Rain¬often heavy, sometimes torrential¬was the order of the day on May 20, as 20 tough 50 milers and 25 tough 50 kilometer runners made it to the finish line of the 6th annual Long Island Endurance Runs.

The Long Island Endurance Runs are staged over a loop course that starts on Larabee Avenue in Oyster bay, finishes back in Oyster Bay at Fireman's Field, and takes in much of the rolling countryside of the northern portions of the townships of Oyster Bay and Huntington. The 50 mile runners do an extra bend south through Syosset, Plainview and Woodbury before rejoining the 50 kilometer runners in Cold Spring Harbor and do an extra leg north through Lloyd Harbor out to Target Rock once again rejoining the 50 K course for the last stretch up Route 25A to Cove Road and East Main Street into Oyster Bay.

The husband-wife team of Ed and Dana Parrot of Derby, CT scored 1-2 in the 50K, with Ed being the only 50K finisher to slosh through the puddles to the finish line in less than four hours. Ed finished in 3:58:57, followed by Dana in 4:22:02. Dana won the United States 100 Kilometer Championship Run in Pittsburgh in March and will be one of the two women representing the United States at the World 100 Kilometer Championship in the Netherlands in September.

1999 50 mile winner Rudy Afanador of Shirley led this year's 50 miler through the 42 mile mark, where he was overtaken by Hans Put of Astoria. Hans pulled away and beat Rudy by 18 minutes, with the rest of the field far behind. Alicjia Barahona of White Plains was the women's 50 mile winner.

Perhaps the biggest story of the day was that of Lynda Churchfield of Lake Charles, Louisiana, who took second place honors among the women in the 50 miler. When Lynda crossed the finish line at Fireman's Field in Oyster Bay, with an excellent time of 8:25:29, it marked the completion of her 50th birthday. Along the way she has also completed marathons on all seven continents (including the first Antarctica Marathon in 1995), the Himalayan Stage Race and the Marathon des Sables Stage Race through the Sahara Desert. Not a bad running career and one that hit a major milestone in Oyster Bay on May 20.

The oldest finisher this year was 68-year-old Ira Brotman of North Babylon, who completed the 50K Run in 7:52:58. The oldest 50 miler finisher was 65-year-old Ojars Stikis of Cliffside Park, NJ in 10:10:37. Two runners Rudy Afanador and Carolyn Broeker of West Islip joined the exclusive "Long Island Endurance Run 50 Mile Club" by completing their fifth Long Island 50 Mile Run this year.

50 Kilometer Run winners in our readership area include:

4. Glen Wolther, 43	Jericho	5:13:00
50 Mile Run winners
4. Kaori Takahashi, 33	Port Washington	7:44:37
10. David Redman, 52	Brookville	9:39:00
12. John Kaufmann, 51	Farmingdale	9:48:43