Charity Race Nets $20,000 for Shelter

Despite heavy rain, over 1000 runners participated in the second annual “Hobooken” 5k charity race on Saturday. The race, which began at Pier A Park, was sponsored by the Hoboken Elysianettes Running Society for the benefit of the Hoboken Shelter.

Mike Rivera, 24 of Westwood, New Jersey, won the race overall with a time of 16:20. David Cramer, 25, was the fastest Hoboken resident at 17:17, and Noelle Thurlow, 45, also of Hoboken, was the fastest female at 20:04.

The race also featured a special “Scary Scurry” run for children.

Many of the runners wore Halloween costumes. Two runners for example, Ryan Cirillo and Amanda Roesch, came dressed as characters from the Super Mario Brothers video game.

Both Cirillo and Roesch said they were determined to make the race, which included driving over an hour, though they admitted being reluctant to run in the rain.

“We were both trying to talk ourselves out of going this morning,” Cirillo said.

In addition to the Elysianettes, sponsors included Fleet Feet Sports, Ivy Rehab, 35-Minute Boot Camps, Mimi Kids Yoga, Hartshorn Portraiture and the Wicked Wolf Tavern.

Altogether the race raised over $20,000 for the Hoboken Shelter.

“It means everything to be able to have the community come together for the Shelter and run their hearts out on this rainy day,” said Jaclyn Cherubini, executive director of the Shelter.