AUBURN - The Mason and Grant Labor Day Classic 5K, 10K and kids mile fun run races have been going on for 30 years according to race director Wayne Mason.
Chris Raimonte / Special to The Citizen
Runners take their first steps from Emerson Park as part of Monday's Labor Day Classic.
Runners take their first steps from Emerson Park as part of Monday's Labor Day Classic.
Mason said the race got started and continues to this day to be a means of benefiting the Auburn High School cross country program.
"It is about the kids," Mason said. "The idea is to help benefit them. All of the proceeds we raise goes right to the coaches and they direct it as they see fit."
Over the years the race has moved around the city, but for the past two it has found a good home in Emerson Park.
"It is a beautiful park," Mason said. "And a beautiful course. I think we have a good turnout this year and there are a lot of people here having fun and enjoying the park and the day."
This year's racers were a good mix of long-time supporters of the race and new faces, all looking forward to tackling the course.
Taking the top spot in the men's 5K with a time of 17:16.1 was Richard Terpening of Syracuse, who made his Labor Day Classic debut this year.
"It benefits Auburn cross country," Terpening said. "That's what brought me out here today."
Terpening said this summer he hasn't had a chance to do as much running as he would like but has been staying active.
"I've been biking a lot," Terpening said. "I've had a sore knee so I've been trying to stay off my feet."
Terpening's time also beat the course record established last year of 18:33.6, a feat he said he is proud to have accomplished.
"I feel great," Terpening said. "I knew it was going to be pretty tough, so I just did my best to stay ahead."
Following close behind was Terpening's 11-year-old daughter TreShel, who took top place in the women's division with a time of 23:16.7.
"I'm a proud dad," Terpening said. "It feels great to see her do so well."
This is TreShel's second consecutive year winning in the women's division.
TreShel said she trains hard, often with her father.
"He helps me train a lot," TreShel said. "It runs in the family."
Her training regiment includes running five days a week for a total of approximately 25 miles week.
And all that hard work has come to fruition for TreShel, helping her beat out older, more experienced runners.
"A lot of them are bigger than me," TreShel said. "I'm smaller. But I really like the races and the competition.
"There was another girl right behindme. She even passed me for a while, but that just made me run faster and push harder."
The top spot in the men's 10K was won by Don Miller for the second year in a row with a time of 35:23.0.
"I've done the Labor Day Classic since the mid '80s," Miller said. "The running community is a pretty close knit group. It is nice to have a summer race like this to keep in shape for cross-country that starts in the fall."
Miller said that summer cross-country races are a unique thing in Central New York.
"It is a nice race and a nice course," Miller said. "It's nice to have a cross-country in the summer. There really aren't any of them around here."
Miller beat out the men's 10K-course record of 35:59.9, which he set last year.
"It feels nice," Miller said. "It is always nice to win, I'm not going to complain. I wasn't really sure about how I was going to do this year so I just went out and tried to run my own race."
Martha Roberts of Penn Yann captured the women's 10K top spot with a time of 49:01.3.
This year was Roberts' first appearance in the race.
"I saw the race director at another race I was in," Roberts said. "It was close to home so I decided to sign up."
Roberts is an avid runner and said this race is a good warm up to the next few races on her schedule.
"I'm going to be running a 10-mile in Ithaca," Roberts said. "So it is a good workout."
Roberts said the course itself, along with the other runners really motivated her and helped her come out on top.
"The course was really good," Roberts said. "I expected to get the time I did, but I didn't expect to win. The other runners were really good, that inspired me and helped me to be first. It feels really great. I've never been here before, but I think I will come back again."
Closing out the day was the children's 1-mile fun run.
"We wanted to get the kids involved," Mason said. "The parents can go out and run with them. This is something that gets the whole family involved."
12-year-old Richara Terpening was first across the line, rounding out a great day for the Terpening family.
"I like running," Richara said. "It runs in the family I guess. Last year I was third or fourth. I'm really happy to win this year."
Labor Day Classic Results
Overall 5K
Name Time
1.Richard Terpening 17:16.1
2.Kes Peck 18:05.9
3.Harry Norcross 20:01.0
4.Nick Harynyk 20:19.8
5.Greg Miraglia 20:46.5
6.Chad Elkovitch 21:31.3
7.Kermit Cadrette 22:23.8
8..Frederick Burghdorf 22:46.9
9.TreShel Terpening 23:16.7
Overall 10K
1 Don Miller 35:23.0
2 Frank Szaba 39:34.0
3 Theodore Bertot 41:05.4
4 Michael Dautrich 48:56.3
5 Martha Roberts 49:01.
6 Jackie Scalon 50:13.2
7 Leah Lesch 52:12.0
8 Stephany Collins 53:34.0
9 Michael Gentile 54:05.1
"It is about the kids," Mason said. "The idea is to help benefit them. All of the proceeds we raise goes right to the coaches and they direct it as they see fit."
Over the years the race has moved around the city, but for the past two it has found a good home in Emerson Park.
"It is a beautiful park," Mason said. "And a beautiful course. I think we have a good turnout this year and there are a lot of people here having fun and enjoying the park and the day."
This year's racers were a good mix of long-time supporters of the race and new faces, all looking forward to tackling the course.
Taking the top spot in the men's 5K with a time of 17:16.1 was Richard Terpening of Syracuse, who made his Labor Day Classic debut this year.
"It benefits Auburn cross country," Terpening said. "That's what brought me out here today."
Terpening said this summer he hasn't had a chance to do as much running as he would like but has been staying active.
"I've been biking a lot," Terpening said. "I've had a sore knee so I've been trying to stay off my feet."
Terpening's time also beat the course record established last year of 18:33.6, a feat he said he is proud to have accomplished.
"I feel great," Terpening said. "I knew it was going to be pretty tough, so I just did my best to stay ahead."
Following close behind was Terpening's 11-year-old daughter TreShel, who took top place in the women's division with a time of 23:16.7.
"I'm a proud dad," Terpening said. "It feels great to see her do so well."
This is TreShel's second consecutive year winning in the women's division.
TreShel said she trains hard, often with her father.
"He helps me train a lot," TreShel said. "It runs in the family."
Her training regiment includes running five days a week for a total of approximately 25 miles week.
And all that hard work has come to fruition for TreShel, helping her beat out older, more experienced runners.
"A lot of them are bigger than me," TreShel said. "I'm smaller. But I really like the races and the competition.
"There was another girl right behindme. She even passed me for a while, but that just made me run faster and push harder."
The top spot in the men's 10K was won by Don Miller for the second year in a row with a time of 35:23.0.
"I've done the Labor Day Classic since the mid '80s," Miller said. "The running community is a pretty close knit group. It is nice to have a summer race like this to keep in shape for cross-country that starts in the fall."
Miller said that summer cross-country races are a unique thing in Central New York.
"It is a nice race and a nice course," Miller said. "It's nice to have a cross-country in the summer. There really aren't any of them around here."
Miller beat out the men's 10K-course record of 35:59.9, which he set last year.
"It feels nice," Miller said. "It is always nice to win, I'm not going to complain. I wasn't really sure about how I was going to do this year so I just went out and tried to run my own race."
Martha Roberts of Penn Yann captured the women's 10K top spot with a time of 49:01.3.
This year was Roberts' first appearance in the race.
"I saw the race director at another race I was in," Roberts said. "It was close to home so I decided to sign up."
Roberts is an avid runner and said this race is a good warm up to the next few races on her schedule.
"I'm going to be running a 10-mile in Ithaca," Roberts said. "So it is a good workout."
Roberts said the course itself, along with the other runners really motivated her and helped her come out on top.
"The course was really good," Roberts said. "I expected to get the time I did, but I didn't expect to win. The other runners were really good, that inspired me and helped me to be first. It feels really great. I've never been here before, but I think I will come back again."
Closing out the day was the children's 1-mile fun run.
"We wanted to get the kids involved," Mason said. "The parents can go out and run with them. This is something that gets the whole family involved."
12-year-old Richara Terpening was first across the line, rounding out a great day for the Terpening family.
"I like running," Richara said. "It runs in the family I guess. Last year I was third or fourth. I'm really happy to win this year."
Labor Day Classic Results
Overall 5K
Name Time
1.Richard Terpening 17:16.1
2.Kes Peck 18:05.9
3.Harry Norcross 20:01.0
4.Nick Harynyk 20:19.8
5.Greg Miraglia 20:46.5
6.Chad Elkovitch 21:31.3
7.Kermit Cadrette 22:23.8
8..Frederick Burghdorf 22:46.9
9.TreShel Terpening 23:16.7
Overall 10K
1 Don Miller 35:23.0
2 Frank Szaba 39:34.0
3 Theodore Bertot 41:05.4
4 Michael Dautrich 48:56.3
5 Martha Roberts 49:01.
6 Jackie Scalon 50:13.2
7 Leah Lesch 52:12.0
8 Stephany Collins 53:34.0
9 Michael Gentile 54:05.1
The Citizens' Say
There are No comments posted.