Woman's Charity Run to Go Through Bellmore-Merrick

Editor's Note: This article was written by Stephen J. Bronner.

A Westchester woman will begin a non-stop 120-mile run across Long Island this Saturday that starts in North Woodmere Park and ends in Montauk.

While many runners will be preparing for the Long Island Marathon this weekend, Alicja Barahona will embark on her 120-mile run, equivalent to about four marathons, for the sixth time. She has done the run in the past in a little more than 24 hours.

"I am an ultra-runner. This is what I do as my weekend hobby and I like to use these extra-long runs to raise awareness and funds for worthy charities such as the Long Island 2 Day Breast Cancer Walk," Barahona said in a press release.

Her route starts in North Woodmere Park on May 4 at 8 a.m. and will continue on Route 27A to the Montauk Point State Park lighthouse before noon on May 5.

Barahona began raising funds for LI2DAY in April 2007 with her inaugural 120-mile non-stop run from Montauk Point to North Woodmere Park, according to the release. That same year in September, she participated in the Inaugural Hamptons Marathon where she ran the route twice for a total of 52.4 miles to raise awareness and funds for LI2DAY, crossing the finish line in 9 hours and 46 minutes.

The Westchester resident also came in first in races in the Sahara Desert, the Iditarod Trail in Alaska and the United Kingdom.

This year, Bette Clark, a breast cancer survivor and marathoner from Yonkers; Frank Pelligrino, an ultra-marathoner from Long Island; and Grant McKeown, an ultra-marathoner from Manhattan; will join Alicja and run a part of the route.

"Alicja Barahona possesses strong will and a strength that enables her to compete in such extreme races,” said LI2DAY Executive Director Ginny Salerno. “But what strikes me the most is her incredibly large heart and her dedication to Long Island. Her run brings attention to this dreadful disease and helps raise funds to assist those who are battling breast cancer."

For more information or to make an online donation in Alicja's name, visit www.li2daywalk.org. To donate by check, make payable to: LI2DAYBCW and mail to: P.O. Box 506 Nesconset, NY 11767 (in memo put Alicja's Run).