Bayport Resident Wins 5K Race for 4th Consecutive Year

Leonora Petrina, of Bayport, scored as the overall winner of the 30th annual Runner’s Edge Long Island Women’s Run on July 13, as a strong field of 439 runners, walkers and wheelchair athletes crossed the finish line on the track at Farmingdale High School.  

It was the fourth consecutive win in this event for the 30 year old Petrina, who is generally recognized as being the fastest female runner currently in training on Long Island.

Petrina’s 16:43 finish was only three seconds off her best finish in this race of 16:40 in 20:10, sufficient to give her a 42 second winning margin over runner-up Karen Roa of Poquott, with Callie Hogan of Bay Shore rounding out the top three. U.S. Olympian Maria Michta was the Racewalk winner.

The run was conducted by the greater Long Island Running Company, with GLIRC’s Debbie Blair serving as the race director.

The heat and humidity certainly played their role this year, but the earlier starting time of 8:30 AM took a bit of the edge off, and the ice cream, watermelon, and the sinful pastries donated by All Round Foods at the finish line made everyone forget how tough the run might have been.

The proceeds of this year’s Run will once again be distributed to THE OPEN WORD, a special program administered by the Dominican Sisters that provides education and job training to poor uneducated women in Huntington Station, Amityville and Wyandanch.