The 16th annual Long Island Women's 5 Kilometer Run will be held on Saturday, July 10, and Vytra Health Plans will once again be the primary sponsor.

This will be the third straight year that Vytra has chaired this important event, which in 1998 saw former Villanova All-American and National Indoor 3000 Meter Champion Kathy Franey Fleming take top honors for the second year in a row, and both Vytra and the Greater Long Island Running Club are looking forward to even bigger and better things for the run in 1999.

"We are very happy that Vytra Health Plans will be working with us once again this year," noted GLIRC's Suzanne Vasata, who will direct the Women's Run once again this year. "Vytra is a local Long Island company that takes its role as one of Long Island's most important and public spirited businesses just as seriously as it approaches its responsibilities in the health care business. With Vytra's support, we are looking to attract our biggest field ever in 1999, and we urge every woman runner on Long Island to join us on July 10."

The club is also pleased to have the support of New York State Senator Carl Marcellino, who has once again shown his support for women's fitness programs here on Long Island by nominating the Women's Run as a candidate for a 1999 Legislative Initiative Grant from the state.

This year's Run will be held on a brand new course in Farmingdale, with the start and finish at the Woodward Parkway Elementary School.

Women of every age and level of ability are invited to participate this year in Long Island's annual celebration of running and physical fitness. For more information about this great event, call the Greater Long Island Running club at 349-7646.