The runners and their dogs came. Grateful Greyhounds was there. The Girl Scouts of Suffolk County volunteered. And, dog walkers from around Long Island braved the wind and rain to raise money for dog parks.

Dogs and people converged on Katie’s of Smithtown on Saturday Nov. 14th to launch Long Island’s first-ever Dog Run Dog people-and-dog running race and LI-DOG Dog Walk for Dog Parks. The event was a great opportunity for people to get out with their dogs and have fun walking for dog parks or running in a new, competitive sport with their “best friend”. There were red-white-and-blue-ribboned dog paw medals for the fastest people-and-dog running teams plus prizes for the Fastest, Smallest, and Biggest Dog Pack Dog Walk teams. There were also raffles, giveaways, and food and drinks donated by local businesses (to see who helped make the event such a success, click here).

The 10K and 5K races started out with an impressive picture--a Celebrity Start led by a dozen retired greyhounds rescued by Grateful Greyhounds of Long Island. “They’re known for their speed over short distances,” said one proud greyhound owner, “but once they retire, they’re really couch-potatoes. They’re truly wonderful dogs,” he said.

Lots of other dogs—and people--shined at the event. Race winners featured all sizes of dogs from Jack Russell terrier Ruby, running in her first competitive race with Men & Dog 5K first place finisher—Chris Fedorczak—to Shepherd mix Skyler who ran with LI-DOG’s own Pamela Schmidlin and took first place in the Women & Dog 10K competition. (To read an interview with Pam and see coverage of the DRD/LI-DOG event in Newsday, go to http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/li-s-people-and-dogs-race-the-fastest-on-6-legs-1.1589955)

There were also several runners without dogs including Kristen Kastrinos who ran the Women’s 10K in 54 minutes 10 seconds. She ran in honor of her German Shepherd Rudy who was in attendance but did not run as he is recovering from serious surgery. First place in the 5K Men’s race went to solo runner Mark Valentino of Smithtown who ran in 20 minutes 13 seconds. To see a complete list of all the winners and their times, go to the Dog Run Dog Smithtown Race webpage at: http://www.dogrundog.com/race-locations/smithtownresultspage.htm

The Dog Walk for Dog Parks, which covered a 1.6 mile portion of the race course, saw Michael Breslin and his black standard poodle, Jack, come in first to nab the Fastest team prize. The award for Most Steps Taken went to Miniature Pinscher Sophie who walked with David Cubero and Katie Palamar. LI-DOG’s award for Biggest Dog Pack went to the Girls Scouts of Suffolk County. The Girl Scouts pitched in and did everything from helping to time the races and pull winning raffle tickets to participating in the Dog Walk. The proceeds from the Dog Walk help support LI-DOG’s work to make Long Island more dog friendly by getting more access to parkland for Long Island dog owners and their dogs.

Thanks to everyone who made this first-time event so successful and fun!

A special thank you goes to Dog Run Dog Founder Paul Gardner who was a great partner in this event and made the whole day possible. Thank you, Paul!

To see more photos of this event, go to the DRD/LI-DOG Event page on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=192744234934&ref=mf

As always, keep in touch by e-mailing us at lidog_news@yahoo.com.