Paul Beatty operates Race Management Solutions, which every year stages back-to-back 5K races on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at Old Fort Niagara. The idea, Beatty said, is providing both a symbolic farewell and a new start.
He had no idea how the second race, on Monday, would wrap all of it together in a few unimaginably intense moments that turned three strangers into a lifesaving team on New Year’s Day.
Among the entrants on Jan. 1 were John and Paula Leszak, of Blasdell. Beatty is familiar with the couple, for a simple reason: They are among the most passionate runners in the region. In 2023, according to a “most active” list maintained at Buffalorunners.com, the Leszaks entered 116 road races, mainly 5Ks.
That averages pretty close to a race every three days. Only Mac MacKenzie – who entered 138 races – was at the starting line more often last year than the Leszaks, throughout Western New York.
That commitment’s easy to explain, said Paula Leszak, a nurse practitioner: “There isn’t anything a 4-mile run won’t make feel better.”
They were preparing for the race Monday, when Beatty shook John’s hand and took a photo of him in front of the Fort Niagara lighthouse. About 120 people signed up to run, and the Leszaks did what they always do at the start:
Paula, who started running in 2007, went a little bit ahead, while John – a 66-year-old stamp dealer and auctioneer who embraced running about eight years ago – settled in at a comfortable pace, near the back of the pack.
John had gone maybe two-tenths of a mile, Beatty said, when he made a…
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