By Eli Ruiz
SMALLWOOD — July 12, 2005 – The fourth annual Fighting Fires 5K Race was held in Smallwood by the Smallwood-Mongaup Valley Fire Department last Sunday (July 3).
With scorching temperatures and over 100 runners and walkers taking part in the race, the event was a “resounding success” said runner and Town of Bethel board member Daniel Sturm.
“It’s just great to see all of these people come out to support the fire department,” Sturm continued.
Brendan Devine, 14, won the overall race for the runners with a time of 17 minutes, 21 seconds.
Devine was fresh off his victory in the Roadrunners Club of America 8K New York State championship race, called the “Mule-haul.”
For the female runners, Maegan Krifchin, 17, had the fastest time at 19:40.
Krifchin, who is from Bellmore, Long Island, says that she spends her summers in Sullivan County and has been running since the ninth grade.
The first male walker to cross the finish line was Allen Rosen.
In the female division, the fastest walker was Elizabeth Barrett-Alexander with time of 37:32.
Barrett-Alexander said that her father Robert Barrett, a nationally-ranked race-walker and president of the civic association in Smallwood recently suffered a stroke. Although she never participated in a race before, Barrett-Alexander decided to dedicate her first race to him.
“The whole time I just thought of my dad, and that’s what got me through the race,” she said.