2/24/24 RESULTS: I'm happy to provide the following update on Guy's Mile Run 2024 via an email from his good friend and classmate, Gene Plichta....
Just 'getting back to you' on Guy's Mile held earlier this month on Saturday, February 3rd, 2024.
We had a nice showing of participants requiring two sections of the mile. I have attached the results. The women's winner was former Youngstown State runner, McKinsie Klim, in 5:53.76 and the men's / overall winner was Jonathon "Scooby" Bohla in 5:12.30. Dan Shields surprised us by giving two of his photographs of the Parapet Bridge in Mill Creek Park to the winners.
Also, during the college Mid-Major Meet on the same day, the one mile race race was also dedicated to the memory of Guy. The women's mile winner was won by Kayla Schmidt from Canisius College in 5:03.90. The men's mile was won by Ryan Meadows from Youngstown State in 4:11.00. Again, Dan also donated two more photos of the Parapet Bridge in Mill Creek Park for these winners.
For those on this email not familiar with Youngstown, Ohio, Mill Creek Park is a historic park with many landmarks. It has approximately 13 miles of trails and 21 miles of roads, and is listed among the largest parks in the country within city limits (Guy, you can laugh at me because I didn't actually look this up just to tease you 'up there' as I'm sure you know the exact facts and distances! Yes, I'm talking to Guy - LOL!) More importantly, this is a park where Guy enjoyed running many miles and where 'all of us here' enjoyed the chance to log some miles with him.
Shortly before the start of Guy's Mile, we had a moment of silence followed by a few words about Guy. After the race, we enjoyed 'pizza on the deck', the sharing of a few guy stories / memories, and the viewing of Guy's lifelong scrapbooks/photo journals that his family graciously left in our care.
Thanks to: Coach Gorby / YSU Staff for allowing us to have this event; Dan Shields for the photo donations; the timers and officials who arrived an hour or more early for that day's college meet to help us out and for the generous donations for the Coach Guy Pizzoferrato Memorial Scholarship Endowment. Guy's Mile participants donated a total of $465!
1/3/2024 UPDATE! The 3rd Annual "Guy's Mile Run" to benefit his Memorial Scholarship at YSU is coming up Saturday, February 3, 2024. Please email Wilma Depiore at wilmadepiore@yahoo.com to find out more details and register:
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Whether you plan to race, jog, or walk, please email with your name/names of others with an estimate of your/their finish time/s by Wednesday, January 31st, 2024. For example, you can indicate "sub 5-minute-mile", "between 7 and 8 minutes", "slower than 10 minutes" or "plan to walk". Emailing me with this information serves two purposes:
1) It will ensure your name is on the list to park for free in the lot closest to the indoor track (just tell them your name when you arrive - you don't actually need to bring a parking pass with you). This lot is titled the "M-81 Lot"
2) It will prevent the electronic timer from 'getting a headache' having to type everyone's names in the system at the 'last minute' and organize the sections if we have enough runners/walkers to have more than one race. It will also ensure the timer and all the other 'helpful' staff 'want to' do this again next year!
(One other reminder is once you finish, avoid crossing the finish line /camera again.
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Photo above right is the garden in Budapest, Hungary (a city that he had grown to love) where his cremated remains were placed on the stone within the fountain at a memorial service in late 2021.
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Photo of Guy's Family at last year's race/celebration at YSU
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Some of Guy's friends at race/celebration at YSU
