Mangini, age 12, wins Bearcat 5K

LAKEVILLE — It is a race that is run, at least in part, to benefit young people. Nonetheless, everyone was pleasantly surprised when the winner of the Bearcat 5K on Sunday, Oct. 5, was Josh Mangini, a 12-year-old boy from New Hartford. 

Mangini kept up a pace of 6:09 and finished the race in 19:06, narrowly beating 16-year-old Marco Quaroni of Lakeville, who finished in 19:08 with a pace of 6:10.

Not all of the 158 runners were too young to vote, although there were quite a few under-18 competitors. But many of the racers were in their 40s and 50s and there were even a few in their 60s and 70s. The senior competitor was 79-year-old Jack Graf, who listed his home town as Los Altos, Calif. 

Although it seems unlikely that Graf and his wife, Mary, who also ran the 5K, came all the way from the West Coast for Sunday’s outing, there were an awful lot of enticements to come out to the Hotchkiss campus for the day. For starters, the weather was exquisite; in a week that had seen an uncomfortable number of cold, wet days, the heavens shone down on the Bearcat, providing perfect running temperatures and clear, dry skies. 

The 5K run was the main event, but there was a 1K for less ambitious runners. There were stretching and warmup workshops with local trainers and athletes. 

A barbecue lunch was provided, including grassfed beef burgers from Whippoorwill Farm in Salisbury.

The annual day of fun-and-run was a fundraiser for the Housatonic Youth Service Bureau, which has its headquarters in Falls Village on the campus of Housatonic Valley Regional High School. HYSB provides essential services at low or no cost to local families and youth who are at risk. Programs include empowerment workshops for young women, family-oriented workshops that emphasize learning about nature and building things with one’s hands. There is therapy and no-cost counseling. 

To learn more about HYSB and its many programs, go to www.hysb.org.