Plainview's Klarfeld Takes Top Honors at Belmont 5-K

There’s no stopping Plainview speedster who took top overall honors in the women's division of the inaugural Belmont Stakes Blue Ribbon 5 Kilometer Run Sunday.

Klarfeld finished the June 3 race in 19 minutes, 8 seconds, a full 28 seconds in front of runner-up Gabriel Espina of Valley Stream.

It was the second triumph of the day for Klarfeld, who had won the women’s division of the New Hyde Park 8-K run that morning.

The run was held at Belmont Park as the kickoff event for the 144th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. The last 400 meters of the race were run on the racing surface itself, and the finish of the race was the same finish line where I’ll Have Another and the others will be contest Saturday's final leg of the Triple Crown.

Sunday's event was staged by Integrated Medical Foundation with the cooperation of the New York Racing Association and the Elmont Chamber of Commerce. Race management was provided by the Key business sponsors were Abbott, Advanced Radiation Centers of New York, and Endo.

The 700 registrants far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

“I am grateful to all the runners, NYRA, the Greater Long Island Running Club and the Elmont Chamber of Commerce for collaborating with IMF to focus on the importance of early detection of prostate cancer," said Rhonda Samuel, Executive Director of Integrated Medical Foundation.

Statistics show that since prostate cancer screening began, the death rate from the disease has dropped nearly 40 percent, Samuel said.