Record Time and Lots of Heart at Ellen’s Run
The numbers, in the end, were impressive. The Ellen Hermanson Foundation over the last two decades has awarded more than $4 million in grants to fund breast cancer research and support services on the East End of Long Island. This year’s 22nd annual Ellen’s Run 5K, held Sunday morning under sunny skies at Southampton Hospital, brought in additional funds with more than 800 participants taking part.
In terms of competition, Sunday’s top finishers posted some remarkable numbers as well, with Troy Taylor, 23, a native of Texas, winning the race with a record time of 15:40.96, shattering Nick Lemon’s mark of 15:54 set in 2015. Like Lemon, Taylor is spending his summer working at the Gubbins Running Ahead store in East Hampton, and has also dominated some road races, winning the only other event he entered this summer — the inaugural Jordan’s Run 5K in Sag Harbor — by a similar margin.
“Right now my training is not much at all, so I just come out here for fun,” said Taylor, who graduated in December from the University of North Texas, where he ran indoor and outdoor track. “I was helping out a teammate, Gustavo [Morastitla], pacing and just coming through the mile splits, trying to run a 5-minute pace. He started falling off so I just kept the pace and pushed through the end.”
Morastitla, 17, a rising senior track star at Southampton High School, finished third in 15:53.01, just behind Dylan Fine, 20, of Water Mill, who finished second in 15:51.57, as all three of the top finishers posted times that beat Lemon’s previous record.
Kira Garry, 24, of Montauk was the first woman to cross the line, and finished fifth overall in 16:58.97. Tara Farrell, 38, of East Quogue finished second among women in 19:22.98 and Jennifer DiSunno, 22, of Amagansett was third in 20:51.95.
Complete results are available online at gsrs.com/raceresults.
The annual 5K race is the signature fundraising event of The Ellen Hermanson Foundation, which supports research, treatment and other services in an area where breast cancer diagnosis and mortality rates are among the highest in New York State. Proceeds from Ellen’s Run support the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center at Southampton Hospital by funding state-of-the-art technology, and also support Ellen’s Well, a program that provides psychosocial support for breast cancer survivors under the leadership of a specially trained oncological social worker.
“The Ellen Hermanson Foundation has been the leader in the fight against breast cancer out here, and for the hospital they’ve been critically important to us because they helped us get our breast center built,” Robert Chaloner, the hospital’s chief administrative officer, said shortly after finishing the race. “There’s a tremendous amount of breast cancer out here, unfortunately, so having the facility that they’ve funded and supported over the years has been vital to the people we serve.
“Cancer is not a take it out and it’s over with kind of thing,” he continued. “It’s something that entails a long term of support and worry and watching and they’re really with the people through all of it.”