Seaford 5K Raises Tens Of Thousands For Australia Fire Relief

SEAFORD, NY — A 5k in Seaford raised 42,000 Australian dollars to help relief efforts in the country after 11 million hectares of land burned over roughly six months and more than 1 billion animals died. More than 750 people participated in the Land Down Under 5k on Jan. 25, Nassau County officials said Wednesday. Some hailed from as far away as Seattle and even Australia.

The event, held at the Cedar Creek Park, benefited the Victoria Country Fire Authority and the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. Proceeds from T-shirt sales were sent to Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors, home of the family of the late Steve Irwin.

Race curators elitefeats, RaceAwesome, EventPower and PR Timing — who are all competitors — came together to help organize the event, officials said.

"I was deeply saddened to hear of the unprecedented bushfires devastating Australia, killing an estimated 1.25 billion animals to date," Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said in a statement.

Curran thanked the leaders of Long Island's running community for their support.

"I was proud to run alongside hundreds of passionate Nassau County residents and I applaud everyone for coming together for this cause," Curran said.

Jonathan Schloth, 23, of Lynbrook, crossed the finish line first with a time of about 17 minutes and Eric Repp, 18, finished second among the guys at about 17 minutes and 30 seconds. John Schwab, of North Bellmore, finished third among men at 17 minutes and 35 seconds.

Una Broderick, 53, of Wantagh finished first among women at 20 minutes and 52 seconds and Jayne Paskoff, 53, of Lynbrook, finished second with a time of about 22 minutes. Christina Bordonaro, 51, finished third at just over 23 minutes.

Participants ranged in age from early teens to more than 80 years old. Jack Hanley, of Babylon, and Howard Kestenbaum, of Plainview, both of whom are over 80, finished the race. Helma Clavin, of Lake Ronkonkoma, and Carol Rivera, of Lindenhurst, both over 75, also crossed the finish line.

Among the kids, Robert, 13, finished first among boys under 14 and Kaitlyn, 10, of Glen Head, finished first in the under 14 girls category.

Click here to for the full list of race results.

Brendan Dagan, acting CEO of elitefeats, said in a statement that the response of the Long Island racing community was "overwhelming."

"In less than three weeks we came together to support this global crisis," he said. "We are extremely grateful to have been part of this event."

Corey Roberts, founder of RaceAwesome and an Australian native, called the fundraiser a "raging success."

EliteFeats built out the registration platform and provided both equipment and staff while PR Timing provided bibs, chips and staff. Meanwhile, EventPower and RaceAwesome provided staff, course set up, logistics, equipment, music, post-race soup and more. All was provided at no cost.