org, CiCs raises funds to build interactive playrooms in children's hospitals throughout North America. Through innovative communications tools, these playrooms are meant to replace the isolation of a hospital with a connection to family, friends and celebrities during their hospital stay. This effort paves the way for their motto, "No child in the fight for life or health should ever have to go it alone."

The rooms, dubbed "the Lion's Den," have state-of-the-art technology from Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Full Armour Software. Patients receive a "smart" card when they check into the hospital, identifying them as members of a special community with unique privileges. The key is an ID device that allows each child to personalize their experience within the Lion's Den room with activities such as Web surfing, video game playing and video-conferencing. A Lion's Den at Huntington Hospital will soon join recent installations in the past year, which have opened at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital at Columbia Presbyterian in NYC, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. Two more Lion's Den playrooms will open at Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida (sponsored by the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Franchise), and in Panama City, Florida (sponsored by Ironman North America and opening concurrent with the Florida Ironman race taking place November 1.

For more information on Companions in Courage visit their website at http://www.cic16.org.