LI runners raise $100,000 for wounded troops, families

The race had been over for more than an hour. Roadblocks had been lifted. Sponsors packed up their booths.

But a few dozen participants in Sunday's Long Island Run for the Warriors were still waiting for their official times. A crush of same-day registrants - which doubled the number of runners from 1,100 to 2,200 - was delaying the organizers.

No one seemed upset about staying a few minutes more. "It's the cause that makes stuff like this feel minor," Eric Henrikson, a runner and Marine Corps veteran from Islip, said as he stood at race headquarters at Babylon Town Hall. "Not a big deal."

Now in its third year on Long Island, Hope for the Warriors' 5K- and 10K-race event raised an estimated $100,000 to support wounded military service members, their families and families of the fallen, officials said.

"When I heard how many people they had, I wanted to cry," said Christine Koch, who lost her 23-year-old son, Army Cpl. Steven R. Koch, in Afghanistan in 2008. "I had tears coming to my eyes."

Koch and her husband, Bill, travel from New Jersey to many Hope for the Warriors events. Their support grew after their 29-year-old daughter, Lynne, committed suicide earlier this year.

"She could not get over the death of her brother," Christine Koch said. "Now we're trying to help any way we can."

Hope for the Warriors, a North Carolina-based nonprofit, has a similar mission to - but is not affiliated with - the larger Wounded Warrior Project.

Suffolk Police dotted the racecourse from Sunrise Highway to Farmingdale Road, down Hoffman Avenue in Lindenhurst and up Wellwood Avenue. Boy Scout Troop 175 from West Babylon handed out free bottles of water for runners under a massive, American flag hung from a fire department ladder truck.

"This shows the kids that there are bigger things in life," said Emma Lerman, a troop parent.

As the troop gathered its belongings, Debbie Christiansen passed. Proclaiming herself "the last runner" in the 10k, she made her way to the finish line to meet her two children, who had also run and were now working a booth offering care packages to servicemen and -women.

"You always know somebody who knows somebody who served," said the North Lindenhurst resident. "I came in last today, but I said I was going to finish it. There's a good reason."