Staten Island on the Run: David Dorsey is a veteran in more ways than one – SILive.com

Springtime has arrived and that means one thing to Staten Island’s competitive runners: A plethora of local April and May races leading up the annual Triple Crown races.

Yet, while the format of the three races has changed once again with the Sgt. Michael Ollis 5K joining the Newman and Celic Runs this year, 50-year-old David Dorsey will once again be toeing the line with the best, something the NYC-ranked athlete has done consistently since he came to the borough to be stationed at Fort Wadsworth as a member of the Coast Guard in 2003.

But the 2006 Triple Crown winner, who can still run a 5-minute mile, did not get to the top podiums easily.

“At age five my dad would take my older sister and I out for short runs around our neighborhood in the Bronx and by the time I was eight years old I could run three miles comfortably,” said Dorsey, who also won the Memorial Day run in both 2006 and 2007. “At 15 while running track for Cardinal Hayes High School, I remember my dad saying to me that he thought I could be in the Olympics for the mile, but I didn’t really take his words to heart and never took my running that seriously until much later in my life.”

Dorsey continued onto college in Massachusetts when tragedy struck.

“My dad passed away tragically in 1988 and suddenly my life was turned upside-down. I dropped out of college and began partying with my friends a lot to try and mask the pain of losing my dad and then one year later in 1989 my grandmother passed away whom I was very close to,” said Dorsey. “This pushed me further into emotional hurt and pain and subsequently more partying, but I needed to make a change but didn’t know how or what to do.

“My stepdad who was an Air Force veteran suggested the U.S. Coast Guard, so in 1990 I went to Coast Guard basic training and then fell in love with serving my country and the missions that the Coast Guard is all about.”

While stationed in Hawaii in 1992, Dorsey found running again. “I stopped drinking and started running in short road races and I was instantly hooked,” he said.

By the time he arrived on Staten Island, Dorsey was not only hooked but dominant, as the now-retired Coast Guardsman has won a slew of races on both the local and regional level. Dorsey has also been an invaluable member of the vaunted Central Park Track Club, where his over-50 team won the USATF XC Team Championships last year.

But while competing amongst the best region-wide, Dorsey still keeps his Island running friends close.

“I love running here on Staten Island because of the family-like feeling that I have received from the entire running community,” said Dorsey, who counts Johnathan Chapman, Gus Stanzione, Mario Ricca Jr., David Michaels, Scott Lamorte, Christopher Stewart, Brad Kelly, Gerry O’Hara, David Greenburg, Brad Weiss, Michael Devito Jr., Patti Jezycki, and Shawn Williams as his training friends. Dorsey also mentors Nicole Macri, Nicole Delaney, and Carlos Pinero and offers them training advice, something he is always willing to share.

“Easy days are the most important part of my training,” said Dorsey, who also emphasizes good nutrition and long-term planning. “For me to optimize my body’s performance levels and prevent injury; on hard training days or races the recovery days allow my body to absorb the shock from intense training and I take two days off before any race no matter the distance again to optimize performance, and remember that all the training takes time.”

The advice Dorsey passes on has come from those who’ve been supportive of him throughout the years, something he’s never forgotten.

“I thank God for this amazing gift,” said Dorsey, who also praises his late father. “There are also several people who have taken me under their wing and made me the runner that I am today, including Tommy Hart, Derek Alvez, Jeff Benjamin, Tony Ruiz, Sid Howard, and Devon Martin. These amazing individuals saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself and freely gave me their knowledge and expertise and encouragement to achieve running goals beyond my wildest dreams.”

Spoken like a true veteran.

News from around the Island

— Fred Rigolini organizes an informal free run in Clove Lakes Park at 8 a.m. in front of the Stonehenge every Friday. The course is run along the Clove Lakes Park 5K trails.

From The New York Road Runners

The NYRR hosts free Open Runs at Silver Lake and Conference House Parks are every Sunday 9 a.m. for runners of all abilities.

More information please go to NYRR.org

News From SITRAC

SITRAC wishes to introduce Dan Chanod to the running community. He is the host for the local radio streamed show NCSS (Nobody Cares Sports Show) on Marker Park radio. We wish for him to partner with the Triple Crown and perhaps an outdoor CYO track meet to continue to give exposure to our sport at every level. Stay tuned for more.

A common race application for the Triple Crown is now up at ScoreYourRace.com. Runners can save a few dollars by signing up for all three races. The SSG Michael Ollis 5K run on June 9 will replace the Advance Memorial Day run.

For further information check out https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-Organization/Staten-Island-Trac-138709886168220/?__nodl&ref=external%3Awww.google.com&_rdr

News From The Richmond Rockets

“The Richmond Rockets want to thank members of the Richmond University Trauma department for attending our March meeting and talking about “Stop the Bleed.” Our members participated in a hands-on demonstration of what to do if we get hurt while running and no medical help is around and it was very informative.”

The weather is getting nice and the Rockets will continuing our launch runs and welcome members from all the running clubs who want to join us.”

For more info check out – https://teamrichmondrocket.wixsite.com/website

News from the Staten Island Running Association (SIRA)

“SIRA is proud to be keeping an annual tradition alive by presenting the annual Memorial Day run. This year’s edition will be a low-key launch event held at Clove Lakes Park beginning at 9 a.m.

Please come out and join us as we keep the Memorial Day run continuing with a grander event being planned for 2020!”

More information to come soon!

Please check out https://m.facebook.com/The-2019-Staten-Island-Memorial-Day-5K-Fun-Run-380595419426276/?ref=bookmarks

News from the Staten Island AC

The SIAC has workouts for runners of all abilities listed below.

Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Hill workouts at Royal Oak Road & Lakeland Road until mid April.

Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Track Workouts at Monsignor Farrell HSl until the beginning of November.

Thursdays Tempo Runs at 6:30 p.m. — Richmond Ave. path & Costco/LaTourette multi-purpose trails

Sundays at 7:45 a.m. start time — Clove Lakes every Sunday except the fourth Sunday of each month which is at Mt. Loretto.

For information, contact David Panza at panza.david@yahoo.com or at (718) 873-3573.

The SIAC Saturday 3-Mile Fun Run will also be continuing non-stop regardless of weather, also beginning at 9AM.

Check out http://www.statenislandac.org for more info!

Monthly Prize Trivia

Please submit your answer to my email below. All correct answers will then be put into a lot where two winners will be drawn randomly. One winner will receive a free pair of ASICS running shoes, while the other winner qualifies for a free session at CRYO Staten Island (CRYOSI.com).

Congrats to Nicole Caruana and Lauren Pitarresi for answering Al Garcia and/or Vinny Giles correctly from last month’s contest. Nicole Caruana will be receiving a pair of Asics shoes while Lauren Pitarresi will be getting the Cryo session.

This month’s question:

At last month’s National High School Track & Field Hall of Fame Induction my daughter Amanda Rose and I met up with an old friend, who 50 years ago was the world’s greatest miler with a world record time of 3 minutes, 51 seconds!

Can you identify this running legend on the far left who visited Staten Island back In 1991 in the photo above this section.

Good Luck and see you all next month!

Keep running!! Questions, comments, upcoming news? Please feel free to email Jeff at rbenja726@aol.com