Smithtown West Student Organizes 5K Run in Honor of Fallen Coach By Anthony Aprile

            Smithtown School District teacher Patrick Harmon, or simply “Coach” to many, passed away on July 17^th after a long battle with brain cancer.  He had a huge impact on many students, athletes, and faculty members across the district, and he will be remembered on October 10^th at the 1^st Annual 5K Run/Walk in his honor.  All proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society for brain cancer research.

Mark Valentino, a senior at Smithtown High School West, created this 5K run to honor Harmon, his former coach.

            Harmon was a gym teacher and JV football coach at the Smithtown East campus, and a winter and spring track coach at the West campus.  He was respected and loved throughout the district and was a symbol of courage and fortitude as his bouts with brain cancer continued to worsen over the years.  His loss was felt equally on both campuses, and he was a major influence and motivation for countless people.

            “What made Coach [Harmon] so special to me was the fact that he never gave up on us, no matter how bad things got during the season,” said Matt DeCicco, a 2-year football starter under Harmon at Smithtown East.  “He would always pour his heart into making us a better team, and more importantly, better people.”

Chris Ingram, a Smithtown West track runner, added, “He always put his players first.  It was about the team as a collective and the individuals in it more than anything else in the world.  It would always seem to bear more on his mind if a kid hurt his hamstring than him having to go in for chemo[therapy] that night.  He put the team above his illness no matter what, and I feel like that’s why people tended to gravitate towards him.”

            Valentino, a cross country and track standout, took it upon himself to honor his former coach while raising money to help find a cure for the disease that took his life. 

            “The reason I wanted to do this run is because Coach Harmon was such an amazing and dedicated coach,” Valentino said, “who, through his disease, never missed a practice or a meet for anything.  He was always there for us.  Some people [on the team] thought of him as a father figure.  I thought I would do something special to honor him and everything he meant to us.”

            Valentino is responsible for organizing the street closures, finding sponsors, creating flyers, setting up online registration on active.com, and all other aspects of the race.  He did so independently of any assistance from parents or other adults, a difficult task.

Valentino’s online registration page uses the slogan, “We can make a difference, one stride at a time.”  The creation of this race is doing just that.

            “I think that Mark is doing an awesome job with the race and he’s honoring Coach [Harmon] in a really special way,” said Patrick Harty, a standout sprinter for Smithtown West.

            The 1^st Annual 5K Run/Walk for Pat Harmon will go off at 9:00 on the morning of Sunday, October 10^th.  Online registration at www.active.com/running/smithtown-ny/5k-runwalk-for-pat-harmon-2010 is $18.25, and closes on September 30th.  Day-of-race registration is $20, with all of it going to support brain cancer research.