5K Draws Crowd for Post Storm Race

The crowd was a bit thinner after storms strafed Central Connectiut Wednesday, but hundreds showed up to run, and cheer on runners in Middletown's annual Citizen's Bank 5K Road Race.

Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who was the only person wearing a tie at the race, said that there were many calls about downed trees and branches but that the city avoided the major power outages experienced in other cities.

One local distance runner, Kevin Markowski, made good time in the race despite narrowly avoiding being crushed by a huge section of an ancient sugar maple that stood in his yard on Erin Street.

"My neighbor saw the whole thing happen, and she said I pulled up about two minutes after the tree fell," Markowski said.  He made it to the race despite a visit by the Fire Department because the fallen tree had blocked part of the roadway.

"Who said Middletown didn't have fireworks this year," said Chamber of Commerce president Larry McHugh as he worked his way through the throng of runners.

Brendan Callahan of Middletown was the first runner to cross the finish line in a time of 16:15 while Kelly Flannigan (who was celebrating a birthday on race day), also of Middletown was the first woman to finish.

A kids' fun run preceded the adult race.