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- Once the gun goes off, racers of ninth annual 5K race/walk are off!
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- The top three male racers are awarded their medals for the ninth annual Sue Cardamone 5K Scholarship run/walk. Pictured, from left, is Mark Schenberger, Stephen Sigwart and Andrew Sigwart.
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- The top three female racers pose together after receiving their medals. Starting from left, pictured is Mary Ann Gurka, Regan Bewley and Grace Francesconi.
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- Runners get ready for the start of the annual Sue Cardamone 5K Scholarship run/walk in the Berlin Woods section of Berlin Borough.
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- Racers continue along the path of the way throughout the Berlin Woods halfway through the race.
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- Nyair Hicks (right) poses for the camera nearing the halfway point of the race while next to Connor Samalonis (middle) and Nate Sokolowski (back).
The Berlin Borough community rose to the occasion once again this May to raise funds for scholarships in honor of a former Berlin Community School teacher who, despite passing away one decade ago, has still not been forgotten.
In honor of Sue Cardamone, a former health and physical education teacher at BCS for nearly 15 years who passed away from adrenal cancer in 2009 after a five-year battle, family and friends have organized the annual Sue Cardamone 5K Scholarship run/walk for nine consecutive years.
The idea for the 5K in Cardamone’s honor was spawned from her passion for fitness and running, something she did often with friends.
“We started running with Sue when she had gotten cancer to raise money for the American Cancer Society, and we would run the Broad Street Run with her, but when she died we wanted to continue the tradition and honor her, so we thought a great way to do that would be to start a philanthropic,” said Beth Snyder, science teacher at BCS and a friend of Sue’s that now helps organize the race every year.
According to Snyder, the Berlin Borough Education Association quickly started a philanthropic and has raised more than $100,000 over the past nine years, with proceeds from the 5K going toward scholarships to Eastern Regional High School graduates who attended BCS as well as BCS eighth-graders, due to Cardamone’s passion of encouraging students to follow their passions.
The race takes place in the Berlin Woods section of Berlin Borough, starting and ending in front of Cardamone’s children’s childhood home. Throughout the years, new and familiar faces have come out year after year to support her legacy and passion for fitness and education.
“It’s a great tribute to the Cardamone family. Students that might have been much younger when Sue was teaching are much older and some have actually moved to this development,” said Gretta Grace.
As the years have gone by, the relationship between the community and multiple bodies within the borough has not, as members of Berlin Borough Council, the Berlin Police Department and more continue to attend the event year after year.
“It’s a great example of our community, Berlin Borough, and our school,” said Snyder. “They’re together and support one another, like a big family.”
With next year being the 10th year of the annual Sue Cardamone 5K Scholarship run/walk in honor of her mother, Jennifer Cardamone says the annual scholarship run/walk will celebrate its final race in 2020.
“We broke the news that next year is the 10th year and we’re going to go out on a high note and move on to our next venture,” said Jennifer Cardamone.
This year’s top three male finishers were Mark Schenberger (17:01), Stephen Sigwart (17:11) and Andrew Sigwart (20:01), while the top three female finishers were Grace Francesconi (21:11), Regan Bewley (21:24) and Mary Ann Gurka (25:02).
All results can be found at https://www.runtheday.com/results/summary/55574.
