{"id":54218,"date":"2025-11-27T17:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T17:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/54218\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T17:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T17:54:08","slug":"staten-island-road-racing-76th-lou-marli-run-puts-turkey-trotters-in-the-thanksgiving-spirit-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/54218\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island road racing: 76th Lou Marli Run puts turkey trotters in the Thanksgiving spirit (photos)"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Hundreds of local runners spent their Thanksgiving morning at Midland Beach for the 76th edition of the Lou Marli Run, presented by the Brighton Kiwanis Club, coming together to post fast times and start the holiday in togetherness.<\/p>\n

Race organizer Steve Zimmerman called the event \u201ca big family reunion where a couple of races happen to break out during the course of the day,\u201d a testament to the tight-knit nature of the Staten Island running community. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a tradition that everybody looks forward to. We emphasize giving thanks for all the blessings that we have. It\u2019s our day to give back to the community with the food drive and to have some fellowship and bond a little bit. So I think all those things together make it the place to be on a Thanksgiving morning,\u201d he continued, as the race fee asks for a food donation rather than an actual cost.<\/p>\n

He also noted that while it\u2019s always great to see seasoned runners post fast times, the real focus is getting kids involved in running. The event offered races for all ages, including a 400-meter dash for 7\u201310-year-olds, an 800-meter run for 11\u201312-year-olds, a mile race for 13\u201314-year-olds, and even a 50-meter Turkey Tot Trot for children six and under.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1\/34<\/p>\n

76th Lou Marli Run<\/p>\n

In the adult 5K races, the women\u2019s division, dedicated to Island track and field legend George Kochman, was won by Notre Dame Academy alum and current Dashing Whippets member Olivia Jaenicke, who crossed the line in a swift 19:10. Melissa Kraker took second in 20:12, while Amy Jenkins claimed third with a 21:25 finish.<\/p>\n

Jaenicke, who was also the top female Staten Island finisher at the 2025 NYC Marathon, said that although she still feels like she\u2019s recovering from the 26.2-miler, Thursday\u2019s effort felt like a continuation of the strong form she\u2019s been carrying lately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had two workout since the marathon and I feel like that took a lot out of me, but now I\u2019m getting ready for the indoor track season so I would say I\u2019m in medium shape right now,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n

She was also grateful for the support and congratulations she received following her win, saying that \u201cI love the Staten Island running community. I grew up running here and got shaped as a runner here; the community is so strong and it really makes me feel at home and supported.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"76thWomens’ division winner Olivia Jaenicke poses with her first-place trophy at the 76th Lou Marli Run on Nov. 27, 2025.Michael O’Brien<\/p>\n

Next up was the men\u2019s 40-and-over field, and unsurprisingly, borough running staple Michael Cassidy \u2014 also coming off a strong performance in the marathon in Indianapolis \u2014 took first place with a speedy 16:25. The runner-up was Chris Calimano who ran 17:33, while third-place finisher Dave Michaels clocked a time of 17:44.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a great tradition; I love this race. I\u2019ve been doing it for about 25 years or so now. I love to support it, love the community feel, and love getting to see friends,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

He also took a moment to express his gratitude for being healthy, running well, and having the support of his family, saying, \u201cI\u2019ve been lucky to be healthy this year, and it\u2019s been really gratifying after a couple of years of injury to have the opportunity to train at a high level and compete.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been exciting, and I\u2019m very grateful to my family. I have a bunch of young kids now, and the fact that they let me get out there and run is just really great. They were able to run the kids\u2019 races today, too, so that was a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the marquee race of the day \u2014 the men\u2019s under-40 division dedicated to local road racing legend Bill Welsh\u2014 St. Peter\u2019s and Wagner College alumnus Johnny Sokoll captured another road-race victory after winning the Sgt. Ollis Run this summer, clocking a blazing 15:30 on Thursday. Dom Palermo followed in second with a 15:37 finish, while Preston Kostioukov placed third in 15:40.<\/p>\n

\"76thUnder 40 mens’ division winner Johnny Sokoll poses with his first-place trophy at the 76th Lou Marli Run on Nov. 27, 2025.Michael O’Brien<\/p>\n

Sokoll shared that while the opportunity to post a fast time is always enticing given the deep field, the real reason he came out was to be part of the community on a day like Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big family day and a big community day \u2014 and that\u2019s honestly why I came out here. I love seeing all the Staten Island families, communities, teams and clubs. It\u2019s so awesome to see every single person you can remember from the running community out here. That\u2019s honestly why I wanted to run,” he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Hundreds of local runners spent their Thanksgiving morning at Midland Beach for the 76th edition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-54218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}