Mattituck native wins his second Run for the Ridley
Rick Trojanowski wasn’t always a runner.
It wasn’t until the Calverton resident had his two children and decided that cycling races were taking up too much of his time that he started to run. He could get up in the morning and put a few miles in before work and it wouldn’t take time away from his family.
Turns out he’s pretty good at it, too.
For the second consecutive year Trojanowski, a graduate of Mattituck High School, has won the Run for the Ridley 5K race to benefit the Riverhead Foundation’s sea turtle rescue and research program.
Even with Saturday’s unseasonably hot temperature, Trojanowski, 38, shaved a few seconds off last year’s time with a 16:38 finish.
“It was a lot hotter,” he said in comparison with his first Run for the Ridley in 2011. “The heat and humidity definitely made it tougher, but you just have to keep running.”
Trojanowski said he typically runs about five or six 5k races a year, since taking up the sport in 2008. He also runs some 10Ks and has run marathons.
He credits coach Brendan Barrett of the Sayville Running Company with helping to coach him into great running shape.
“I just love it,” Trojanowski said of running. “The key is to be real consistent with it and to have quality workouts.
Like female winner Tara Farrell of East Quogue, Trojanowski is a member at the Long Island Aquarium, which the Riverhead Foundation calls home.
“It’s a great organization,” he said. “We just love it there.”
