Runners from all over the United States from right here in Brooklyn and from as far away as London, Illinois, California and Florida came to Prospect Park last Saturday morning for the Brooklyn Half Marathon.
Overall there were 7,812 entrants, including 5,828 starters, in a race conducted by the New York Road Runners Club.
Andrew Steininger from Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office helped to start the race on the Coney Island boardwalk near West Second Street. The course of the race was basically flat and a huge part of it went north on Ocean Parkway to the finish line.
“This is the first time I started a race,” said Steininger, who has also run a marathon in Wisconsin. “Marty is a huge fan of all the great runners in this borough.”
While John Henwood of Manhattan won the race, 24-year-old Edvard Gapak, a Sheepshead Bay resident who won the Brooklyn Half Marathon last year, became the first runner from this borough to cross the finish line. He was timed in 1:09.58 for third place overall.
Henwood pulled away with about a mile and a half left and captured the race in 1:08.37. Jorge Real of Queens finished second in 1:08.56.
Dave Nash, who was timed in 1:11.55 for eighth place, was the second Brooklyn finisher. Other borough athletes who placed among the top 50 included Piotr Karaslewicz, Kirt Joseph, Steven McElligott, Ted Towie, Dan Campos, Jason McClung and John Macconnell.
“I loved the course,” Henwood said. “It made me focus at the start. I ran relaxed and comfortable throughout the race.”
Gapak’s manager, Rick Pascarella, was satisfied with Gapak’s time even though he didn’t win the 13.1 mile race.
“He got off a plane [the night before the race] from the Ukraine,” said Pascarella. “At the 10-mile mark he was in good shape. After that his quad and muscles tightened up
