Joe King of Westbury, the proprietor of Antun's Caterers of Queens Village, has signed on to be the lead sponsor of the 12th Annual Nick Katsounis Memorial Championship 10 Kilometer Race on Bethpage State Parkway and adjacent roads on Sunday, June 29. This will be the second year that King and Antun's will sponsor the race.

The Wheelchair Championship Race has really come into its own over the past several years, spearheaded by the participation of virtually every major wheelchair competitor from the United States, Canada, Mexico and as far away as Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland and the Union of South Africa. The 2002 Race was won by Mexican Paralympic Champion Saul Mendoza, who edged out Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa in a dramatic finish that saw only 20 seconds separating the top 11 finishers. The women's division featured another dramatic finish with Australian superstar Louise Sauvage crossing the finish line only 3/10 of a second in front of United States Champion Christina Ripp of the University of Illinois. Eight Long Island athletes joined the world's best in the 2002 race, with veteran racer Peter Hawkins of Malverne scoring a very creditable 21st place overall to take top Long Island honors. Jeffrey Fisher of Ohio won the special "race within a race" for veterans of the United States Armed Forces. All in all, this was one of the best fields of Wheelchair athletes ever assembled for any race anywhere!

Even more to the point, the Nick Katsounis Memorial Race has become a major vehicle for promoting and funding wheelchair sports on Long Island for those who are not world class athletes. Race organizers are especially interested in helping some of the local young people overcome their disabilities through wheelchair athletics and the Wheelchair Championship 10 Kilometer Race has become a major source of support for achieving this important result.

We are thrilled to have the support of Joe King and Antun's once again this year," stated Race Director Geri Walsh of the host Greater Long Island Running Club. "Joe is a wonderful human being and, thanks to his help, the 2003 edition of the race promises to be our best ever."