Jonevan Hornsby took a short trip from his residence in Prospect Heights to Coney Island and made his debut in the Cosme’s 5K Boardwalk Charity Run a successful one.
Last Sunday marked the second time that the event stayed exclusively on the boardwalk. Since it was a success last year, the directors stuck to its flat course and one that was traffic free.
In the race, Hornsby surged to the front a mile and a half into the 3.1 mile race and captured the 16th annual event in 15:56.09. Running at a 5.08 pace, he felt very confident that he would win the race as soon as he went into the lead. At first he started off by staying back so as not to go out fast.
Rodolfo Crispin finished second with 16:14.30, one place ahead of Thom Little (16:19.18). Rounding out the top five finishers were Ortega Angel (16:20.10) and Francisco Martinez (16:25.66).
Hornsby entered the race through recommendation and at the same time to train for future and bigger ones.
“I heard that times were very fast,” Hornsby said after the race. “I liked running on the boardwalk. I didn’t have to worry about hills.”
Hornsby previously ran at St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, Calif., and then at Georgetown University, where his specialties were the 800 meters and mile on the track and five miles on the cross country team.
Hornsby, who competed in the Brooklyn Half-Marathon and the Manhattan Half, is aiming for the Nike New York City Half, and then the New York City Marathon.
“My goal is to run a competitive full marathon,” said the 31-year-old, who competes unattached.
Meanwhile, Una Broderick clocked in at 19:36.02 for first place among the females and 50th place overall. She ran at a 6.19 pace and took the lead just passing the mile mark. In second place was Jazmin Siara (19:46.01) and Arminda Paz (20:38.52) in third.
Races like the Cosme 5K draw people of all ages and awards are presented to the top five finishers in each age/sex categories.
These races also help the high school cross country athletes stay in shape for their school season in the fall. For instance two athletes from Telecommunications High School competed in the race.
“The race was fun but the weather is very hot,” said Markus Dixon, who was timed in 23:11.04 for 101st place. “We ran the same distance that we would do in high school. The field was very competitive. I build endurance and feel my body working.”
Teammate Fred Cabrera timed in at 19:24.44 for 48th place.
Not all races permit runners to enter competition with babies in a stroller, but this one did. Jim Hart, with grandson Jesse in tow, timed in at 26:52.91 for 133rd place.
“I love coming here. It was a great race,” Hart said. “[Edwin] Cosme always throws a great race here.”
One of the last entrants to finish was runner Joe Kearns, who clocked in at 46:31.42, for 272nd place in a field of 275 overall finishers.
“I’m glad to be able to complete the whole thing,” Kearns said. “It was tough because I’m not really conditioned for it. But I’m 65 now. And I’m coming back from a foot injury.”
Members of various running clubs, including the Shore Road Striders, Prospect Park Track Club, Buckley Shamrocks and Brooklyn Road Runners, entered the race.
The Men’s Open team title went to Green City, comprised of Ortega Angel, Martinez, and Marco Zamora. The Female Open team crown went to Iron comprised of Jazmin Siara, Arminda Paz and Joanna Villegas.
The race started on the boardwalk. The flat course took the runners east and turned around to finish near the start. Joe Buso started the event. Proceeds of the race benefited the Coney Island Sports Foundation.
“The race has been once again successful for the Coney Island Sports Foundation,” Cosme said. “We had entries from all five boroughs and from New Jersey. We have a number of grateful sponsors that support us on an annual basis. We ran on a great course. We had a great competition.”
The top ten overall finishers also included Richard Brown (16:36.61) in sixth place, followed by Angel Confesor (16:37.12), Joni Romer (16:39.30), Tomas Vazquez (16:49.73) and Dan Campos (16:59.30).
