By Tom Momberg
New York Road Runners’ flagship event in Queens returned to Flushing Meadows Corona Park Sunday, bringing out 8,650 runners for the 2015 Queens 10-Kilometer Race.
A night of heavy rain Saturday made for a humid run, but that did not discourage runners. Both men’s and women’s races had fast times. Etaferahu Temesgen won the women’s race, setting a new women’s course record of 33 minutes and 16 seconds.
The top finishers among Queens residents were Sunnyside’s Jerry Faulkner, 25, who came in fifth in the men’s race with a time of 31:54, and Mekides Bekele, 28, of Jackson Heights, who placed fifth in the women’s race with a time of 40:04.
Welcoming runners onto the 6.2-mile course was Deputy Borough President Melva Miller. The event also featured Queens bagpiper Darius Kauffman, who performed at the course’s four-mile marker.
Queens was the third 10K in the New York Road Runners’ Five-Borough Series. The next race will be the Bronx 10-Mile Sept. 27. —Tom Momberg
