Notwithstanding several inches of snow still covering the Bethpage State Park trails on the morning of February 24, a great turnout of 145 teams of three runners each successfully completed the 2008 edition of the North Fork Bank Trail Relay.

The Bellmore Striders team of Chris Fogarazzo, Matt Uzenski and anchor leg Sal Nastasi scored a 42-second victory over their rivals from the Sayville Running Company, with a total time of 33:05 that was certainly more than respectable considering the snowy conditions. The Bellmore Striders Women's team of Tara Wilson, Meghan Evangalopous, and Michelle Henschel had a much easier time of it in winning the Open Women's Division.

Teams from the Sayville Running Company scored first in the Mixed Open (Ryan Soltan, Katie Di Pietro and Adam Siepiola), Men's Masters (Karnik Seferian, Andre Burrigci and Paul Murphy), and Mixed Masters (Kellie Stamm, Paul Murphy and Phil Patanjo) Divisions. Coach Ed Melnik's Long Island Distance Project teams took top honors in the Women's Masters (Elaine Hassan, Alice Tamkin, and Tracy Kemper) and Men's Senior Masters (Gary Klein, Frank Notarstefano, and Joe Piccini) Divisions. The "Mud Hens Again" (Eileen Hession, Andrea Backe and Chris Brakel took first in the Women's Senior Masters Division, and "Dolores's Demons" (Dolores Doman, Kevin Carroll and Peter Martin) earned the first place award in the Mixed Senior Masters Division.

The snow obviously didn't discourage anyone from showing up on what turned out to be a beautiful morning, but it did result in a winning time that was a bit over a minute slower than last year's winning time of 32:00.

Congratulations to Relay Co-Directors Charlie Hamilton and Carl Grossbard of the host Greater Long Island Running Club on a flawless job of putting together all the pieces, and to all the volunteers who made the day a great experience for everyone who was on hand for the event.

The club was pleased at the success of the 2008 North Fork Bank Trail Relay, and was also pleased that as a result of the relay the club will be able to make another substantial donation to the Center For Developmental Disabilities and the good work that they are doing with special children.

A special thank you to relay title sponsor North Fork Bank, and to NFB's David Kurtzman for making it happen, as well as to Bob Cook and the Runner's Edge for serving as the secondary sponsor once again.