Lynbrook Council of PTAs hosted the “Fly with the Owls Scholarship 5K” event on Sunday, October 27. All participants arrived at North Middle School to obtain their bib numbers from the registration table and waited for the run to begin. The “Fun Run” kicked off the event at 8 a.m., followed by the 5K runners at 8:30; the course went throughout the north side of Lynbrook. At the end of the event, an award ceremony was held to acknowledge all first-, second-, and third-place winners of differing age groups and the whole race.
A lot of preparation went into preparing for the 5K event. Council of PTAs Co-President Dr. Sharmin Hakim explained, “We started by putting together a committee of people who were interested in helping with this undertaking last spring. [They] had a number of meetings and split up tasks including finding sponsorships, mapping out the route, attending village board meetings, organizing registration, getting snack donations, and finding race day volunteers. [They] also hired Elite Feats, a company well known for organizing and timing 5Ks, and worked closely with Lynbrook Village, the Lynbrook Police Department, and the school district to make sure [they] had all the necessary permits and had the community’s support.”
Senior Tyler Paige was awarded first place in the men’s category and first place overall, while sophomore Delia Kirkpatrick was awarded first female overall in the race. Kirkpatrick expressed, “This was the first time I ran this course, and it was an amazing experience. I was so excited to hear that Fly with the Owls was happening again! Having a town run for Lynbrook was super exciting because I have heard about other town 5Ks like in Malverne and Garden City and always thought Lynbrook would put together a really nice one.” Paige shared, “I wanted to run the race because I felt as the captain of the school cross country and track teams that it was my obligation to show up and represent the team. [My favorite moment] was finishing and seeing all the proud faces of my friends, coaches and family.”
The 5K serves not only as a community event but a community effort to raise money for the PTA council’s student scholarship fund. Council of PTAs Co-President Mary Beth Stalter explained, “After organizing the Scholarship Homecoming Game for many years and also doing the Pave-a-Path engraved brick campaign, Lynbrook Council of PTAs was looking for a new and exciting way to raise funds for the Scholarship Fund. Fly with the Owls was an annual event organized by a different community group up until about ten years ago. Many people were upset when the race stopped happening, and we thought this was a wonderful opportunity to bring a similar race back to the community for a noble cause.”
Ultimately, the 5K received positive reviews from runners, community members, and the PTA members who helped put it together. Gaffoor shared, “While the proceeds of this race go to help fund scholarships for [LHS] seniors, it truly was a whole community event. We are so grateful for the support from Lynbrook Village, Lynbrook Police and Fire Department as well as Lynbrook Schools. We had an amazing outreach of sponsors for our event and are grateful for all who donated.”
