One hundred eighteen hardy souls braved the freezing temperature Sunday morning to run the 13th annual St. Patrick’s 5K race, a benefit for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys and Girls Club.
First to reach the finish line in the near record time of 17:15 was Alex Parulis, 24, of Falmouth, just three seconds away from the race record of 17:12 set in 2004 by Jeremy Tilton.
Two minutes behind, at 19:16, was last year’s winner, Jeremy Alley, 14, of Oak Bluffs.
Paul Vertefeuille, 46, of Vineyard Haven was third in 19:34 and Michael Schroeder,16, was fourth at 19:46.
Fifth to finish was Todd Cleland of Oak Bluffs in 19:50.
At sixth was Rene daSilva, 25, of Vineyard Haven.
Seventh was Ryan Lehman, 31, of Fremont, 21:42; eighth was the first woman to complete the run, Karen DeSimone, 47, South Yarmouth, 21:53.
Ninth was Blake Edmunds, 32, Vineyard Haven, 22:00; and tenth was Joseph Keany, 21, Vineyard Haven, 22:08.
Beside Karen DeSimone, the top ten female finishers were: (13) Hilda Lewis, 29, of Oak Bluffs; (16) Allisha Caron, 23, of Wellfleet; (28) Margaret D’Angelo, 46, of West Tisbury; (29) Lilly Nelville, 15, of West Tisbury; (30) Alicia Oliveira, 18, of Edgartown; (31) Katie Bushey, 33, of Vineyard Haven; (32) Mary McCarty, 12, of West Tisbury; (33) Patty Culkins, 48, of Edgartown (34) Morgan Wahl, 25, of Vineyard Haven
Vineyard Haven produced the most Island runners, 32, while 27 were from Edgartown. Oak Bluffs had 15 in the race and West Tisbury, 11. One runner was from Aquinnah,
Thirty-two registered as off-Islanders. Two runners from Naples, Florida were the farthest from home.
