By Brett Mauser | Hamptons.com

NEW YORK, Shelter Island — Although the forecast threatened to rain on the annual celebration of Shelter Island – the Shelter Island 10K and 5K Run/Walk – devoted participants ferried in for the early evening start nevertheless. Conveniently, the more than 1,500 runners and walkers couldn’t stay away yet the rains that have drenched the northeast in the month of June magically did.

With the cool but dry conditions – ideal running weather by most accounts – came quick times. Nobody was faster than Ethiopian Ketema Nigusse, who broke away from a pack consisting largely of his countrymen and rolled to his first victory at Shelter Island, posting a time of 29:23, 13 seconds faster than his nearest competitor. Nigusse’s charge led a parade of nearly 1,000 runners who got the quick tour of the island and crossed the finish line to much fanfare. The same could be said for another Ethiopian, Buzunesh Deba, who took home top prize in the women’s division (33:52).

Race Director Mary Ellen Adipietro, who rescued the 10K five years ago, said the enrollment will only grow with their new partnership with the New York Road Runners Club. She indicated they’d like to eventually bring in 2,500 racers for the weekend, only adding to the funds they can distribute to charity organizations including the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, East End Hospice and Shelter Island community charities.

“I’m just proud that the numbers are back up and so is the spirit,” Adipietro said. “We’re so happy to have the New York Road Runners now. Everything is about the run and running. It makes the race so special now.”

Before even a half-mile had passed, it was clear that the front-running pack of eight runners would yield the winner. That was re-affirmed as the race went on, the next group falling farther and farther back. Julius Kiptoo held the lead at the halfway point but only by a few strides. Nigusse reeled him in not far beyond the three-mile marker and he never gave the lead back. Kiptoo, defending champion Worku Beyi and Demesse Tefera were on Nigusse’s heels until they were four miles in, which is when the 28-year-old Ethiopian opened up the gap. Before long, he was running all by himself, and down the stretch Nigusse peeked behind him on occasion to assure that he was indeed en route to victory.

Nigusse, who speaks little English, indicated that he did not expect to win the race against many of his countrymen but was able to pull it out. A week earlier, Nigusse finished third at the Classic 10K in Middletown, one second behind second-place Beyi at 29:10. Nigusse, who has represented Ethiopia in the IAAF Cross Country World Championships in the past, was fifth in the Sao Paulo (Brazil) Marathon last month. His best career finish in a marathon is fourth in Arizona.

The women’s side was hotly contested as Deba edged out Aziza Aliyu for first place by a second, Deba clocking a time of 33:52 to Aliyu’s 33:53. Burundi’s Diane Nukuri entered the park on their tail and hit the line at the 34:15 mark. Deba, 21, finished 10th overall. Last year, she was more than two minutes slower and took third in the women’s division, but nevertheless indicated on Saturday that she hadn’t run her best race.

Upon crossing the finish line, Deba was most concerned about how Beyi, her husband, had fared. The defending champ remained in the lead pack until he began to drift back about midway through. Beyi later pulled up lame just shy of the five-mile mark before resuming and ultimately finishing fourth behind Tefera (29:35), last year’s runner-up, and Kiptoo (29:46).

In the wheelchair division, Malverne’s Peter Hawkins took home first place with a time of 34:34. His day would have been a lot more difficult had the rains came, thus he was glad the day had the blessing of race founder Cliff Clark, who said the race has never been hampered by significant rain.

“With the rain we were supposed to get, the humidity was nothing,” Hawkins said. “I was expecting downpours, and if it downpoured, the grass and the mud would have made it that much tougher. It’s always a great day. Cliff promised me it wasn’t going to rain and he came through. I don’t know how he did it. He must have some sort of connections.”

Bill Rodgers, a four-time winner of both the New York City and Boston Marathons and former American marathon record holder, was the guest of honor at the 10K, signing books and hosting clinics leading up to race day. Rodgers ran a time of 44:39, a personal best this year which allowed him to just finish in the top 100 at 100th overall. He finished second in the male 61-65 age group behind John Nelson of Bridgehampton, who was the first East Ender to cross in 32nd place. Rodgers was just ahead of Sag Harbor’s Jeff Yennie and Shelter Island’s own Tom Power. As the rain stayed away, Rodgers was able to soak up the race environment rather than any kind of moisture.

“I loved the course,” Rodgers said. “It’s a marathoner’s course, a cross country runner’s course, and I used to do both of them. I ran better today and I was able to get on some grass. I don’t know if it’s the fastest course but it’s a pretty fast course. It was humid but it was a lot of fun.”

Southampton’s Barbara Gubbins finished first in the female 45-49 age group and 47th overall, hitting the finish line in 40:45. The only other division winner from the area was Sag Harbor’s Blaire Stauffer, who won the male 75-79 age group in 56:27. Four Shelter Island participants took runner-up honors – Bitsy Morgan (female 0-18; 49:13), Francoise Mallow (male 65-69; 1:09:07), Frederic Hills (male 70-74; 1:01:54) and Barbara Carlsen (female 70-74; 1:14.4). Other local second-place finishers were Westhampton Beach’s Laura Brown (female 40-44; 41:33), Bridgehampton’s John Nelson (male 50-54; 38:59) and Southampton’s Americo Fiore (male 75-79; 1:03:20).

With the help of the New York Road Runners, Clark indicated that they’d like to have enrollment back up to 2,000 and even touch 2,500 in the near future.

“It’s just a huge outpouring from this community and our sponsors,” Clark said. “It’s made up of regular people. The Ethiopians, Kenyans, Burundians and all the people run so fast and get a lot of the attention, but this is about the people who pay 30 bucks and run their hearts out to support our charities. They raise tens of thousands of dollars every year for local causes and that’s what it’s all about.”