By Rob Potter
ROCK HILL — Father and daughter Charlie Reichenbaugh and Felicia Reichenbaugh of North Branch watched on Saturday morning as hundreds of runners and walkers gathered at the starting line for the 18th annual Rhulen Rock Hill Run and Ramble 5K near the Frontier Insurance building.
“This is amazing,” Charlie Reichenbaugh said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.
“They are doing this to help my wife,” he added. “I want to go over there and give every one of them a hug.”
Charlie’s wife, Tammy Reichenbaugh, is battling Leukemia. She recently underwent chemotherapy treatments and last Wednesday received a bone marrow transplant at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
“She’s doing pretty well,” Charlie said.
Every year, the organizers of the Rock Hill Run & Ramble 5K choose a local person who is battling a blood-related cancer such as Leukemia and then raise money for that person through the R4 Patient Fund. Proceeds from the race also benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Catskill Regional Medical Center, DKMS, which is a National Bone Marrow Bank, and the United Way.
The Rock Hill Run & Ramble is held each year on Father’s Day Weekend in memory of Walter A. Rhulen, an avid runner and founder of Frontier Insurance Group who passed away from Leukemia several years ago.
The first runner to cross the finish line in Saturday morning’s race was Abraham Ng’etich of Mount Vernon. Ng’etich, who won last year’s event, finished in a time of 15 minutes, 28.7 seconds.
Kyle O’Brien of Goshen was second in 15:31.5 and Kevin Wippel of Pine Bush placed third with a time of 15:57.7.
The first woman to finish was Claudia Nero of Hopewell Junction, who ran the 3.1-mile course in 17:35.8.
Lilian Kroner of Monroe was the second woman to finish. Her time was 18:29.1.
April Ackermann of Cochecton placed third in 19:21.9.
Nero, who was also the first-place woman in last year’s Rock Hill Run & Ramble 5K, has run five races so far this year. She has won all five and set a course record in four of those victories.
A week before competing in the 2010 Rock Hill Run & Ramble 5K, Nero won the Utah Valley Marathon in Provo, Utah.
She was very happy to win Saturday’s race.
“This is a nice course,” Nero said. “I love this course.”
At the postrace awards ceremony, Race Director Suzy Rhulen-Loughlin announced that a total of more than $63,000 had been raised. She noted that at least $7,000 will be placed in the R4 Patient Fund to help Tammy Reichenbaugh with her medical bills.
“All of you who ran or walked today are winners,” Rhulen-Loughlin said. “All of you are really heroes.”
Rhulen-Loughlin, who is Walter A. Rhulen’s daughter, also expressed her gratitude for those who helped make the race a success once again.
“Thank you to all of our volunteers and our sponsors,” she said. “I thank the race committee. It takes about 120 people to hold this event and I thank you all.”
Among those volunteers were Sal Manzo of Park Slope, Brooklyn and 11 of his fellow residents at Daytop Village in Parksville.
Rhulen-Loughlin introduced Dr. Joe Jurcic of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, who was Walter A. Rhulen’s doctor, as well as Ellen Rose Duffy, Myriam Loor and Sean Novick – all of three of whom who have been diagnosed with Leukemia or another form of cancer. Jurcic, Duffy, Loor and Novick thanked the runners and walkers for participating and encouraged them to attend the health fair on the lawn of the Frontier Insurance building to have the inside of their cheek swabbed for a bone marrow test.
Alex Manzi also spoke of the importance of becoming a bone marrow donor. His cousin, Jared Carlew, was a past recipient of the R4 Patient Fund.
Manzi noted that unfortunately Carlew passed away before he could undergo a bone marrow transplant.
“Please have your cheek swabbed today,” Manzi said. “It is very important. You could help save someone’s life.”
The top three teams to finish the race were Weight Watchers, The Wizarettes and The Family Foundation School.
The top finishers in each age group were as follows:
Female 10 and Under: 1. Itis Clovell, Washingtonville, 26:33.3; 2. Jennifer Kinsley, Washingtonville, 26:56.1; 3. Quinn Fowler, Chester, 27:29.5
Female 11 to 14: 1. Camryn Johnson, Rock Hill, 22:41.2; 2. Sydney Johnson, Rock Hill, 23:43.6; 3. Autumn Bender, Grahamsville, 24:40.8.
Female 15 to 19: 1. Debbo Spannagel, New Hampton, 22:28.4; 2. Rianne Erlwein, Jeffersonville, 22:38; 3. Sarah Phelan, Montgomery, 23:35.2
Female 20 to 29: 1. Shanna Beairsto, Middletown, 20:17.7; 2. Katy Schlichtman, Rock Hill, 21:09.6; 3. Kaitlin Sherin, Maybrook, 21:24.8
Female 30 to 39: 1. Patricia Fassetta, Hurleyville, 21:45.1; 2. Kathleen Workman, New Windsor, 22:10; 3. Debra Falk, Oceanside, 22:35.1
Female 40 to 49: 1. Jean Norton, Wurtsboro, 19:59.1; 2. Erika Emigh, Wallkill, 22:36.9; 3. Daria Petraglia, Goshen, 22:49.3
Female 50 to 59: 1. Annette Burke, Goshen, 22:43.3; 2. Pamela Henning, Woodbourne, 23:53.1; 3. Maryann Veltre, Poughkeepsie, 24:29.9
Female 60 to 69: 1. Benita Auge, New Hampton, 28:14.5; 2. Rebecca Withers, Wallkill, 29:59.2; 3. Maryann Dowling, Rock Hill, 36:02.5
Female 70 to 75: 1. Mary Heinle, White Sulphur Springs, 38:08; 2. Gloria Kantrowitz, Woodridge, 45:53; 3. Gail Lavitt, Middletown, 50:49
Female 80 and Over: 1. May Nishman, Woodridge, 58:17.1
Male 10 and Under: 1. Sean Adams, Walden, 24:26.7; 2. Dylan Earl, Highland Mills, 24:32.8; 3. Patrick Sikorski, Monticello, 26:13.7
Male 11 to 14: 1. Michael Guglielmo, West Nyack, 19:12.5; 2. Hans Zanger, Forestburgh, 20:30.2; 3. Nicholas Winograd, White Lake, 23:25.1
Male 15 to 19: 1. Michael Pressler, Montgomery, 16:58.2; 2. Alex Campanella, Glen Spey, 18:19.3; 3. Andrew Bohlmann, Hancock, 19:19.2
Male 20 to 29: 1. Jefryson Aldano, Middletown, 16:01.6; 2. Tim Billias, Wurtsboro, 18:22.6; 3. Patrick Hayes, New York City, 19:04.8
Male 30 to 39: 1. Michael Kibe, 16:50.7; 2. Raymond Revell, Wurtsboro, 17:12.7; 3. Tom Stratton, Liberty, 18:18.5
Male 40 to 49: 1. Mike Slinskey, Hopewell Junction, 16:29; 2. Gladston Jones, Bronx, 17:26; 3. Jim Phelan, Montgomery, 17:45.4
Male 50 to 59: 1. Frank Colella, Campbell Hall, 19:12.1; 2. Tom Manza, Monticello, 19:32.1; 3. John Losardo, Middletown, 20:48.9
Male 60 to 69: 1. Jeff Nero, Hopewell Junction, 21:12.1; 2. Carl Zuidema, 21:43.5; 3. David Dacosta, Central Valley, 22:06.6
Male 70 to 75: 1. Cliff Davis, Newburgh, 27:32.6; 2. Gene Piaquadio, Newburgh, 37:28.1; 3. Jerry Barry, Montgomery, 46:36.3
Male 76 to 79: 1. Phil Brennan, Milford, Pa., 29:31.3; 2. James Dugan, Cornwall, 31:20.9; 3. Louis Ioppolo, Warwick, 32:08.9
Male 80 and Over: 1. E.J. Szulwach, Chester, 35:56; 2. Nick Petraglia, Goshen, 50:16.8.