The 22nd anniversary 50-Mile Ocean to Sound Relay from Jones Beach to Oyster Bay marked another great day for local runners. Oppressive heat and humidity made it tough going, but everybody - well, almost everybody - made it to the finish for another edition of "the best post-race party in the Northeast" at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park in Oyster Bay.

Top honors of the day went to the Sayville Running Company, who ended the three-year reign of the Bellmore Striders, in what was the closest finish for first place in the history of the event. Sayville crossed the finish line in 4:45:05, a scant 51 seconds in front of Bellmore after a 50-mile journey.

On a more local note, two teams representing the Massapequa Road Runners competed in the event, and did very well indeed, scoring third and fourth respectively in the Coed Masters Division, with combined times of 7:37:17 and 7:41:36 respectively.

Special thanks go to Alan and Sharon End of the host Greater Long Island Running Club for two full decades and more of putting all the pieces of the Ocean to Sound Relay together; to John Snitko of JMS Racing Services for quick and accurate results; to all the outstanding men and women of the Nassau County Police Department; the Suffolk County Police Department, and the local Auxiliary Police forces for assuring the safety of all the runners, and to the Long Island Mobile Radio Operators for taking care of all our communications needs. An extra vote of thanks goes to Whitson's Fabulous Foods, to Moonstruck, the extremely talented band who once again gave everyone "happy feet," and to Joe King, the always generous proprietor of Antun's for making the services of the band available to us - all of whom did their part to assure the success of what was a truly outstanding party. Last - but very definitely not least - a hearty thank you goes to all the volunteers who were a part of this very special day!

Regarding the "almost everybody" comment above, Mark Crosswell, the 5th leg runner for the LIRRC team, succumbed to the heat about a mile from the finish of his leg, earning a special trip to Huntington Hospital, but we were pleased that he recovered quickly enough to get back for the post-race Party and to express his appreciation to everyone for their concern. Mark was running with still another group of 20-something former high school track buddies, and he was up there in the lead pack when he had his problem - so there could well have had a three-way battle for the finish under better conditions.