EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Haverhill

Race in memory of Haverhill teacher needs more runners Organizers work to keep scholarship tradition alive

By Bill Cantwell
Staff Writer
Published: July 5, 2008

HAVERHILL — If there was a year for Toni Donais to forget, this would be the one.

This spring she found out that for the first time in its 22-year history, the road race she organizes in her father's memory would have to pay for police officers to work safety details during the event.

Then she was told the cost would be as much as $1,000, which was more than race organizers could afford, forcing her to cancel the run.

The problem has since been worked out, but it caused doubt among potential runners and delays in getting the event organized. Fewer runners have signed up than in past years, and Donais is worried.

The Sapienza Memorial Road Race in memory of her father, the late Haverhill High School teacher Tony Sapienza, will go on July 17, but Donais is trying to lure more participants. Without them, she said the event will have trouble paying its bills and raising enough money for a meaningful scholarship for a Haverhill High student.

"Each year we've gotten anywhere from 100 to 500 runners," she said. "We want to have 200 to 250, but it's under 100 so far."

She is making an appeal to runners across the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire to participate in the event. Information on how to participate is available at sapienzarace.com.

Tony Sapienza was a well-known Haverhill High math teacher who died in 1987, minutes after finishing a 3,000-meter race at Brown University. His family organizes the race to raise money for an annual $1,000 math scholarship in his name.

The race in his memory starts and ends at Haverhill High and covers four miles — "a beautiful scenic course through the rural roads of Haverhill, with a few flowing hills, mostly shaded," as Donais described it.

Donais said the race will go on regardless of how many runners participate, but she hopes many more sign on.

Donais feared the race would have to pay as much as $1,000 for police officers to control traffic along the race route, but auxiliary officers and regular officers are volunteering their time.

"The volunteers are mostly guys that had my dad as a teacher," she said. "It's really heart-warming."

Sapienza Memorial Road Race

When: July 17, starting time is 6:45 p.m.

Where: Haverhill High School, 137 Monument St.

Cost: $15 per runner if registered before the race (those runners also receive a T-shirt); $20 on race day.

Course: Four miles starting at Haverhill High and finishing at the school's running track, which is named in memory of well-known math teacher Tony Sapienza.

Prizes: Various certificates to local restaurants and other businesses. Winners in various age groups and classifications, such as the first teacher and first police officer to finish the race.

How to register: Online at sapienzarace.com or by calling Toni Donais at 978-807-9522. Registration forms also are available at local athletic organizations and businesses, such as the YMCA and Cedardale Fitness and Athletic Club.

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