Terrific Temps Buoy Turkey Trot Turnout

Friday, 30 November 2012 00:00

Attendance record set as thousands take advantage of balmy climate

The 35th Annual Garden City Turkey Trot, Long Island’s largest Thanksgiving day road race, had yet another record turnout this year and attracted well over 5,500 runners.

Once again the weather was glorious and sunny on Thanksgiving morning as runners from all over Long Island and beyond came to Garden City to run in the Turkey Trot.

Twenty-one-year old Wantagh resident Arquimedes DelaCruz won the 5-mile race and the accompanying Jim Flynn Memorial Trophy with a time of 25:28. Twenty-five-year-old Rolanda Bell of Queens was the first female finisher with a time of 27:37. Nineteen-year-old William Slattery was the third overall finisher and the first Garden City resident to complete the course with a time of 26:17.

This year’s race was special for a numbers of reasons. Due to Hurricane Sandy and the resulting power outages the race committee could not get the word out about the race because people were unable to access their email and/or computers. So the race committee was left wondering how many people would sign up to run. When runners found out the race was still on and that a portion of the race proceeds would be donated to the American Red Cross to help with hurricane relief efforts, they turned out in record numbers.

Runners also brought and donated hurricane relief items to the race including much-needed school supplies, blankets, towels, clothing and food. These items were collected and delivered to the Rockaways, Long Beach, and Oceanside and the food was donated to Island Harvest. Special thanks go out to Garden City residents Mike and Chrissy Crowley who spearheaded this effort for the race committee.   

This year, net race proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  Runners were asked if they would like to donate any additional monies to these charities when they signed up online.  Incredibly, runners donated over $12,000 to these three charities when they signed up online at www.gcturkeytrot.com.

The Turkey Trot is a community tradition that exemplifies the best of Garden City. Hundreds of volunteers, young and old alike, come out to lend a hand and help make the race a success. The event consists of three races, a Challenger Division Race for courageous special needs athletes, a 1.4-mile Fun Run and a challenging 5-mile run. All three races start and finish in front of the historic St. Paul’s School on Stewart Avenue.

The Village of Garden City provides tremendous support for the race with many members of the recreation, police and fire departments on hand to assist before, during and after the race. Mineola Ambulance is always on site as well.  Garden City Police and fire departments and Mineola Ambulance were all called into action this year when a runner needed medical assistance and they did a fantastic job. Their collective efforts are much appreciated by the race committee and all runners alike.

The Garden City Turkey Trot would not be possible without generous support of corporate sponsors. Merrill Lynch’s Garden City office managed by Dominick Tomeo is the race’s lead corporate sponsor and has been so from the very beginning. The entire Merrill Lynch Garden City office has shown a true commitment to support the race and its charities as has The Garden City Hotel and its new owners. The Kenney Family Foundation,(Bill and Diane Kenney), also donates very substantial sums to the race beneficiaries and, assisted by Al Vanasco, ensures that the Challenger Division athletes experience the thrill of victory each and every year.

Other major sponsors include Winthrop Radiology Associates (Dr. Orlando Oritz), Clif Bar, Select Sector Spiders (Dan Dolan,) National Land Tenure (Matt Miller), The Durnan Group (Matt Durnan), Rallye Auto Group (Joe Stanco), New York Spine Institute (Dr. Alexandre de Moura and Alex Garcia) Verizon (Kevin Shine), Coach Realtors (Stephanie Cullum and the whole Coach team), Tradeweb (Greg Leder), Walk Street (Robert Kloepfer), La Bottega Italian Gourmet (Giuseppe and Marisa Ruta) and Wayward Media Group, LLC.  Many local businesses also generously support the Turkey Trot and its charities each and every year without fail. Many other local businesses donate products/services including Bagelman of Garden City and Long Island Banana Corp.

The race committee, (Race Director Ken Aneser, Kevin Coffey, Bob Freeman, Chris Giarraputo, Mike Kopcak, Charlie Lee, Jim Loughlin, Ian Paisley, Bob Priest, Phil Puccio, Tim Tobin and Rob Votruba), would like to thank all the runners, volunteers, the Garden City Recreation, police and fire departments, Mineola Ambulance, and all those who live on the race course for their support. The race committee wishes everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.