Sergey Avramenko, 38, a native of Belarus and a frequent winner of road races here, topped a field of 500 in the Katy’s Courage 5K in Sag Harbor Saturday, the first such event of the season here. His time of 16 minutes and 15.90 seconds was, he said afterward, somewhat slower than the 16:01 he ran in Westhampton Beach two years ago, which is understandable given that he continues to recover from a herniated disk operation.
Avramenko came into Katy’s Courage with two recent 5K wins already under his belt, in East Moriches and Patchogue.
Neil Falkenhan, 39, of East Hampton was the runner-up, in 16:49.22, followed by 17-year-old Brayan Rivera, an East Hampton High School long-distance runner, in 17:08.25.
“He separated from us at around the first mile,” Falkenhan said of the winner, “leaving us about 20 yards behind.”
The female winner, and 17th over all, was a 25-year-old Wainscotter, Alyssa Bahel, in 20:42.02. “This race always shows you how not in shape you are,” she said with a smile.
Bahel, by the way, volunteers with Hamptons Community Outreach, a Bridgehampton-based organization whose goal, according to its website, “is to elevate the quality of life of local children, families, and seniors by addressing their physical and emotional needs while nurturing young people creatively and academically.”
“We help underserved families,” she said. “We make repairs, provide food, help pay bills. . . .”
Alyssa’s father, Mike, owner of the Body Tech health and fitness studios in East Hampton and Montauk, with whom she often runs, was that day competing in the Hyner Trail Challenge in central Pennsylvania, where he had a choice of a 25K with “three major climbs” or a 50K with “five major climbs.”
Katy’s Courage, which is run in memory of the late Katy Stewart and benefits the Katy’s Courage Foundation that her parents, Jim and Brigid Collins Stewart, set up, drew numerous young athletes, including members of East Hampton High’s boys and girls track teams and its girls lacrosse team, as well as East Hampton Soccer Club coaches and players led by Michael Tamay, who was to have run in a half-marathon in Brooklyn the next day.
The age-group winners were Josie Mott of Sag Harbor and Charlie Gelber of New York City, 14-and-under; Greylynn Guyer, of Sag Harbor and Rivera 15-19; Alexandra Ehrhart of Patchogue and Eric Perez of Montauk, 20-29; Andrea Hernandez of Southampton and Falkenhan, 30-39; Diane Shoemaker of East Hampton and Steven Sobey of Sag Harbor, 40-49; Debbie Merrick, no address given, and Chris Husband of Sag Harbor, 50-59; Maria Romanelli of Brooklyn and Bob Bottini of East Hampton, 60-69; Joyce Marino of Montauk and Philip Shearer of Shelter Island, 70-79, and Eugene Carbine of Montauk, 80-89.
May Day 5K Coming
Avramenko said he might double-dip next week, at the Bridgehampton Half-Marathon’s 5K on May 6 and at Dylan Cashin and Ryleigh O’Donnell’s May Day 5K at East Hampton Village’s Main Beach on May 7. The Main Beach race is to begin at 9 a.m.
On the subject of the May Day 5K, Cashin and O’Donnell, East Hampton High School juniors and track teammates who want to “stop the stigma” associated with mental health problems, said at the Star office Friday that this year’s race will benefit the Tyler (Valcich) Project, which is connected with the Family Service League, to which Cashin and O’Donnell donated $18,000 last year following the race’s successful debut.
More than 600 turned out. “A big shout-out to the mayor,” Jerry Larsen, “who’s been awesome,” said O’Donnell, also citing Marcos Baladron, the village administrator, and the Old Montauk Athletic Club, the village police, East Hampton’s lifeguards, and their fellow teammates, who are to give out T-shirts to the first 700 registrants.
“Over 400 have registered so far,” O’Donnell said, adding that registration is at mayday5k.com. There will also be day-of-race registration, at $35 per. The top three in each age group are to get medals. The male and female winners are to receive gift baskets from the race’s sponsors.
Cashin and Liam Fowkes have overseen a 30-strong youth track club of second through sixth graders, the Bolts, whose members have been running 10 laps around East Hampton High’s track on Sunday mornings since early March, six-tenths of a mile shy of a 5K.
The Bolts’ co-founders have said, in arguing in favor of a youth track club here, that “we know boys and girls have over the past three years been traumatized by the Covid pandemic. . . . For girls especially there has been a lack of youth sports programs in which they can participate prior to seventh grade. We want to give both boys and girls the opportunity to increase their physical fitness, boost their self-confidence, and relieve stress. And, hopefully, they will gain an appreciation for running, which has been important for both of us as we have grown up.”
Erik Engstrom, a former county cross-country champion while in high school here, won last year’s May Day race in 16:01.03. Bahel was the female winner, in 20:43.70.