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Community Corner

Lynbrook Runners Fly With The Owls

North Middle School hosted the charity event on Saturday.

Runners from all over Long Island flocked to Saturday morning to participate in the 7th annual “Fly with the Owls” charity run, which raises money for Lynbrook youth and civic programming. 

Runners began the race on Merrick Avenue, winded around Stuart and President Street and finished along the side of the athletic field at the middle school.

Chris Mammone was the first to finish the four-mile run, posting a time of 20:52.

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“It’s pretty flat,” Mammone said of the course. “There were a couple of turns, but nothing that bad. There were a lot of spectators, which helped a lot.”

Una Broderick held the distinction of being the first female finisher in the race, posting a time of 24:51.

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Prior to the feature race, runners under the age of 12 participated in a half-mile “fun run.” 

"Fly With the Owls" helps to fund programs such as the Junior Fire Department, Ambulance Company, Character Counts Committee, youth athletics, and family support programs. They also sponsors Lynbrook High School’s post-prom breakfast. 100 percent of the money raised goes to these causes.

“Since we’ve started, we’ve put over $100,000 in net proceeds back into the Village of Lynbrook,” Race Director Cathy Papandrew said.

The event has grown in popularity since the inaugural run in 2005. While about 500 runners participated in the first year, organizers were expecting 850 this year.

 “It’s a real community event,” Papandrew said. “We have lots of families that participate.” 

In fact, Saturday’s turnout was expected to be the largest in the history of the race. In preparation for that kind of response, organizers set up pre-race training programs to help participants prepare for the run.

“We had a tremendous turnout,” Papandrew said of the training programs. “We had 20 adults and 32 students that participated.”     

The training programs met for eight weeks prior to the run.

“We did running, walking, strength exercising, and conditioning to get them ready to participate in the walk,” Papandrew said.     

While preparation for runners may only last for eight weeks, it is a year-long labor of love for organizers.

“No sooner are we finished with today that we’ll begin planning for next year,” Papandrew said. “It’s an all volunteer organization. We have hundreds of people that volunteer to help make this thing come together each year.  

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