| TRACK Colonie embraces return of summer relays BY KYLE ADAMS The Daily Gazette
COLONIE — On Tuesday evening, Colonie’s summer relays returned to the high school track, with many members of the community out to celebrate the first in a series of six events. “I’ve been running forever. Now, my heat is old people and children,” joked Martha DeGrazia, a longtime runner. “It’s the same people, same forum and it’s a lot of fun.” The series of races is organized by Frank Myers, the girls’ cross country and track and field coach at Colonie High School, along with some colleagues. “I’ve been doing this with Frank forever,” said Doug Hadley, who assists Myers. “It’s just fun coming out and seeing the different groups. We’ve been getting a lot more of the little ones now and it’s good to see them out and running.” At the track on Tuesday, you’d find some seasoned runners, high school and college runners and elementary-age children, either brought along by their parents or as a member of a camp. One of those seasoned runners has a knack for winning races, wherever he goes — former NYRA horse jockey Ramon Dominguez. “A fellow runner communicated with me via Facebook and told me about this, so I decided to come tonight,” said Dominguez, who ran a 4:47 mile. “I’m looking forward to doing this again.” When he’s not running, Dominguez is still very much into horse racing. “I’m looking forward to Thursday, which is opening day,” he added of the Saratoga Race Course. “I’ll be there quite often.” One of the college runners in attendance was Amanda Chambers, a graduate student at the University of Albany, who attended Colonie High School. “It’s a good event, not just for the running community, but for everyone,” Chambers said of returning to her old stomping grounds. “It brings a lot of people together and I think it’s a great place to meet people and to get out and exercise.” On Wednesday, Chambers was named as one of the three collegiate recipients for the Capital District Sports Women of the Year award. In addition to the many regular runners on hand, so were many groups of children, either racing up and down the track, or out playing on the field. “This is where it starts,” said Jim Armenia, a parent and former college coach. “You’re running against yourself and trying to improve your time. I’m a baseball and soccer dad, too, and there’s just so much pressure in those sports when kids make mistakes. People act like it’s the World Series. Out here, that fulfillment of finishing the race is on you; you’re running individually, against yourself. The goal is just to help everyone here get better.” Contact Kyle Adams at kadams@dailygazette.net. Follow him on Twitter @kasportsnews and on Facebook at Kyle Adams.
KYLE ADAMS/THE DAILY GAZETTE Young runners participate in sprints at the Colonie summer relays was held at Colonie High School on Tuesday.
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