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Crowd felt the spirit of Torrence at Wednesday's HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile

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DyeStat.com   Sep 7th 2017, 9:11pm
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Emotional crowd honors spirit of David Torrence

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, N.Y.  -- As the rain came down in long, unencumbered sheets, David Torrence's family stood by to watch the athletes.

Chris O'Hare, of Scotland, pressed the pace. Johnny Gregorek, whose father ran here, at St. Anthony's High School track on Long Island, was amidst the fray. The high school athletes, like those of Northport's boys 4x800-meter relay, encroached the track.

Brenda Martinez, who'd finished second in 4:28.96 in the women's HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile earlier in the night, noticed something special in the air.

"Usually I'm nervous," Martinez said.

But tonight she ran and she did not care.

On Aug. 28, Torrence, a 31-year-old runner and Californian who'd represented his mother Bianca's nation of Perú in the 2016 Rio Olympics (15th overall in the 5,000), was found dead in a swimming pool near his condo in Scottsdale, Ariz.

These were his friends -- the world-class milers who'd gathered on this humble track in Suffolk County to celebrate his life -- said Kyle Merber, who grew up nearby in Dix Hills and organized the event for the third straight year. This was the way Merber believed Torrence would have wanted it. 

"He would have liked this," said Tony Viviano, who'd roomed with Torrence at the University of California at Berkeley and wore Torrance's Peru national team training jersey after travelling from Washington, D.C.

"Everything that people have said about him is true. But the thing that (sticks out) is his energy and enthusiasm. This event really bottles that up."

"And it's crescendoing," added Viviano's friend Luke Merkel, who visited from Portland, Maine.

The Hoka ONE ONE Long Island Mile started as a homespun meet three years ago when Merber, who'd run at nearby Half Hollow Hills High West and at Columbia, wanted to do something noteworthy for the sport. But following a thrilling women's mile race that was won by another local, Emily Lipari (4:28.84) of Roslyn, it was clear that this event is a whole lot more than that.

"We started the event to motivate people on Long Island,"  said Merber of the Sayville Runners Club-sponsored event.

"I think we've done that."

Announcer Tom Cuffe, formerly the coach at Monsignor Farrell High on Staten Island and later at Duke University, brought the event a festive flair.

High school runners who gathered from nearby Suffolk and Nassau Counties, not to mention those who'd made the 45-minute trip from New York City, banged inflatable thunder sticks, goofed and ogled world-class athletes like Nick Willis, a two-time Olympic medalist from New Zealand. But when Merber and his mates roiled the high school crowd with high fives during introductions before racing, it showed that these professional athletes were within reach.

"We've been coming back here since the first year," said Reilly Seibert, a senior runner at Syosset High.

"We usually only get to see these types of athletes at the Armory. It's cool to get to see these really fast milers on your own turf."

WIth Daniel Winn rabbiting, in near-torrential rain,  the field, which also featured Craig Engels, Australians Pat Tiernan and Sam McEntee and HOKA ONE ONE's Colby Alexander, pulled through the first 400 in over 60 seconds. The rain was pelting the runners at this point, with O'Hare pushing toward the front. Engels made a move on the penultimate lap, pushing down the backstretch. O'Hare, Willis and a stoic Gregorek pulled forward on the final lap.

Forming a tunnel, the  crowd pushed the runners down the homestretch. As O'Hare (3:56.22) rocketed toward the finish, he raised his arm upwards and pointed it at the sky.

"This one is for you D.T." read a tweet he posted afterward with John Nepolitan's photo.

"We're very emotional," said Bianca Torrence, who made the trip from Malibu, Calif., along with her daughter.

"We're just glad and honored to be here to represent my son. I felt his spirit here tonight."



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