Farmingdale Village Hosts Main Street Mile To
Benefit Companions in Courage
By Jaime L. Tomeo
Visit our photo
gallery to see photos from the event
(Sept. 3, 2005) Back in June NHL Hall of Famer
Pat LaFontaine introduced the inaugural Main
Street Mile in Farmingdale. The Sept. 3 one-mile
race to which both elite and recreational
runners were invited evoked significant
participation from the local community.
Event sponsors included North Fork Bank, Cisco,
Henry Schein, Verizon FIOS, Stop and Shop and
many local businesses were involved as well.
Main Street merchant The Runner's Edge presented
the race.
The race was a huge success, attracting 242
total registrants, including 198 for the
one-mile race, 44 for the Kids Fun Run.
In the men's division, Christian Fogarazzo of
Bellmore was declared the winner after a photo
finish. Ted Towle of Brooklyn and Reed Mauser of
Setauket finished seconds with times of 4:12 and
4:13, respectively.
In the women's division Lyndsey Webber of
Sayville completed with a time 5:07, while
Jessia Reifer of New York City finished at 5:20
and Susan Menz of Briarcliff Manor at 5:32.
Farmingdale residents fared well in the race as
well. Peter Hogarty, 4:58, Luke Alber, age 13,
6:08, David Kenndy, 6:19, Larry Lembo, 6:30,
David Nanser, 6:31, Sal Noto, 6:49, Jeffrey
Morrison - 6:53 and Lauren Renna - 7:05.
Proceeds from the race will go toward
LaFontaine's non-profit organization Companions
in Courage. CiC's immediate goal is to raise
funds to build interactive playrooms in
children's hospitals throughout North America.
Through innovative communications tools, these
playrooms are meant to replace the isolation of
a hospital with a connection to family, friends
and celebrities during their hospital stay. This
effort paves the way for their motto "no child
in the fight for life or health should ever have
to go it alone."
The rooms, dubbed the Lion's Den, have state of
the art technology from Microsoft and Cisco
Systems. Patients receive a "smart" card when
they check into the hospital, identifying them
as members of a special community with unique
privileges. The key is an ID device that allows
each child to personalize their experience
within the Lion's Den room with activities such
as web surfing, video game playing and
videoconferencing.
Local dignitaries were on hand for the day's
festivities, which culminated on the Village
Green with Pat LaFontaine presenting the awards.
Assemblyman Joseph Saladino presented The
Runner's Edge owner Bob Cook and LaFontaine with
proclamations. Legislator Dave Mejias, an avid
runner, was pleased to be a participant in the
Main Street Mile. Oyster Bay Town Supervisor
John Venditto and village officials were also in
attendance.
Mark Leff, a partner strategy manager with
Melville-based Cisco Systems, was greatly
involved in publicizing the event.
"We were quite pleased with the community
participation, the reception and feedback from
participants, and hope we can do this again next
year," Leff stated.
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