The 38th Annual Shelter Island Run Takes Off

Edwin Kipsang Rotich of Kenya beat 956 participants to claim first place in the 38th annual Shelter Island 10K run in 29:28.57 on Saturday afternoon. Rotich took home the grand prize of $1,000 and a round-trip plane ticket on JetBlue. Running at a 4:45 minute pace, the 27-year-old cleared every mile checkpoint with the lead.

At the two-mile mark, Rotich changed his pace to break away from the three-man group of himself, Eliud Ngetich and Bernard Legat. After winning on Shelter Island, Rotich began his journey to Boston, where he will compete in this weekend’s Boston Athletic Association 10K.

Trailing the gold medalist was Ngetich, finishing second in 29:47.27, and taking home $500 dollars.

“It wasn’t a good day for me ... I didn’t have that power today,” Ngetich said of his second-place finish. Falling short to Rotich by 19 seconds, the Shelter Island 10K was the second time the two elites have faced off, and both times Ngetich fell to Rotich.

“He had good speed and good mileage,” Ngetich said.

Gotytom Gebreslase was the first woman to finish the race, 11th overall, at 32:06.19. She also received a free round-trip JetBlue ticket.

Joseph Ekuom took home the grand prize of $300 for winning the Masters Division of the 10K. He crossed the finish line in 35:14.12. Nicholas Minikel won the 5K in 17:58.44. Trailing him was Bassel Zikry in 18:32.96 and Craig Wilson in 19:06.49. The three finalists all received medals.

Gary Baddeley, 52, and Elizabeth Morgan, 25, of Shelter Island were the first male and female locals to finish the race earning medals as well as complimentary entrance to next year’s event. Peter Hawkins, 53, of Malverne, once again won the 10K wheelchair race in 35:09.46.

Erik Engstrom, who won the new and improved Montauk Mile just two weeks ago, finished 23rd overall with a time of 35:18.93. The speedy time granted him the first-place finish in the 19-and-under-division. Engstrom, an East Hampton native, earned himself two medals in the month of June after a year of running at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Full results are at elitefeats.com.

Noted as one of the most scenic running events by Runner’s World Magazine, the Shelter Island Run is USA Track and Field certified event. Founded in 1980 by Cliff Clark, John Strode, and Jack Faith, the Shelter Island Run has seen thousands of participants over the last 38 years. Some of those participants are victors of the Boston Marathon and New York City Marathon, and are former Olympians, such as Bill Rodgers and Amby Burfoot. The event was created as a fundraiser for East End charities and has been a success since its creation.

New to this year, the Shelter Island Run, which includes both 10K and 5K courses, is part of the Grand Prix Series which consists of the NYPD Memorial Run, which was held on May 21, as well as the Shelter Island and Cow Harbor Runs, the latter of which is to be held on September 16. The male and female with the best combined times from those three races will take home prizes.

All proceeds from Saturday’s race will go to several East End charities, such as the Shelter Island 10K Community Fund, which assists the community of Shelter Island, East End Hospice, which offers short term in-home hospital care, and Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, which provides a safe haven for boys, ages 10-21, who are in need of a therapeutic environment.

Sponsors of this years event included: Bridgehampton National Bank, Frank J. Adipietro, M.D., Hampton Jitney, Shelter Island Environmental, South Ferry, Shelter Island Reporter, The Ram’s Head Inn, Hampton Event Management International, Edible East End, Norsic, The Island Boatyard & Marina, Hamptons.com, Joseph J. Theinert Memorial Fund, Sunset Beach, WordHampton Public Relations, Schmidt’s, WBAZ, WEHM, Beach 101.7, American Legion, WLNG, The Chequit, North Fork Beverage Corp., Stop & Shop, Ian McDonald Architect, Little Dutch Sailing Charters, One Healthy Hamptons, Erica Stype McKenzie of Andrew Stype Realty, Peconic Bay Medical Center, Pepsi, Lexson Therapy, Historic Films, Dering Harbor Co., DJ Twilo, PopChips, and Bai Water.