In South Nyack, 10 Miles Under the Belt

Veteran official Mike Angarola of the Rockland Road Runners said he heard the question many times, in the days leading up to Sunday’s 23rd South Nyack 10-miler.

“Well, we always seem to get a break. We’ve never had rain … the streak is so long we’re shooting for Joe DiMaggio (who hit in 56 straight games),” Angarola said just after a field of some 500 runners answered the starter’s horn.

“Everyone was coming up to me, asking me when the 10-miler was scheduled,” Angarola related. “I said ‘Why,’ and they said ‘Because we want to know when it’s going to stop raining!’ ”

Angarola’s well-placed confidence has made co-race director Kathleen Daly of West Nyack a tad leery.

“I keep yelling at him to stop it. I keep telling him he’s going to jinx us!” Daly said.

Well, as sure as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, the weather was absolutely perfect once again for the highly popular 10-mile benefit run to the Piermont Pier and back, despite the recent biblical-like rains and storms.

The torrential rains, however—and a change in the course to accommodate a 9/11 ceremony conducted by the Piermont Fire Department—resulted in a much tougher layout than usual.

But not the result.

Orangetown teacher and Tappan Zee HS graduate Art Gunther Jr. of Upper Nyack posted his 14th victory in 16 attempts, waylaying the field and winning by nearly three-quarters of a mile with an impressive clocking of 54:17 without any real competitor to help quicken the pace.

“Maybe if Nick (Roosa) was here, I wouldn’t have won,” offered the always humble champion, a Binghamton University Hall of Famer who turned back Roosa’s fierce challenge a year ago (Gunther clocked 53:38 while Roosa, who elected to nurse a sore Achilles’ tendon this year in preparation for the NYC Marathon, was timed in 53:57).

“Nick’s a good runner,” said Gunther, an elder statesman at 40 and now an elite Masters runner. “He’s done a 2:32 marathon (Austin, TX), and that’s the best I’ve done myself. I missed Nick not being here, it would have made for a great race.”

Roosa or no Roosa, the astoundingly consistent Gunther is nearly unbeatable on his home course, with his only two defeats coming against a rival from Africa and another who came from Pennsylvania.

“It’s always nice to win, but I was shooting for 52:30,” said Gunther, whose primary goal is an upcoming half-marathon in Hartford, CT.

The winning time was just one of three to break the 60-minute barrier, unlike last year when seven competitors shattered that mark on the conventional course.

Runner-up Jaron Belgaard of Mahway, NJ, a transplant from Minnesota, clocked 58:36, and third-place finisher Tim Kuklis of Sleepy Hollow, a teacher at New Rochelle HS, came in under an hour at 59:19.

Women’s champ

The women’s champion, 42-year-old Sheila Casey of Park Ridge, NJ, won in 1:07:42, and placed 24th overall. She took the lead at the 4-mile mark, and held it.

“It (course) was very tough, I was surprised,” said Casey, who kicked off her running career at the advanced age of 30 with the Rockland Road Runners.

Casey’s husband Steve, who played rugby at Bucknell (veteran road runner Jamie Kempton’s alma mater), played a minor role, of sorts, in building Sheila’s career.

“I asked him if I could go on a run with him, and he said I would never keep up,” Sheila recalled. “I not only kept up, but I beat him in races!”

Beating Gunther, of course, is another story.

“You might have to put an Ethiopian or a Kenyan in there to stop him because he’s so consistent, very consistent,” offered sixth-year Tappan Zee HS coach Pat Driscoll, who placed 11th in 1:03:19.

Driscoll felt that the uphill portion of the course, both ways in Piermont—and flooding on the Pier—made the course even tougher than usual. “But I felt good, I’m in shape. I hope I set a good example for the team.”

Swamped

Everyone, it seems, was caught short by the flooding on Piermont Pier, due to a combination of high tides and the long period of heavy rain.

“It (Pier) had two enormous puddles,” said Gunther, putting on his scouting cap. “The water was up to my ankles; like wading through the water. It was a surprise; it really slowed us down. But I didn’t feel that great anyway, because of the training I have been doing for the half-marathon. I wasn’t as rested for the race (as last year).”

Kuklis, the third-place finisher, said “Art is unbelievable. Once I found out he was in the race I gave up trying to win. It was my first time here, and it’s a great race. And I went past The View (on the Hudson, in Piermont), where I got married. I love it!”

Drew Gangemi, a member of the road-racing Gangemi Gang of Staten Island, and the assistant track coach at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, was another runner surprised by the water on the Pier.

“Definitely, the water threw me off,” said Gangemi, who placed ninth in 1:02:45 in his second appearance at the event, and said the hills actually worked in his favor. “I used the hills to my advantage to power up, and make a move.”

High school track coach Larry Beckerle of Nanuet, 56, who once competed at Albertus Magnus, hit his goal of 1:25, adding he was ready to stop a bit short of the actual finish.

“When I first competed in this race, the distance was 7.8 miles (it went to 10 in 1989),” related Beckerle. “I wanted to stop at that point! But it’s my first 10-miler in two years, so I’m not disappointed.”

Then, putting tongue firmly in cheek, Beckerle added “I didn’t know it would be a biathlon, go through a river! My tag came off. Someone will probably find it out in the Atlantic, and figure I was washed out to sea!”

Pearl River’s Mick Killeen, a self-proclaimed day trader, and an RRR member, had another way to cope with the deep water.

“I took my shoes off,” he said, nodding to fellow club member Kempton, looking for affirmation. “It was a strategy, and excuse to take a break! But it kind of backfired! All in all, it was an interesting race, different. It was fun. Anyway, I wasn’t trying to break records. I haven’t run 10 miles in the last 10 years.”

Kempton, taking yet another slap at Father Time (he turns 53 next month), improved upon his clocking from last year by 50 seconds, and rose eight places to 5th, despite the tougher course. He clocked 1:00:53.

“This year it was really a challenge,” Kempton, of Nanuet, said. “We had to take a little swim at the Pier. There were two different bodies of water: the first you could tip-toe through; the second you had to step high with your knees for about 50 yards, for sure. It was like a triathlon without the bike part.”

Short steps

• Race proceeds will benefit the South Nyack and Piermont Volunteer Fire Departments, Nyack Ambulance Corps, and Nyack Soup Kitchens.

• The course changes brought hills into play on Ash and Kinney streets, going out and coming in. On Ash, the hill is short but steep; the Kinney hill is longer but not as steep.

• Mike Beckerle, 46, who can be found at the family’s eponymous lumber yard in Spring Valley, seemed pleased to note that his time (1:15) buried his brother Larry’s. “He killed me,” Larry admitted. “He’s slowing down,” Mike replied. A former runner at Nanuet High, Mike related that Larry was his coach in his senior year (1979).

• Suffern’s Jesse Hackell of Pomona Pediatrics is serving his second year as membership chairman of the Rockland Road Runners, of which he is a longtime member. “I used to run, but injuries, and aging, have taken a toll,” Hackell said, with an easy smile. Hackell, who has completed 26 marathons, including six in New York, is another admirer of Gunther’s. “He’s built like a runner, and takes care of himself. And he doesn’t over-race. This is his thing; he likes it.”

• Belgaard, the runner-up, new to the area, said it was a privilege to be in the event. He said he didn’t know much about the champion, but offered a quick assessment of Gunter. “He’s legit,” Belgaard offered.

• Clarkstown North alum George Glum (Class of 1982) was a walk-on at Villanova. This was his first time competing in the South Nyack 10-miler. “I used to run, did 2:48 in the New York City Marathon way back when. I got back into running last year, in 5k’s. This year I did a triathlon. I’m getting back in the right direction. This is my second go-around, and now it’s a humbling experience.” Glum was amazed by Gunther’s dominating performance. “Anytime you race against him, you have to catch him before the race to see what the front of his shirt looks like!

• Renate Fersch, Glum’s companion, was a former sprinter at Binghamton University, but is not a fan of the long distances. “Hey,” she said, “I’m here to support him, but not to run. Glum, incidentally, proudly sported a Toga Multisport team jersey.

• Kempton, an original competitor in the event, was proud to say he still fits into the jersey in wore back in 1978, when the benefit was contested at 7.8 miles. Kempton’s statement was easily validated as he raced in the light-blue jersey with dark-blue though faded lettering. “I keep it in mothballs!” Kempton, the preservationist, said.

• Helping to staff the event were volunteers from the Nyack Fire Department, Orangetown Co. No. 1, including third-generation B.J. Dellolio of Nyack, in his 18th year, and newcomer William Mishkel of South Nyack, a varsity hockey player at Nyack High. Dellolio, an event production specialist with Orangeburg-based Dynamic Productions, hopes that he, and Mishkel, can approach the long and dedicated service given by Thomas Alworth Sr., who recently received a commendation for 65 years of active duty. “We call him ‘Farmer,’ noted Dellolio. “The reason is a long and complicated story, but a good one.” Young Mishkel said his uncle, Michael Weber of Tappan, is a New York City fireman; that his mother comes from a family of firefighters, and his dad’s from the military. “I hope so,” said Mishkel, when asked if he would one day be able to match Dellolio’s years with the company.

• Mike Bonner was manning the official scoring truck for Bill Sherry’s SuperRace System.

• Volunteer Eric Brand of Nyack, a Ramapo High School teacher, was sidelined with a heel injury. “This is the first year I missed it (race). But I’ll be back,” promises Brand, who used his time as a spectator to dispense water bottles along with his children Eli and Leah, both students at Nyack Middle School.

• Jonathan Farrell of Nanuet, a graduate of Rockland Country Day School, used the race as a springboard for the NYC Marathon when he will run in a fundraiser for Team Meals on Wheels in Rockland.

• Gangemi, the STAC coach, next competes in the Tunnel to Towers Run on Sept. 25, which benefits the family of fallen firefighter Steven Siller, who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Gangemi was 9th this year in the South Nyack 10-miler, after finishing 14th last year. Asked if he might rise further in 2012, perhaps even challenge Gunther the Great, Gangemi said “We’ll see.”

• Andrew Pare of Westwood, NJ, has been running 30 years, and is a devout RRR member. Pare lauded Kempton for his work with the organization’s summerlong training series. “Jamie is a great coach—motivated, dedicated, committed; my mentor.”

• Luke Driscoll of Pearl River—no relation to the Tappan Zee coach, Pat Driscoll—earned the eighth-place spot with a clocking of 1:02-flat. A teacher at Mount St. Michael HS in The Bronx, and a former schoolboy wrestler in Baldwin, LI, Luke attributes his running success to his work with the RRR’s summer program. “It’s one of the best summer programs around,” he stated, unequivocally. “It’s a big-time benefit; I can’t recommend it enough.”

• Among the many volunteers were members of the Clarkstown South and North cross country teams, including South freshman Kevin Holland, and Zack Rose and Shannon Kay of Clarkstown North.