Athletes raise money for North Jersey women

ANDOVER - Last Sunday 94 athletes ran in the 4th Annual Hot Chili 8 Mile Trail Run at Kittantiny State Park in Andover. It was organized by Mare Galeos, founder of the Sussex County Women’s Forum. The SCWF is a nonprofit organization that provides free mammograms, ultrasounds and MRI’s for women in Sussex, Warren and Morris counties. The trail run attracted runners from all over New Jersey. The first runner to cross the finish line was Dominic Grillo, a resident of New Brunswick. Grillo found out about the trail run online and was intrigued by it. Grillo finished the 8 mile trail in 44 minutes and 43 seconds. The first woman to finish was Lauren Kelly, in just 58 minutes and 23 seconds. All the runners agreed that it was a great trail to run. After their run, the athletes were treated to 2 kinds of chili, turkey vegetable /soup, water, coffee, tea and a variety of other treats to warm them up and recharge their batteries. All of the soups and chili’s were homemade by SCWF volunteers. Mary Ullmann, a volunteer with SCWF, and a breast cancer survivor, was at the race with her daughter, Lauren Corby. Ullmann made one of the two chili’s and was pleased to see so many of the runners enjoying it. The other chili was made by Galeos’ husband, Dr. Warren Galeos. The event is one of four that the forum does each year to raise money for their cause, and this one raised over $1500, which will cover about 18 mammograms. Their next event is a spa night on Nov. 10.