COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Dozens of people gather at Castleton Elementary School Saturday morning for annual Ken Morgan Memorial Clove Run
CASTLETON- ON- HUDSON, N.Y. » Approximately 100 runners gathered at Castleton Elementary School Saturday morning for the annual Ken Morgan Memorial Clove Run.
The run consisted of three separate races, a 10-mile run, a 5-kilometer run, and a Family Fun 1-mile walk/run.
The run has been a memorial to its co-founder Ken Morgan since his death last February. It has been a charity run supporting The Anchor Food Pantry with the aid of the Castleton-On-Hudson Kiwanis Club for many years. It has been a source of community support and outreach since its inception.
“Wewere all teens at the time,” remembered Ken Morgan’s sister, Wendi Wiley, of the race’s origins.
“Ken came up with the idea of a ten- mile race as something that only he could win,” said his brother, Ryan Morgan. “The first one was in 1996 or 97. Wendi was still in school. Ken always swore he would never run the race himself, but every year he’d show up and run.”
Each of the three siblings had a part to play in organizing the race. Wiley handled the fundraising, Ryan Morgan would design race t-shirts, and Ken
The run has been a memorial to its co-founder Ken Morgan since his death last February.
Morgan coordinated with the Kiwanis, along with his best friend, Jeff Warrander.
“The Kiwanis have been phenomenal from the beginning,” Wiley said.
Sara Westcott, serving in her second year as race director, agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment. “The Kiwanis are the backbone of this race,” she said. “Without them, this wouldn’t happen. They do almost everything.”
The Morgan siblings handed the race organization torch off when they all went away to college and are pleased to see it continue to thrive.
Today it’s one of the biggest community events in the town of Castleton- onHudson. All prize support and food are donated by local businesses and farms. Leftover food and proceeds from the race go to The Anchor
“Last year we raised $4,500,” Westcott remarked before the races started. “This year we’re hoping to meet or beat that.”
Westcott started running in the Clove Run five years ago. When the race director decided to retire from the position two years ago, she took over. In addition to directing the day’s events, she was also a participant, running in the 10-mile race.
“It’s the hardest race I’ve ever done!” she admitted.
Her son Aidan, 9, had very high hopes for the Family Fun 1-mile Walk/ Run. “Last year I came in fourth,” he said. This year he was aiming for top 3.
Leading the races on “pace motorcycles” to make sure the runners stayed safe were Ricardo Cosgrave and Duane Keeler.
“I’ve been doing this for a number of years. It’s all for The Anchor,” commended Cosgrave. “We’re just here to beep the horns when we get to street corners.”
Registration began at 7 a.m. After checking in and receiving race numbers and T- shirts, race participants were able to get food and water from the Kiwanis, who had a large concession area set up.
Also on hand, just in case, were volunteers Jim Rosse and Diane Hauer from Castleton Ambulance and Sergeant Steven Roy from the Schodack Police Department.
At around 8 a.m., 49 racers gathered at the starting line for the 10-mile run.
Sara Westcott thanked everyone for being part of such an important community event and cautioned the runners to be safe. She then turned the race over to Glenn Wolin, owner of Finish Right Timing. FRT has provided complete support for the Clove Run since 2010, handling everything from registration to course layout to time tracking.
Wolin double- checked the runners’ numbers, then lined everyone up and sounded the air horn to start the race. The runners took off accompanied by rounds of applause from the sidelines.
Half an hour later, the Family Fun 1-mile walk/run kicked off. Wolin got the racers, many of whomwere children, lined up and sounded the air horn. The racers took off with cheers and applause from the crowd.
Eight minutes and 53 seconds later, Aidan Westcott came charging across the finish line, meeting his personal goal and coming in first place.
Not far behind him was Davis Biehler, 6, from Troy, who crossed the finish line second. After the race, Davis commented that he was happy with how he’d done. “I’m really excited that I won second place,” he said. This is his second year participating in the Ken Morgan Memorial Clove Run.
Aidan, with some help from his sister Sophie and dad, John, then took up a position behind the finish line to hand out medals to the other young participants of the 1-mile walk/ run as they crossed the finish line.
Just before the 5-kilometer race got ready to go, Jon Lindenauer from Albany crossed the finish line at 58 minutes and 24 seconds, coming in first place for the 10-mile run.
“It felt really brutal after the first mile,” Lindenauer admitted, “but I kept thinking about what Sara said at the beginning of the race, about how important this is to the community, and I just kept that in my head.”
Lindenauer has been running for 15 years, since his junior year of high school. After trying a different sport every season, he discovered that crosscountry running was his favorite.
“I would still do the 10-mile again next year,” he commented. “A lot of places just do 5K’s. Whenever there’s an unusual distance, I try to do that just to switch it up.”
Meanwhile, the 5-kilometer race got underway with 45 runners. A few minutes later, the second- and thirdplace winners of the 10-mile race crossed the finish line. Noah Albanese, of Castleton, finished with a time of 1 hour 12 minutes and 27 seconds, and Gregory Duffy from Philadelphia finished at 1 hour 12 minutes and 32 seconds.
“I came up here to visit friends,” said Duffy, who also runs with the South Philly Striders. “I saw on Facebook that there was a race, and I signed up.”
“This was a bit of a stretch for me. I normally run 6 or 7 miles, not 10,” Albanese said. “But the kids at the checkpoint stations really boosted morale. I came to the top of a hill and there was this kid, and he handed me a freeze pop. That was just great.”
A short time later, Ben Marra crossed the finish line to win the 5-kilometer run with a time of 18 minutes and 27 seconds.
“I haven’t run in probably months, so I think I did pretty good,” the Schodack resident commented. Marra has been running for about 2 years and is going into tenth grade at Maple Hill High School.
Close behind him were Greg Ethier, who finished in 19 minutes and 9 seconds, and Dermot Coughlin, who finished in 20 minutes and 3 seconds, winning second and third place respectively.
As more runners made it back to the finish line, both from the 10-mile run and the 5-kilometer run, Aidan and Sophie Westcott were on hand to give out raffle tickets. Cheers and applause greeted every runner as they crossed the finish line.
The sense of community support, not just for the event, but for every participant, seemed to be very strong. It was clear that the Castleton community was coming together for the day, from the Kiwanis volunteers making sure everyone had enough to eat and drink to the local politicians who turned out to volunteer their time.
“I come out to support the race because a lot of people put a lot of work into it, and it’s a great way to support the community,” said Town Board member Tracey Rex.
“I’ve been coming out to the Clove Run for about 7 years,” said Mike Martin. “Schodack residents are great because they all come out to support events like this. It’s important to get out into the community.”
Rex is running for reelection to the town board this year, and Martin is running against her for election.
Many racers came to the Clove Run in memory of Ken Morgan and in support of his family.
“This is our first year participating. We’re doing this for Ken Morgan. He was a great person,” said Sally Gaschel. She and her husband, Ken, flew up from Jacksonville, Florida, for the race. They did the Family Fun 1-mile walk/run with their grandsons, Eric and Lukas while the boys’ parents, Kristina and Matt Gaschel of Greenfield, ran in the 5-kilometer race.
John Bachandouris, of East Greenbush, ran the 5- kilometer race for the second year in a row. Three years ago, he tried the 10mile race.
“I did it in over two hours,” he said. “There were lots of hills. I switched to the 5-k race after that.”
Some people did both the 1-mile walk/run and the 5-kilometer run, because the two did not overlap. Wendi Wiley, Ken Morgan’s sister, used the 1-mile as a warm-up for the 5-kilometer, crossing the finish line hand in hand with daughter Megan Wiley, 4, of Castleton, and nephew Walker Morgan, 3, of Chicago. Also participating in the walk/run was her older daughter Jessica Wiley, 10. All three children are nieces and nephew of the late Ken Morgan.
“It [the race] was good,” Jessica said, adding that she was proud of how she did.
After the 5-kilometer and 10-mile races, Sara Westcott began to announce race winners and hand out prizes. Each race was divided into multiple age categories, with prizes for the top three male and female runners. The overall top 3 winners of both races were also recognized.
In addition to the race winners already listed, Penny Tisko came in first place in the women’s division of the 5-kilometer race with a time of 22 minutes and 35 seconds. Daniele Cherniak, of Cohoes, was the top female runner for the 10-mile race, with a time of 1 hour 19 minutes and 2 seconds.
Prizes for every race winner included gift cards and certificates donated by local businesses, including one from the Fort Orange Brewery owned by Sara and John Westcott. Winners of the age- based categories took home baggies of homebaked goodies. Tracey Rex and Mike Martin assisted with handing out prizes.
After the prizes came the raffle drawing for more gift cards. Aidan and Sophie Westcott assisted their parents with drawing and reading off the tickets, pulled out of John Westcott’s hat.
Finally, Sara Westcott thanked everyone who had helped to make the Clove Run a success, from the Kiwanis for their organizational support to the local donors who provided all prizes and food for the day to the police and ambulance crew who were there for safety.
Then it was time to go, as the Kiwanis Club packed up leftover food and donations they had received to bring to The Anchor, and Finish Right Timing put away their equipment and deflated their giant finish line archway. They will be back next year for the next Ken Morgan Memorial Clove Run - as will many members of the Castletonon-Hudson community, to support each other, their neighborhood, and providing support to The Anchor Food Pantry.