A Run For Knowledge - And For Fun

By Claire Levenson

Photos by Claire Sheprow

POSTED OCTOBER 11, 2007

Nearly 50 students from P.S. and I.S. 89 raced along the Battery Park City waterfront Oct. 5 to raise money for their school’s library in the eighth annual “Run 4 Knowledge.”

Wearing matching t-shirts and marathon number tags, the children were joined by parents and other relatives as they ran for nearly a mile, from Wagner Park to Rockefeller Park.

 “It’s a fun way to bond,” said Dorothy Carny as she waited at the starting line with her 6-year-old granddaughter, Drew. “I hope I can keep up with her.”

The race is a tradition going back to the early days of the school.

“When we opened the building in 1998, there was this gorgeous library without books,” said principal Ellen Foote.

In the years since, the shelves have slowly filled with books, but there is space for more. Friday’s race raised $13,500, to be used to buy more books, upgrade and maintain the library’s computers, and to organize author’s visits.

As runners gathered at the starting line, with the Statue of Liberty in the background, the atmosphere was more festive than competitive.

The race was not timed and no winner was designated. “You never know who is going to win,”
said P.S. 89 student Jordan Di Noia. “But you don’t care; you’re with your friends. It’s just for fun.”

In fact, the real competition began the week before, when students asked as many neighbors and relatives as possible to pledge money for their library. This year, the proud winner of the contest (and a brand new bike) was fifth-grader Nathan Goldberg.

Two weeks before Run 4 Knowledge, Liz Pappas, who heads fundraising for the P.S. 89 PTA, recruited the Visionaire, a condo development on Battery Place, to sponsor the event—from the t-shirts to the street fair. It was the third year that a Battery Park City developer has sponsored the race. Pappas said it only makes sense for developers to help the school. "There are five new buildings under construction around the school and they are marketing the school as a perk," she said.

Another PTA member, Zef Lokhandwalla, said he is also worried that the new condos will swell class sizes at the school, and urged developers to do their part to offset the effects of crowding. “You
want to use us, then help us,” he said, pointing out that the school has already lost a computer room to overcrowding.

After the runners completed their 20-minute course, crossing the finish line in Rockefeller Park, 87-year-old former Olympian Ted Corbitt, known as the “father of long distance running,” and two-time Para-Olympic weightlifting champion Joseph Perez presented children with medals bearing the Olympic flame. Then they were off to Warren Street, closed to traffic, for popcorn, cotton candy, amusement rides and an arts table staffed by the Church Street School for Music and Art.

Watching the crowd of children, Perez wondered whether one of those children might one day become an Olympic champion, like himself.

“We will be back,” he promised. “There is beautiful energy here.”

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