Ryan Fowkes Continues Domination of the Montauk Mile

Ryan Fowkes owns the Montauk Mile.

The 22-year-old East Hampton High School graduate won the seventh annual race for the fifth time on Sunday, crossing the finish line in 4:22.80, improving his own course record set last year by about four seconds.

Sunday’s field was stacked for both the men’s and women’s races, which are ran separately, with some of the area’s top runners coming out to participate in the race that is directed and organized by the Old Montauk Athletic Club, which shares a large portion of the proceeds with the East Hampton High School boys and girls cross country teams.

Fowkes needed to beat out the talented Green Brothers, Joshua, 22, and Jason, 20, of Shelter Island. They finished second and third, respectively, in 4:31.10 and 4:41.50. Max Goodman, 20, of South Salem, New York, finished fourth in 4:56.90, and Andrew West, 31, of Brooklyn rounded out the top five men finishers in 5:05.

The women’s field, which actually got things started on Sunday, was equally charged. Hanna Jerome, 28, of Sag Harbor won in 5:35.90. The top four runners of the women’s race all finished in under 6:00. Caedryn Schrunk, 35, of New York City, finished second in 5:38.80; last year’s women’s champion Dylan Cashin, one of the top runners on the East Hampton varsity girls cross country and tack teams, placed third in 5:50.20; Alyssa Bahel, 25, of Wainscott, and a familiar face on the East End racing circuit, finished fourth in 5:53.40; and Lauren Dara, 43, of New York City, finished fifth in 6:00.40.

Complete results can be found at elitefeats.com.

The race had 131 runners total, between both the men’s and women’s races, cross the finish line, which is about 20 or so more runners than last year. Jennifer Fowkes, Ryan’s mother and treasurer of OMAC, said that number incrementally increases each year, which is good to see. She said there’s something about the mile that is iconic to many runners. It’s obviously not as tough as the typical 5K (3.1 miles) races, so it’s more of a fun run, and it’s really one of the only mile races on Long Island.

Speaking of fun, a newlywed couple who had just tied the knot in Montauk on Saturday morning, Ava and Kevin Warren, crossed the finish line together on Sunday morning, with Kevin carrying Ava across the threshold — aka, the finish line. Jen Fowkes created a newlywed division for the new couple.

With the race being the second Sunday every June, next year’s race date is already set; June 9, 2024.