Brief Chronology of the Northport Running Club

At this same time of April 1977, the Cow Harbor 10k Race was "born", largely through the drive and tireless efforts of John Rakucewicz.  The very first Cow Harbor 10k was held that September.  Actually, it has been said by local historians that the Cow Harbor 10k came first as the creation of John Rak, and the NRC logically followed from that.  For historical purposes, we will assign April 1977 as the origins of both of the above. The race is "officially" titled as The Great Cow Harbor 10k Race.

John Rak served as the first NRC President, however, his term lasted only 3 months since he was spending most (or all) of his time and energy organizing and managing "his baby"….. the upcoming Cow Harbor 10k.  At this time, Bill Gehrhardt assumed the duties of President.

A total of 1002 runners completed the 1^st Great Cow Harbor 10k Race in September 1977.

Membership dues in 1978 were……..$15!! (that's right - dues in year 2000 are still $15)

During 1978 the NRC held the LARGEST foot race on Long Island, as measured by the number of finishers.  This, of course, was The Great Cow Harbor 10k Race, with 1503 finishers.  We mention this here because Race Director John Rak had a "running" (pun intended) battle with the Newsday Sports editors regarding their contention as to which was the "largest" foot race on Long Island.   Newsday’s standard of measurement was "applicants" not finishers.   Terse letters flew back and forth several times between Rak and Newsday, however, no resolution to the difference of opinion was ever recorded.

The "Sunday Morning" runs were established with a 10:00 AM start, for the Winter months, at the school on Laurel Avenue. At the end of April, starting time was moved up to 9:00 AM.

For 1979 the officers were: Joe Latino…President, Bill Thomas…V.P., John Rak…Corresponding Sec., Bob Schertzer…Treasurer, John Pitfick & Stan Davis….shared Recording Secretary duties.

"Tie your shoes, Fix your shorts

Raise your feet and stretch.

Off you run towards the sun

With a stride no one can match.

Hey! Watch your pace, time the race

Give your legs a rub.

Oh what fun it is to run

With the NORTHPORT RUNNING CLUB!!"

Club officers for 1980 were: Joe Latino...President, Lou Lacouette…V.P., John Pitfick….Recording Sec., John Rak…Corresponding Sec., John Walsh…Treasurer.

In July of 1981, the NRC obtained tax-exempt status from the IRS under the RRCA .

During 1983, several "familiar names & faces" joined the NRC. including Bob Essex, Judy Neff, Doug Wood, Bob Carr, Marion & Joe Stanjones, Bob Skirkanich, Charles Merlino and Roy Lockwood.

In May of 1984, Marion Stanjones, in her first attempt at a half-marathon, won FIRST PLACE in her age group with a time of 1:42:38 at the Long Island Marathon/Half-Marathon.

Also in 1985, the February Relays were moved to MARCH.  Relentless winter punishment by "Mother Nature" finally won out. Winter "running-blahs" were extended for one more month as a tradeoff against numbing cold running conditions.

1985 brought a major improvement to the Cow Harbor 10k. It marked the first use of the "staggered start". This "rolling start" was successfully used at the Boulder (Colorado) 10k which manages up to 20000 runners at the start.  The Cow Harbor "staggered start" is largely the result of untiring work by former member JOHN PITFICK. In his honor and memory, it is now known as the "JOHN PITFICK Great Cow Harbor 10k Staggered Start".

Members Terry Lucas and future NRC President George Mack joined in 1986. 

The year 1986 will be remembered as the year "without a September".  The Great Cow Harbor 10k Race was reluctantly cancelled.  Race creator, Director and Manager John Rakucewicz had to step down.  The pressures of time demanded by his own business just did not allow sufficient time to be allocated to organizing an event such as the Great Cow Harbor 10k Race, which had grown beyond expectations.