Fox Trot 5K: Family reunion at the river

This morning's Red Fox Trot 5km was great, as usual. Seems each year the alumni turnout gets stronger and more loyal. As the lead runners streamed in -- all with Marist Running ties -- it was so cool to see friends and familiar faces from the past decade or so of Marist Running. Makes you feel really good. I will be meeting a group of alums later at a social event, and it will be good to catch up with all of you. Sometimes I feel like a proud papa watching his kids growing up into successful men and women. Nicely done.

Once the official results are posted, I will link them here and also highlight members of the Marist Running family who took part. It's not always the fastest finishers that get our attention. Special note of pride and thanks to parents of current and former runners who took the bold step -- literally -- of entering a challenging 5km road race. It takes a lot of guts to do this, and I am proud of Ginny Townsend (mom of Brian, who just graduated), Ken Panebianco (dad of senior captain Matt Panebianco) and Tom and Louise Valentino (parents of sophomore Mark Valentino) for competing with pride in the race. If I left anyone off this list, I will certainly cite it after I see the final results list.

Also, kudos to Mark Valentino for showing up an hour earlier than originally planned (7:30 a.m., on a Saturday without a meet or practice, is above and beyond the call of duty!) to help with the pre-race registration at the boathouse. Race officials were impressed with his kindness and thoroughness in helping out. We already know what a top notch individual he is; now the Red Fox Club and the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club are aware of this as well.

Lastly, as I was packing up my car with road race signs and cones (with the help of grad students Matt Flint and Will Griffin), the skies opened and it poured rain. The rain held off just long enough for the race to go off unscathed. That was kind of neat. Here's hoping the sun will continue to shine on the Red Fox Trot 5k for many years to come.