By Lori Brown
MONTICELLO — The weather was beautiful this past Sunday morning for the Monticello Rotary Club’s annual Monster 10K and Baby Monster 5K races.
The Monster 10K attracted 145 competitors, while 101 walkers and runners took part in the Baby Monster 5K.
The Monticello Rotary Club holds the challenging races every August to benefit local non-profit organizations. Funds from Sunday’s races will benefit the Dispute Resolution Center in Monticello.
“People from all over and all ages come to run in this monster race,” Monticello Rotary Club member and Race Director Orshii Boldiis said.
The two races are run along the same path every year. The Monster 10K course features two monster hills by the Monster Golf Course at the Concord Hotel – which is how the race acquired its name.
The dozens of race volunteers included Dispute Resolution Center staff and members of the Monticello Rotary Club. Dispute Resolution Center Director Kathleen Kreiter was among those who helped out during the race.
Kreiter’s sister Ellen Neumann said the money raised by the Monster races is distributed to worthy causes.
“On a personal note, my sister, Kathleen Kreiter, is an angel for saving our brother and does a marvelous job for our community,” Neumann said.
There was a wide age range for the scores of runners and walkers who came out for these challenging races.
The youngest girls in the 5K were 9-year-old sisters Camryn and Sydney Johnson of Rock Hill. The youngest boy in the 5K was 10-year-old Joseph Boroda of Massapequa.
The oldest 5K runner was Mary Heinle, a 73-year-old White Sulphur Springs resident.
The youngest girl in the 10K was 13-year-old Alissa Nowak of Middletown and the youngest boy was 13-year-old John Guoragno of Montgomery.
The oldest lady to compete in the 10K was 65-year-old Ann Singer of Suffern and the oldest man to run the 10K was E.J. Szulwach, a 79-year-old resident of Chester.
The top three finishers in the Baby Monster 5K Female Walker division were Cheng-Tin Luo of Pleasant Valley (first place with a time of 41 minutes, 34 seconds) Barbara Brinkerhoff of Monticello (second, 42:48) and Carmen Rivera of Middletown (third, 46:08).
The top male walkers in the 5K were Wayne Utter of Washingtonville (first place, 40:04), Tom Zolnoski of Middletown (second, 40:16) and Peter Kowalczyk of Ferndale (third, 46:48).
Fifteen-year-old Mike Dioguardi of Massapequa was the first runner to cross the finish line in the Baby Monster 5K. He posted a time of 18:53.
“I underestimated the difficulty of the course,” he said. “This is one of the tougher courses I have ever run and I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.”
Dioguardi, who will enter the 11th grade next month, said his normal time for a 5K run is around 17:40. Ana Loor, 15, of Thompsonville was the first female to finish the 5K race. She crossed the line in a time of 22:14. Loor, who will soon begin her junior year at Monticello High School, participated in this race a few years ago.
“The course was alright and had some hard hills,” she said.
To prepare for this race, she has been running all summer.  Loor said she competed in this race for fun and plans to run the Baby Monster 5K again in the future.
Loor’s good friend Emily Martin of Mongaup Valley captured second place in the Overall Female division with a time of 22:50.
Tim Billias, 23, of Rock Hill took third place in the Monster 10K with a time of 37:44.
Billias ran the race in the past and last year he ran the Baby Monster 5K. To prepare for this event, he runs a lot of miles during his regular workout.
“I am improving, I ran faster than last year,” he said. “This is a tough course, which is exciting. This is infamous for hills and the golf course. The course is challenging but fun as well.”
“They did great organizing this race,” Billias added.
Brendan Devine, a 17-year-old recent Monticello High School graduate, placed second in the 10K. He finished in 37:04, just 1 second behind winner Colin Seidl.
Devine, a Bethel resident, ran with Seidl and had a good run.
Sunday marked the first time that Devine, who won the Baby Monster 5K last year, ran the Monster 10K. He decided to move up to a longer distance to prepare for college.
“I got a good feel for it before college,” he said. “There was rolling hills the entire way.
“It was good to run with a competitor and friend, Colin Seidl,” added Devine, who begins his freshman year at the University of Southern Indiana this week.
Seidl, 18, will be a senior at Sullivan West Central School this year, was able to defend his Monster 10K title by holding off Devine with a surge of speed as the two runners approached the finish line.
Seidl said he did not want to be burned out for the upcoming scholastic cross country season, so he did not prepare too strenuously for this event.
He loved the course because he is a hill runner.
“This course is for me!” Seidl said.
Twenty-year-old Maegan Krifchin of Bellmore, Long Island was the first woman to complete the Monster 10K. She registered a time of 38:13 in her first ever 10K.
“The longest race I ran [before] was the 6K,” Krifchin said. “I always wanted to run a 10K, but never did up until now.
“I liked the course, it was challenging, but I like hills,” she continued. “It helped with the flow of the race, I was in the right mindset. I fed off the guys and tried keeping pace with them.
“I will definitely give this race another shot. I will look back on this race and will do better and improve my time, even though I am pleased with the outcome and my performance.”
Members of the Monticello Rotary Club thanked everyone for coming out to run and support this good cause.
Trophies were handed out to each top three finishers in each age category and the overall winners of the 10K and 5K races
“The weather was wonderful and this year we had an increase in runners,” Boldiis said. “We are hoping that next year we can draw more runners to the area.”
The age group results for the 10K Monster were as follows:
13-15 Female
1. Alissa Nowak, Middletown, 55:23
13-15 Male
1. John Guoragno, Montgomery, 54:10
16-19 Female
1. Emma Cohen, Wurtsboro, 47:21; 2. Catherine Contiguglia, New York City, 52:07; 3. Aia Corinne, Stormville, 52:35
16-19 Male
1. Alexis Bruno, Monticello, 46:59; 2. Anthony Anzalone, Chester, 49:08; 3. Kyle Brinkerhoff, Monticello, 49:09
20-29 Female
1. Amy Johnson, Middletown, 52:22; 2. Lauren Brinkerhoff, Monticello, 55:4; 3. Tara Bearisto, Middletown, 59:55
20-29 Male
1. John Korevec, Neenah, 38:02; 2. Zach Weinman, Jeffersonville, 43:05; 3. Alex Vost, Royal Oaks, 44:54
30-39 Female
1. Misty Verman, Hopewell Junction, 45:55; 2. Edna Harrison, New Paltz, 47:21; 3. Christine Folchi, Goshen, 56:15
30-39 Male
1. Erick Sellstrom, Liberty, 41:35; 2. Michael Bassett, Rock Hill, 43:20; 3. Jason Tomasulo, Monticello, 43:56
40-49 Female
1. Suzanne LaBurt, Greenwood Lake, 43:24; 2. Karen Porzelt, Middletown, 50:59; 3. Victoria Matysek, Tivoli, 52:35
40-49 Male
1. Jim Phelan, Montgomery, 38:06; 2. Franz Scholtern, Greenville, 42:12; 3. Donald Thurston, Pine Bush, 43:34
50-59 Female
1. Nina Snyder, Bloomingburg, 1:03:44; 2. Carolyn Negrycz, Monroe, 1:04:37; 3. Gladys Nieves, Rock Hill, 1:05:56
50-59 Male
1. Frank Colella, Campbell Hall, 41:33; 2. Tom Manza, Monticello, 42:24; 3. Doug Carter, Chester, 43:44
60-69 Female
1. Benita Auge, New Windsor, 59:26; 2. Ann Singer, Suffern, 1:15:32; 3. Kathleen Davies, Hillburn, 1:22:28
60-69 Male
1. Carl Zuidema, Warwick, 48:00; 2. Philip Melillo, Warwick, 49:29; 3. Lorne MacDonald, Sussex, NJ, 50:30
70 and Over Male
1. Herb Waterman, Middletown, 1:04:52; 2. E.J. Szulwach, Chester, 1:04:53; 3. Phil Brennan, Milford, Pa., 1:08:41
The age group results for the 5K Baby Monster were as follows:
12 and Under Female
1. Heaven Porter, Cochecton, 26:19; 2. Camryn Johnson, Rock Hill, 28:33; 3. Sydney Johnson, Rock Hill, 28:39
12 and Under Male
1. Alex Krause, Gardiner, 24:07; 2. Joseph Boroda, Massapequa, 26:52; 3. Nicholas Paradies, Middletown, 30:19
13-15 Male
1. Nickolas Boroda, Massapequa, 23:07; 2. Noah Friedman, Rock Hill, 23:29; 3. Andrew Garrison, Wurtsboro, 23:51
16-19 Female
1. Joanna Goldfarb, Harris, 31:01
16-19 Male
1. James Dzurica, Monticello, 19:39; 2. Jeremy Kinney, Hurleyville, 21:12; 3. Daniel Rosen, Scarsdale, 22:05
20-29 Female
1. Karen Martinez, Rock Hill, 25:19; 2. Meri Thompson, Gilbertsville, 28:11; 3. Meghan Doyle, Bloomingburg, 28:26
20-29 Male
1. Thiago Oliveira, Rock Hill, 20:20; 2. Logan Link, Lexington, 20:54; 3. Andres Mejia, Rock Hill, 21:24
30-39 Female
1. Karin Gorr, Hortonville, 26:14; 2. Tammy Pilny, Jeffersonville, 29:16; 3. Cristina DeMeo, Hawley, Pa., 29:41
30-39 Male
1. Michael Williams, Washingtonville, 20:28; 2. Jason Doyle, Bloomingburg, 29:20; 3. Arthur Tolis, Goshen, 33:48
40-49 Female
1. Darleen Seymour, Highland, 29:02; 2. Ruth Pabon, Middletown, 31:38; 3. Jane Ott, Tyler Hill, Pa., 32:06
40-49 Male
1. George Ackermann, Kenoza Lake, 22:34; 2. Clint Foxwell, Rock Hill, 22:51; 3. Steve Davis, Rock Hill, 23:09
50-59 Female
1. Eileen Wohltjen, Hurleyville, 29:42; 2. Beverley Garzon, Parksville, 35:31; 3. Helen Rados, Harris, 38:14
50-59 Male
1. David Fernekes, Poughkeepsie, 23:29; 2. Gary St. Onge, Pleasant Valley, 24:27; 3. Bill Foley, Cortland, 25:22
60-69 Female
1. Judy Pilny, Jeffersonville, 35:49; 2. Ruth Shelley, Middletown, 46:08
60-69 Male
1. Phil Peelor, Middletown, 25:27; 2. Vito DiCesare, Newburgh, 26:30; 3. Paul Ott, Tyler Hill, Pa., 28:48
70 and Over Female
1. Mary Heinle, White Sulphur Springs, 37:33