2018 Run – Julia Rusinek Memorial Fund

The 19th annual Julia’s Run for children took place on Sunday, April 15, 2018. The day was overcast with unseasonably chilly temperatures in the thirties. The Cross Campus of Yale University was filled with runners, their families, and volunteers enjoying each other’s company, the hot drinks, water, and snacks. Jonathan Edwards College was a major provider of the snacks. LEAP secured additional food donations and set up the food stations on the site. The music played by the DJ from the PLR 99.1 radio station was a great enhancement to the general atmosphere.

Out of the 250 registered runners, 150 adults and 22 children crossed the finish line. Thanks to the professional and efficient work of John, Jody, and Maggie from JB Sports the race went without a hitch. Julianne Rogers and 29 of her schoolmates from the Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT volunteered from early morning till the end of the event. Their amazing help and smiling faces were priceless. As usual our dear friends and family: Marti, Aviva, Terry, Hannah, Abram, Lucyna, Victor, Genya, Eugene, Daniel, Sharon, and Judith did an outstanding job. Ebriana Eden, 14, read her "Challenge of AP Physics" essay that won the first prize in a contest conducted by LEAP.

The proceeds to LEAP are $15,000 from JRFM. Additional $2,700 were raised from other sponsors and the Run raffle.

Mighty US Coast Guards team saves the day

What's on 2018 run page:

results of 4 mile race
best performers (age adjustment)
results of kid's run
eight photo galleries
Yale News article about the run

Results of 2018 4-mile run

Place	First Name	Last Name	Time	Perf	Age	Sex	Pace	Div.Pl.
1	Gilmar	Barrios	22:29	75.6%	20	M	5:38	1 Σ
2	Azzaan	Dawson	23:42	75.8%	14	M	5:56	1
3	Rene	Burgos	26:47	72.0%	52	M	6:42	1
4	Dan	Thoresen	26:48	63.4%	26	M	6:42	1
5	Ariel	Sanchez	27:12	62.5%	21	M	6:48	2
6	Raf	Raf	27:20	63.1%	37	M	6:50	1
7	Nelson	Rios	27:30	65.4%	43	M	6:53	1
8	Jordan	Calixto	27:33	61.7%	23	M	6:54	3
9	Joseph	Levitin	28:25	59.8%	32	M	7:07	2
10	Jonathan	Kaplan	29:47	64.2%	51	M	7:27	2
11	Adam	Talbot	30:06	58.1%	39	M	7:32	3
12	Peter	Gloor	30:09	68.0%	59	M	7:33	3
13	Sarah	Merchlewitz	30:11	62.4%	33	F	7:33	1 Σ
14	Matthew	Czernicki	30:16	58.2%	40	M	7:34	2
15	Paul	Baldini	30:39	60.0%	46	M	7:40	3
16	Max	Martens	30:53	55.0%	27	M	7:44	4
17	Jeff	Gentes	30:57	56.9%	40	M	7:45	4
18	Raine	Ma	30:58	69.5%	8	M	7:45	1
19	Tim	Hawley	30:59	69.5%	64	M	7:45	1
20	Matt	Fischer	31:04	54.7%	34	M	7:46	4
21	Jeffrey	Ogbar	31:24	59.5%	48	M	7:51	5
22	Kevin	Tranberg	31:38	59.5%	49	M	7:55	6
23	John	McCarthy	31:41	68.0%	64	M	7:56	2
24	Gil	Liebrecht	31:44	56.7%	43	M	7:56	7
25	Melissa	Kearns	32:11	61.3%	40	F	8:03	1
26	Winnie	Tong	32:24	58.2%	27	F	8:06	1
27	Robert	Grande	32:25	65.7%	63	M	8:07	3
28	Justin	Ong	32:46	51.8%	23	M	8:12	5
29	Allison	Pineros-Glasscock	33:04	57.0%	30	F	8:16	1
30	Avital	Smotrich-Barr	33:24	56.4%	21	F	8:21	2
31	Kaarlo	Moran	33:30	55.3%	47	M	8:23	8
32	William	Buick	33:33	61.7%	60	M	8:24	4
33	Yiyuan	Fang	33:49	55.9%	19	F	8:28	1
34	Bennett	Byerley	33:56	50.1%	21	M	8:29	6
35	Kelsi	Caywood	33:56	55.5%	23	F	8:29	3
36	Lewis	Lerman	34:04	61.9%	62	M	8:31	5
37	Linda	Cordova	34:05	65.0%	53	F	8:32	1
38	Dina	Frid	34:06	57.9%	40	F	8:32	2
39	Ric	Hosley	34:14	56.8%	53	M	8:34	4
40	Geert	Rouwenhorst	34:18	59.2%	58	M	8:35	5
41	Randall	Beach	34:54	63.7%	67	M	8:44	6
42	Merritt	Zahner	34:57	53.9%	49	M	8:45	9
43	Liliana	Lucca	35:10	53.6%	33	F	8:48	2
44	Hannah	Bloch-Wehba	35:16	53.4%	30	F	8:49	3
45	Eugene	Frid	35:31	61.2%	65	M	8:53	7
46	Emma	Healy	35:45	52.7%	21	F	8:57	4
47	David	Luesink	35:45	50.3%	43	M	8:57	10
48	Diego	De_La_Cruz	35:46	48.2%	37	M	8:57	5
49	Xiaochen	Yang	36:05	52.2%	30	F	9:02	4
50	Vivian	Sobel	36:06	56.5%	44	F	9:02	3
51	Hana	Hwang	36:17	52.0%	20	F	9:05	5
52	Jeremy	Sobel	36:20	49.4%	14	M	9:05	2
53	Giovanna	Piasecki	36:21	51.9%	27	F	9:06	6
54	Thelbert	Moye	36:25	47.1%	18	M	9:07	3
55	Jennifer	Bagnoli	36:29	57.9%	48	F	9:08	4
56	Michael	Digioa	36:35	48.1%	40	M	9:09	11
57	Erin	Gustafson	36:47	54.1%	41	F	9:12	5
58	Barry	Berman	36:55	61.6%	69	M	9:14	8
59	Karol	Bomsztyk	37:03	60.7%	68	M	9:16	9
60	Peter	Sachner	37:13	51.8%	52	M	9:19	6
61	Randall	Rode	37:30	53.7%	57	M	9:23	7
62	Jonathan	Dotson	37:40	47.1%	41	M	9:25	12
63	Julia	Carroza	37:41	50.0%	21	F	9:26	7
64	Mark	Carroza	37:41	53.9%	58	M	9:26	8
65	Aaron	Troncoso	37:48	44.9%	23	M	9:27	7
66	Christian	Macahas	37:51	50.7%	11	M	9:28	2
67	Jenna	Grande	38:06	49.5%	26	F	9:32	8
68	Jessica	Ambrosio	38:16	49.3%	21	F	9:34	9
69	Abigail	Harrington	38:36	49.9%	37	F	9:39	5
70	Jessica	Jankowski	38:46	48.6%	24	F	9:42	10
71	John	Potkaj	38:47	43.8%	24	M	9:42	8
72	Kelly	Blanchat	38:51	48.5%	33	F	9:43	6
73	Joseph	Jarmie	38:56	53.7%	61	M	9:44	10
74	Shannon	Flynn	39:02	47.5%	47	M	9:46	13
75	Ashley	Makar	39:13	49.9%	39	F	9:49	7
76	Bobby	Garcia	39:28	52.4%	60	M	9:52	11
77	Meibin	Chen	39:46	47.4%	20	F	9:57	11
78	Kimberly	Conner	39:57	47.2%	28	F	10:00	12
79	Ali	Hernandez	40:00	47.1%	33	F	10:00	8
80	Adam	Kosiorek	40:29	45.8%	47	M	10:08	14
81	Kara	Duch	40:33	49.9%	43	F	10:09	6
82	Valerie	Cavallaro	40:35	48.6%	40	F	10:09	7
83	Dawn	Kaplan	40:48	53.3%	51	F	10:12	2
84	Jennifer	Dobas	41:09	46.8%	37	F	10:18	9
85	Julie	Irwin	41:12	51.8%	49	F	10:18	8
86	Shannon	Powers	41:31	46.4%	37	F	10:23	10
87	Heather	Alexopoulos	41:40	49.0%	44	F	10:25	9
88	Melissa	Davis	41:40	45.5%	35	F	10:25	11
89	Ethan	Ung	41:49	42.4%	41	M	10:28	15
90	Albert	Do	42:11	40.3%	34	M	10:33	6
91	Galina	Churkina	42:47	52.8%	55	F	10:42	3
92	Deb	Risisky	42:58	48.8%	47	F	10:45	10
93	Kelly	Falvey	43:05	44.4%	36	F	10:47	12
94	Charles	Matassa	43:08	48.9%	62	M	10:47	12
95	Richard	Spears	43:14	45.8%	55	M	10:49	9
96	Fenna	Calder	43:22	45.5%	40	F	10:51	11
97	Clay	Greene	43:30	39.1%	26	M	10:53	9
98	Jie	Wang	43:43	44.4%	38	F	10:56	13
99	Stephanie	Croughwell	43:44	45.9%	42	F	10:56	12
100	Alan	Bowie	43:45	38.8%	26	M	10:57	10
101	William	McGrath	44:36	48.3%	64	M	11:09	13
102	Armando	Pereira	44:40	46.8%	61	M	11:10	14
103	Matan	Bamman	44:56	52.5%	72	M	11:14	1
104	Jordan	Taft	44:56	42.0%	31	F	11:14	14
105	Kerry	Begin	44:58	41.9%	30	F	11:15	15
106	Lee	Rothert	45:29	46.9%	49	F	11:23	13
107	Alejandra	Corona-Ortega	45:29	41.4%	21	F	11:23	13
108	Karen	Wang	45:36	43.6%	41	F	11:24	14
109	Lisa	Hall	45:41	48.5%	53	F	11:26	4
110	Dorrey	Worth	45:42	45.0%	45	F	11:26	15
111	Patrick	Reilly	46:13	41.1%	50	M	11:34	10
112	Thomas	Sheehan	46:26	49.0%	69	M	11:37	15
113	Cheyenne	Payette	46:33	40.5%	23	F	11:39	14
114	Ryan	Finton	46:33	36.5%	24	M	11:39	11
115	Diane	Kosiorek	46:40	43.7%	44	F	11:40	16
116	Susan	Reilly	47:06	45.7%	50	F	11:47	5
117	Harini	Sadeeshkumar	47:07	40.0%	25	F	11:47	15
118	Lily	Acheychek	47:28	40.6%	37	F	11:52	16
119	Shannon	Casanova	47:45	40.0%	36	F	11:57	17
120	David	Adams	48:23	53.1%	78	M	12:06	2
121	Connie	Anderson	48:35	49.0%	60	F	12:09	1
122	Mary_Lou	Gaeta	48:36	47.0%	56	F	12:09	6
123	Melissa	Ruddy	48:57	38.8%	35	F	12:15	18
124	Joy	Chiu	50:08	37.6%	20	F	12:32	16
125	Julia	Ma	50:09	37.6%	20	F	12:33	17
126	Aron	Unger	50:29	33.7%	21	M	12:38	12
127	Dani	Kessler	50:30	37.3%	24	F	12:38	18
128	Kinga	Hyatt-Ordazzo	50:47	40.2%	44	F	12:42	17
129	Mark	Richardson	51:37	34.8%	14	M	12:55	4
130	Nada	Richardson	52:15	41.6%	51	F	13:04	7
131	Henry	Rusinek	52:15	44.6%	71	M	13:04	3
132	Crystalene	Tobias	55:30	34.5%	17	F	13:53	3
133	Stacey	Yarbrough	56:19	36.9%	46	F	14:05	18
134	Candice	Paulsen	56:27	33.4%	34	F	14:07	19
135	Keren	Morris	59:57	32.9%	40	F	15:00	19
136	Erin	Townsend	60:37	31.1%	28	F	15:10	19
137	Kymberlee	Powe	60:37	31.1%	30	F	15:10	20
138	Isabella	Stelmak	61:59	32.0%	14	F	15:30	4
139	Desidee	Vauntsh	62:03	30.8%	17	F	15:31	5
140	Ava	Stelmark	62:27	31.7%	14	F	15:37	6
141	Mark	Saltzman	62:59	32.3%	58	M	15:45	11
142	Christina	Pavlak	62:59	31.6%	41	F	15:45	20
143	Zach	Saltzman	62:59	27.0%	23	M	15:45	13
144	Henry	Malinowski	65:24	34.8%	69	M	16:21	17
145	Rose	Szatowski	65:27	41.8%	71	F	16:22	1
146	Dora	Weller	65:27	40.6%	69	F	16:22	2
147	Jin	Xu	72:04	26.2%	34	F	18:01	21
148	Sharon	Poczter	77:59	24.9%	38	F	19:30	22
149	Aviva	Poczter	77:59	26.2%	44	F	19:30	21
150	Herman	Bershetein	78:26	45.6%	92	M	19:37	1
151	Drew	Cucuzza	83:20	23.0%	51	M	20:50	12

Julia's run 2018 - best performance

Perf	First Name	Last Name	Perf	Time	Pace	Age	Sex
1	Azzaan	Dawson	75.8%	23:42	5:56	14	M
2	Gilmar	Barrios	75.6%	22:29	5:38	20	M
3	Rene	Burgos	72.0%	26:47	6:42	52	M
4	Raine	Ma	69.5%	30:58	7:45	8	M
5	Tim	Hawley	69.5%	30:59	7:45	64	M
6	Peter	Gloor	68.0%	30:09	7:33	59	M
7	John	McCarthy	68.0%	31:41	7:56	64	M
8	Robert	Grande	65.7%	32:25	8:07	63	M
9	Nelson	Rios	65.4%	27:30	6:53	43	M
10	Linda	Cordova	65.0%	34:05	8:32	53	F
11	Jonathan	Kaplan	64.2%	29:47	7:27	51	M
12	Randall	Beach	63.7%	34:54	8:44	67	M
13	Dan	Thoresen	63.4%	26:48	6:42	26	M
14	Raf	Raf	63.1%	27:20	6:50	37	M
15	Ariel	Sanchez	62.5%	27:12	6:48	21	M
16	Sarah	Merchlewitz	62.4%	30:11	7:33	33	F
17	Lewis	Lerman	61.9%	34:04	8:31	62	M
18	Jordan	Calixto	61.7%	27:33	6:54	23	M
19	William	Buick	61.7%	33:33	8:24	60	M
20	Barry	Berman	61.6%	36:55	9:14	69	M
21	Melissa	Kearns	61.3%	32:11	8:03	40	F
22	Eugene	Frid	61.2%	35:31	8:53	65	M
23	Karol	Bomsztyk	60.7%	37:03	9:16	68	M
24	Paul	Baldini	60.0%	30:39	7:40	46	M
25	Joseph	Levitin	59.8%	28:25	7:07	32	M
26	Jeffrey	Ogbar	59.5%	31:24	7:51	48	M
27	Kevin	Tranberg	59.5%	31:38	7:55	49	M
28	Geert	Rouwenhorst	59.2%	34:18	8:35	58	M
29	Matthew	Czernicki	58.2%	30:16	7:34	40	M
30	Winnie	Tong	58.2%	32:24	8:06	27	F
31	Adam	Talbot	58.1%	30:06	7:32	39	M
32	Dina	Frid	57.9%	34:06	8:32	40	F
33	Jennifer	Bagnoli	57.9%	36:29	9:08	48	F
34	Allison	Pineros-Glasscock	57.0%	33:04	8:16	30	F
35	Jeff	Gentes	56.9%	30:57	7:45	40	M
36	Ric	Hosley	56.8%	34:14	8:34	53	M
37	Gil	Liebrecht	56.7%	31:44	7:56	43	M
38	Vivian	Sobel	56.5%	36:06	9:02	44	F
39	Avital	Smotrich-Barr	56.4%	33:24	8:21	21	F
40	Yiyuan	Fang	55.9%	33:49	8:28	19	F
41	Kelsi	Caywood	55.5%	33:56	8:29	23	F
42	Kaarlo	Moran	55.3%	33:30	8:23	47	M
43	Max	Martens	55.0%	30:53	7:44	27	M
44	Matt	Fischer	54.7%	31:04	7:46	34	M
45	Erin	Gustafson	54.1%	36:47	9:12	41	F
46	Merritt	Zahner	53.9%	34:57	8:45	49	M
47	Mark	Carroza	53.9%	37:41	9:26	58	M
48	Randall	Rode	53.7%	37:30	9:23	57	M
49	Joseph	Jarmie	53.7%	38:56	9:44	61	M
50	Liliana	Lucca	53.6%	35:10	8:48	33	F
51	Hannah	Bloch-Wehba	53.4%	35:16	8:49	30	F
52	Dawn	Kaplan	53.3%	40:48	10:12	51	F
53	David	Adams	53.1%	48:23	12:06	78	M
54	Galina	Churkina	52.8%	42:47	10:42	55	F
55	Emma	Healy	52.7%	35:45	8:57	21	F
56	Matan	Bamman	52.5%	44:56	11:14	72	M
57	Bobby	Garcia	52.4%	39:28	9:52	60	M
58	Xiaochen	Yang	52.2%	36:05	9:02	30	F
59	Hana	Hwang	52.0%	36:17	9:05	20	F
60	Giovanna	Piasecki	51.9%	36:21	9:06	27	F
61	Justin	Ong	51.8%	32:46	8:12	23	M
62	Peter	Sachner	51.8%	37:13	9:19	52	M
63	Julie	Irwin	51.8%	41:12	10:18	49	F
64	Christian	Macahas	50.7%	37:51	9:28	11	M
65	David	Luesink	50.3%	35:45	8:57	43	M
66	Bennett	Byerley	50.1%	33:56	8:29	21	M
67	Julia	Carroza	50.0%	37:41	9:26	21	F
68	Abigail	Harrington	49.9%	38:36	9:39	37	F
69	Ashley	Makar	49.9%	39:13	9:49	39	F
70	Kara	Duch	49.9%	40:33	10:09	43	F
71	Jenna	Grande	49.5%	38:06	9:32	26	F
72	Jeremy	Sobel	49.4%	36:20	9:05	14	M
73	Jessica	Ambrosio	49.3%	38:16	9:34	21	F
74	Heather	Alexopoulos	49.0%	41:40	10:25	44	F
75	Thomas	Sheehan	49.0%	46:26	11:37	69	M
76	Connie	Anderson	49.0%	48:35	12:09	60	F
77	Charles	Matassa	48.9%	43:08	10:47	62	M
78	Deb	Risisky	48.8%	42:58	10:45	47	F
79	Jessica	Jankowski	48.6%	38:46	9:42	24	F
80	Valerie	Cavallaro	48.6%	40:35	10:09	40	F
81	Kelly	Blanchat	48.5%	38:51	9:43	33	F
82	Lisa	Hall	48.5%	45:41	11:26	53	F
83	William	McGrath	48.3%	44:36	11:09	64	M
84	Diego	De_La_Cruz	48.2%	35:46	8:57	37	M
85	Michael	Digioa	48.1%	36:35	9:09	40	M
86	Shannon	Flynn	47.5%	39:02	9:46	47	M
87	Meibin	Chen	47.4%	39:46	9:57	20	F
88	Kimberly	Conner	47.2%	39:57	10:00	28	F
89	Thelbert	Moye	47.1%	36:25	9:07	18	M
90	Jonathan	Dotson	47.1%	37:40	9:25	41	M
91	Ali	Hernandez	47.1%	40:00	10:00	33	F
92	Mary_Lou	Gaeta	47.0%	48:36	12:09	56	F
93	Lee	Rothert	46.9%	45:29	11:23	49	F
94	Jennifer	Dobas	46.8%	41:09	10:18	37	F
95	Armando	Pereira	46.8%	44:40	11:10	61	M
96	Shannon	Powers	46.4%	41:31	10:23	37	F
97	Stephanie	Croughwell	45.9%	43:44	10:56	42	F
98	Adam	Kosiorek	45.8%	40:29	10:08	47	M
99	Richard	Spears	45.8%	43:14	10:49	55	M
100	Susan	Reilly	45.7%	47:06	11:47	50	F
101	Herman	Bershetein	45.6%	78:26	19:37	92	M
102	Melissa	Davis	45.5%	41:40	10:25	35	F
103	Fenna	Calder	45.5%	43:22	10:51	40	F
104	Dorrey	Worth	45.0%	45:42	11:26	45	F
105	Aaron	Troncoso	44.9%	37:48	9:27	23	M
106	Henry	Rusinek	44.6%	52:15	13:04	71	M
107	Kelly	Falvey	44.4%	43:05	10:47	36	F
108	Jie	Wang	44.4%	43:43	10:56	38	F
109	John	Potkaj	43.8%	38:47	9:42	24	M
110	Diane	Kosiorek	43.7%	46:40	11:40	44	F
111	Karen	Wang	43.6%	45:36	11:24	41	F
112	Ethan	Ung	42.4%	41:49	10:28	41	M
113	Jordan	Taft	42.0%	44:56	11:14	31	F
114	Kerry	Begin	41.9%	44:58	11:15	30	F
115	Rose	Szatowski	41.8%	65:27	16:22	71	F
116	Nada	Richardson	41.6%	52:15	13:04	51	F
117	Alejandra	Corona-Ortega	41.4%	45:29	11:23	21	F
118	Patrick	Reilly	41.1%	46:13	11:34	50	M
119	Lily	Acheychek	40.6%	47:28	11:52	37	F
120	Dora	Weller	40.6%	65:27	16:22	69	F
121	Cheyenne	Payette	40.5%	46:33	11:39	23	F
122	Albert	Do	40.3%	42:11	10:33	34	M
123	Kinga	Hyatt-Ordazzo	40.2%	50:47	12:42	44	F
124	Harini	Sadeeshkumar	40.0%	47:07	11:47	25	F
125	Shannon	Casanova	40.0%	47:45	11:57	36	F
126	Clay	Greene	39.1%	43:30	10:53	26	M
127	Alan	Bowie	38.8%	43:45	10:57	26	M
128	Melissa	Ruddy	38.8%	48:57	12:15	35	F
129	Joy	Chiu	37.6%	50:08	12:32	20	F
130	Julia	Ma	37.6%	50:09	12:33	20	F
131	Dani	Kessler	37.3%	50:30	12:38	24	F
132	Stacey	Yarbrough	36.9%	56:19	14:05	46	F
133	Ryan	Finton	36.5%	46:33	11:39	24	M
134	Mark	Richardson	34.8%	51:37	12:55	14	M
135	Henry	Malinowski	34.8%	65:24	16:21	69	M
136	Crystalene	Tobias	34.5%	55:30	13:53	17	F
137	Aron	Unger	33.7%	50:29	12:38	21	M
138	Candice	Paulsen	33.4%	56:27	14:07	34	F
139	Keren	Morris	32.9%	59:57	15:00	40	F
140	Mark	Saltzman	32.3%	62:59	15:45	58	M
141	Isabella	Stelmak	32.0%	61:59	15:30	14	F
142	Ava	Stelmark	31.7%	62:27	15:37	14	F
143	Christina	Pavlak	31.6%	62:59	15:45	41	F
144	Erin	Townsend	31.1%	60:37	15:10	28	F
145	Kymberlee	Powe	31.1%	60:37	15:10	30	F
146	Desidee	Vauntsh	30.8%	62:03	15:31	17	F
147	Zach	Saltzman	27.0%	62:59	15:45	23	M
148	Jin	Xu	26.2%	72:04	18:01	34	F
149	Aviva	Poczter	26.2%	77:59	19:30	44	F
150	Sharon	Poczter	24.9%	77:59	19:30	38	F
151	Drew	Cucuzza	23.0%	83:20	20:50	51	M

PlaceFirst 1Anoa 2Ariella 3Maxwell 4Leo 5Matthew 6Julia 7Dafna 8Bella 9Daniil 10Didhier 11Ellis 12Amelia 13Alexandra 14Saidan 15Abigail 16Eliza 17Lana 18Hudson 19Ryan 20Samuel 21Dan tablepress-table-name-id-6">2018 fun run results

aria-labelledby="tablepress-6-name"> NameLast NameTimeAgeSex Dawson 5:037F Sobel 5:1112F Richardson 5:288M Jakubiak 6:018M Knudson 6:2212M Sobel 6:2310F Jakubiak 6:2512F Knudson 6:329F Laskov 6:435M class="column-3">Sanchez 7:078M Harrington 7:097F Munoz 7:096F Rouwenhorst7:107F Thape 7:1610F Krause 7:196F Krause 7:412F Weiser 7:4912F Stelmak 7:5411M Alexopoulos8:246M Munoz 8:572M Knudsen 9:159M

Photos by Victor and Natalie

Before the run
Fun run
Start line
Finish line, fastest runners
Finish line, fast runners
Finish line
More of finish line
Awards

Nearly 250 runners braved nearly freezing temperatures on Sunday morning to participate in Julia’s Run Road Race, which raises money for children in low-income neighborhoods.

Julia’s Run — an annual four-mile fundraising race and children’s fun run — commemorates the life of Julia Rusinek, who died in 1999 due to an undetected heart condition before her senior year at Yale. Looking to combine Rusinek’s passion for running and devotion to children, her friends and family started the run 19 years ago as a small-scale event. This year, 188 people pre-registered for the run, setting a new record for the fundraiser.

“We see Julia’s friends from throughout her life — from summer camp and high school and college,” said Vivian Sobel ’95, Rusinek’s sister. “And then we see so many new faces, and so many new people have been brought into the family. … I think that it’s terrible that [Julia] is not here, and she should be, but since she’s not, this is the best way that we can all celebrate her life.”

Proceeds from Julia’s Run fund Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership, a New Haven nonprofit that offers free extracurricular programming and leadership development to youth in under-resourced neighborhoods. In the past, organizers of the run have also donated to a daycare center in a homeless shelter and Hour Children, a New York organization that serves formerly incarcerated women and their children.

This year, LEAP students also participated in an essay contest inspired by Rusinek, who was an avid writer. After taking a class that prepared them to write college application essays, the middle schoolers at Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership crafted essays in response to the prompt: “Describe a challenge you faced and what you learned from it,” according to Judith Munoz, Rusinek’s first cousin.

“Julia’s mom has always asked somebody who is close to Julia to write an essay about her,” Munoz said. “My thought was that if we really want to carry on [Julia’s] memory in the future, we need to expand beyond family and friends. … We thought about what makes Julia special and used those as essay prompts, and then the kids that [Julia] really cared about at LEAP had the opportunity to practice their writing skills.”

The winner of the essay contest, 14-year-old Ebriana Eden, read her work aloud before the awards ceremony for the race. In her essay, she wrote about how she raised her grade in physics class from a C- to an A+ by communicating with the teacher and persevering in her studies. Eden said her essay was inspired by the people at LEAP and that she hopes her essay will let others know that “even though I failed and went through a rough time, I can grow from that and become better.”

The runner-up in the essay contest, Tamia Ferguson, wrote about police brutality.

Julia’s Run also featured a strong student presence. Students from the Coast Guard Academy volunteered and helped set up the awards ceremony, check runners in and hand out trophies. Aaron Troncoso ’17, who ran in the race, noted that Jonathan Edwards College — where Julia was affiliated — circulates information about Julia’s Run and sponsors the event every year. Several students from LEAP also volunteered or ran, including Crystalene Tobias and Thelbert Rudzavice-Moye, who are high school seniors and counselors-in-training.

“I started off as a LEAP child, … so having that family connection with everyone really brought me in and kept me motivated throughout my life,” Rudzavice-Moye said.

Tobias shared similar sentiments about her time at LEAP, and said she hopes to give other LEAP students the same educational opportunities and experiences that she has received from the organization.

“I feel that LEAP has helped me a lot with my education and, honestly, my happiness,” Tobias said. “Coming to work and seeing my children happy is definitely something that makes me smile.”

Ruiyan Wang | [email protected]