While Nicholas DiBenedetto of Wantagh captured the Sean Ryan 5K road race in 16:56 and Robert Devinney became the first Long Beach finisher in 19:20, which earned him fourth place, the overall 14th place person to cross the finish line was Hudson Georges.
A fairly new Long Beach resident, Georges ran the first mile in 6:23, was clocked at a pace of 6:43 for the 3.1 miles, and covered the course in 20:50 and went home with a third place award in his age group.
The 34-year-old Georges originally from Haiti enjoys running in his home town of Long Beach and on its boardwalk. He would have run faster but the heat and humidity slowed all the competitors’ times down.
“The boardwalk is an easy course,” he said after the race, which drew 285 finishers, mostly from Long Beach. “Running on the boardwalk doesn’t put too much pressure on one’s joints. And it was fun to run by the water (and beach).”
A former soccer player in his native land of Haiti, Georges was a versatile player, for he could play any position except at goal, as he would say, “I was a jack of all trades.”
He also played volleyball.
Georges trains about four days a week before the sun comes out and is very dedicated to the running sport. He also tries to produce as best as he can at Great Neck South High School where he coaches the cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field teams.
He would like to put his teams back on to where it was when Bob Baratta coached them. The latter is now retired from coaching but one can still catch him at the championship meets giving a helping hand.
Georges attended Huntington High School, majored in visual arts at State University of New York at Old Westbury, received his Masters in Art Education at City College and is in his 11th year of coaching at Great Neck South.
In addition, his goal is to get back into shape of running after he has been out of it for about two years.
