Schools

Bellmore-Merrick Central District 5K off and running

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For a while on the morning of March 21, organizers of the first One Voice, One Message 5K Run/Walk, hosted by the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, wondered whether anyone would show.

Late Friday night into early Saturday morning, a surprise storm dumped five inches of snow on Long Island –– hours after spring began –– and the temperature hovered around 29 degrees, with a slight wind. Roads were slushy at best, icy at worst.
Conditions were far from ideal for a road race.

At 8 a.m., Jackie Shand, 16, and Mia Tallerico, 17, two of the student ambassadors who helped organize the run, were sitting pensively on a shuttle bus headed from Mepham High School, in North Bellmore, to the starting line at Grand Avenue Middle School, in Bellmore. They sat with a handful of adults.

“We tried coming up with this 5K to bring everyone together,” said Tallerico, who plays soccer, basketball and lacrosse at Calhoun High School in Merrick. “I feel like if it was better weather, more people would be involved.”

When Shand and Tallerico arrived at Grand Avenue, however, they were in for another surprise –– this one pleasant. People were streaming onto school grounds from all directions, and in no time, hundreds of participants had gathered in front of the school for the start. As it turned out, they weren’t put off by the weather.

“People are still coming,” said Robyn Einbinder, one of the Central District’s two social studies chairwomen, shortly before the 5K got under way. “We’re reminding people to walk and run carefully because it’s a little icy. People see the good cause and are coming anyway,” despite the weather, Einbinder added.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, who attended the event, said the town plowed and salted the 5K route that morning, and there were only a handful of ice patches along the way. The route circled from Grand Avenue to Merrick Avenue Middle School, in Merrick, and back again.

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