Running and Walking Friends:

Bill Rapp Jr. died of cancer this week.

Many knew Bill as the face and identity of the Bill Rapp Auto Superstore in Syracuse , but to many he was a big supporter of the Syracuse Community.

“Many businesses forget to give back”, Rapp once told me. It was something he carried out in practice, not just words. Bill Rapp supported many events in the area including the Mountain Goat Run and the YMCA Triathlon at Green Lakes . He not only supported these events with dollars, he also supported them in presence. Bill would attend press conferences, meetings and be one of the first to arrive the day of the event. In fact, last year Bill donned running clothes and filmed the promotional commercials for the Mountain Goat Run.

A visit to Bill's office made it very clear that he was a huge fan of Syracuse . Photos of famous athletes who have passed through the community, local leaders, his good friend Jim Boeheim and his family adorn the walls, much like a hall of fame. After an automotive purchase at the Bill Rapp Superstore, new customers would be brought in to meet Bill in his office, where he would thank them for their business.

Late last year, Bill Rapp Sr., the founder of the Bill Rapp Auto Business died and now less than a year later Bill Jr. is gone. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Rapp family and all of the employees at the Bill Rapp Superstore.

Photo at right - Bill holding the finish line
tape for Michelle Lafleur at last year's
mountaingoat.

 

 

Boo! Happy Halloween

Grunt Run this week

The Town of Geddes Grunt Run is this coming Sunday and it is a great chance for everyone to get in some fall running.

The Grunt Run features both a 5k and 10k event in Lakeland and a 1PM start, which means plenty of sleep for everyone.

For more information on the Grunt Run, contact the Town Of Geddes Recreation office at 315-487-8238.

2004 Results - 5K - 10K

Top 10 Finishers in last year's 10K

PLACE NAME                AGE   TIME   PACE   AGEGROUP  &  SEX RESIDENCE      ST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1 Derek Powers         29   35:17  5:41   1 M20-29  M#   1 Chittenango    NY 
    2 Eric Smith           33   37:55  6:07   1 M30-34  M#   2 Baldwinsville  NY 
    3 Andrew Starowicz     32   38:16  6:10   2 M30-34  M#   3 Syracuse       NY 
    4 Paul Ashbarry        44   38:37  6:13   1 M40-44  M#   4 Baldwinsville  NY 
    5 Randal Boivin        31   39:36  6:23   3 M30-34  M#   5 Baldwinsville  NY 
    6 Mark Rybinski        49   40:16  6:29   1 M45-49  M#   6 Manlius        NY 
    7 Craig McGowen        47   41:01  6:36   2 M45-49  M#   7 Liverpool      NY 
    8 Mary Beth Romagnoli  35   41:51  6:45   1 F35-39  F#   1 Cazenovia      NY 
    9 Justus Derx          39   42:22  6:49   1 M35-39  M#   8 Syracuse       NY 
   10 Paul Lapan           51   42:34  6:51   1 M50-54  M#   9 Syracuse       NY 

Top 10 Finishers in last year's 5K

PLACE NAME                AGE   TIME   PACE   AGEGROUP  &  SEX RESIDENCE      ST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------    
    1 Brian McNeil         21   16:20  5:16   1 M20-29  M#   1 Syracuse       NY 
    2 Eric Smith           33   17:18  5:35   1 M30-34  M#   2 Baldwinsville  NY 
    3 David Patruno        39   17:55  5:46   1 M35-39  M#   3 Syracuse       NY 
    4 Michael Boni         39   17:59  5:48   2 M35-39  M#   4 Liverpool      NY 
    5 Timothy Murphy       44   18:14  5:52   1 M40-44  M#   5 Liverpool      NY 
    6 Mark Rybinski        49   18:34  5:59   1 M45-49  M#   6 Manlius        NY 
    7 Ben Toscano          18   18:39  6:01   1 M15-19  M#   7 Syracuse       NY 
    8 Franklin Freytag     16   18:56  6:06   2 M15-19  M#   8 Liverpool      NY 
    9 David Bowen          52   18:57  6:06   1 M50-54  M#   9 Port Byron     NY 
   10 Dan Duger            39   19:09  6:10   3 M35-39  M#  10 Marcellus      NY 

 

 

Run with Katherine Switzer

The voice of women's running. Katherine Switzer will return to Syracuse on November 11 for a special evening of running and conversation. The event is being organized by Lennie Tucker. Switzer, a Syracuse University graduate, was the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon.

Katherine Switzer (center), with Ellen Griffin (left) and Carol Haynes at Fleet Feet

Start the evening with a run with Katherine at 5PM from the Salt Museum at Onondaga Lake Park . All abilities welcome for this casual and fun run on Onondaga Lake Parkway .

After the run, a fun evening of food, friends and fun will be held at Bagelicious in the Bayberry Plaza Route 57 in Liverpool . Katherine Switzer will be discussing her soon to be released book, 26.2 Stories of the Marathon . Switzer will be joined by local runner and artist Coreen Steinbach, who illustrated the wonderful children's book My Dad is an Ironman. The evening at Bagelicious starts at 6:30 PM.

For more information on this November 11 event, contact Lennie Tucker at 638-8238.

 

Thanksgiving Day in Baldwinsville to look different

The Baldwinsville Kiwanis 37th Annual Turkey Day Races are coming up on November 24th, Thanksgiving Day 2005. The Kiwanis Club has put new resources into this year's event and has many changes and improvements for participants to look forward to. Organizer Tony Saraceni indicates that the main goal of 2005 is to supply a great experience for all of the participants. We caught up with Tony last week.

The Turkey Day Races in Baldwinsville are a tradition, how are you working to make this year's event better?

Our focus this year is on our loyal participants.  It is important that we focus our attention on the needs of our runners to ensure that the Baldwinsville Kiwanis Turkey Day race is a great experience.  The
Kiwanis Club of Baldwinsville has spent a great deal of time evaluating it's deficiencies from last year.  We are making a strong effort to provide more food and drink for our participants, as well as children
activities.  This year we will have a Fire Truck provided by the Baldwinsville Fire Company, our mascot Kiwani the Turkey , and a DJ to pump out the music all morning.  Most importantly, we realize that we
were faced with a significant challenge doing the finish line timing in house, as well as slow moving award presentation.

You mentioned the scoring and awards, how will that be different this year?

In fact, the last few years experienced some significant setbacks in these areas.  Not Any More. To resolve these problems, the club has decided to bring in a professional timing company to handle the registration and finish line situation.  PCR Timing from Rochester has been chosen by the club to provide this service to our runners.  We will be utilizing cutting edge technology known as the DAG System. 
This system is comprised of a throw away timing chip that is attached to the back of bib number.  By utilizing this technology, we will have a solution to our slow awards process.  Results will be posted immediately after the runners begin to finish.  Runners will have the opportunity to claim there awards inside, in an organized manor.  These two improvements will ensure that our loyal runners have a great experience.

  Thanksgiving time is always a time to reflect on things, what are some of the favorite projects that the Baldwinsville Kiwanis are involved in?

100% of all proceeds from the race go back into our local community.  That is why this race has emerged as a local tradition.  Every year, the Baldwinsville Kiwanis sends local children to Kamp Kiwanis, a camp for kids throughout New York that would otherwise not have the opportunity to attend a summer camp.  Last year we were fortunate to send 11 kids.  This was the largest number of kids in the entire district.  We are very proud of this.  Also, the Baldwinsville Kiwanis is responsible for the cleanup of one of our local roads.  This is an activity they we enjoy immensely. We take great pride in our community.  Probably the most enjoyable Annual event is our meeting of giving.  During this meeting, the Baldwinsville Kiwanis gives back to local organizations throughout the community.  Last year we teamed up with the Children's Hospital at University Hospital as was able to donate $2,500.00 to the fund raising effort.  We also give to the Ronald McDonald House of CNY, Make a wish Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, and many others.  It is important for participants to understand that it is their contribution that enables the Baldwinsville Kiwanis to give so much back to our community.  We look forward to seeing all of our loyal runners on Thanksgiving morning.

Learn more about this year's event at the race website or download an application here or register through active.com.

High School Running Scene By David Riccardi

Ben White (Liverpool) closed a 15-meter gap to edge Tommy Gruenewald (FM) at the Onondaga High School League championship. both White and Gruenewald (15:33.7) broke Lopez Lomong 's course record (15:34.7)

Girls Varsity - leaders just past the one mile mark (which was reached in 5:51). Kristen Taylor (FM, 8th, 19:26.3) has a slight lead on winner Elizabeth McMahon (West Genesee, 18:46.9) following are Leah Andrianos (ESM, 3rd, 19:06.4) and Mackenzie Carter (FM, 2nd, 18:57)

As November begins, cross-country is concluding for most local high school runners. The Section 3Championships are this upcoming Saturday, and schools in the Central New York region (ranging from as far south as  Cortland  and as far north as  Watertown ) will compete against all other summers in their class (which is based upon the size of the schools) to determine the Section 3 champion.

The meet will be held at South Jefferson . The course, which was almost moved to a different site due to excess water, has been redesigned with runner safety in mind. However, it still will contain some good climbs and is bound to be very muddy, which is the way cross-country should be. 

Along with determining the sectional champion, the meet is also the state qualifier. The winning teams in each class, along with the top 5 individual finishers, earn the right to compete at the State Championships, which will be held in Queensbury on November 12th.

The Onondaga High School League championship was held this past Saturday at Tully. The runners and spectators enjoyed perfect fall conditions, and the times were very fast. In the girl's race, CNS, running without their top runner, Nicki Junod, upset FM 54-75. On the boy's side, Liverpool was very competitive with FM, but FM still took honors 30-57. Check out Tullyrunners.com for results and photos for this race and the updated course map for the South Jefferson meet.

FYI - OHSL (Onondaga High School League) comprises 42 schools that compete in six divisions during the season. For this championship meet, ALL schools run together in a single championship race that includes more than half of all Section 3 cross country teams that compete at sectionals.

Fayetteville-Manlius won the Boys Varsity race at the Onondaga High School League Championships held at Tully's 5K course. FM (2-4-5-9-10) outscored Liverpool
(1-3-13-17-23) by 30 to 57 which is actually a fairly close
score in a 40-team race.

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Many photos and some text throughout the season Thanks to Tullyrunner's Bill Meylan