Firecracker 8K Is Set To Have Its 30th Annual Race This Sunday

When Bob Nugent started what was at the time called “the Southampton Run,” with the backing of the Southampton Rotary Club in 1991, the thought behind it was that it would feature some of the best runners Long Island had to offer at an 8K distance, which was different than most road races — not as short as a 5K, not as long as a 10K.

It has gone through a few iterations since then, but what is now known as the Firecracker 8K is set to celebrate its 30th annual race this Sunday, October 10, when runners enjoy the scenic 6.2-mile course around Lake Agawam and through Southampton Village. And, as it has in the past — it was originally ran Father’s Day Weekend before the move to July Fourth Weekend — the race has another new date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had canceled the race altogether in 2020.

“The 8K run committee believed the run would become a staple in the running community because at the time there weren’t any other 8Ks on the East End,” said Rotary member and Express News Group Sales Manager Paul Conroy, who was a part of the original race committee. “So we joined forces with the Shelter Island 10K and the 5K in Amagansett to form the ‘triple crown’ of East End road races.”

Race organizers — made up of a group of Southampton Rotary members — said pandemic restrictions hadn’t eased in time for the race to be run in the middle of the summer as it has for 20-plus years now. Once restrictions did ease, a fall date appeared to be the most likely, so organizers decided to go with Columbus Day weekend.

One thing was for certain, though — not having the race for a second straight year was not an option. The race serves as the primary source of income for the Southampton Rotary Club, which provides various humanitarian services, not just in Southampton Village but throughout the town, which encompasses a wide swath — Riverside and Flanders to the northwest, Westhampton and Hampton Bays on the western side and in between up through the East Hampton Town border.

“I think part of the reason why the club wants to have the race is that it’s just one of the ways we get back to some sort of normalcy,” said Kevin Luss of the Luss Group, who had been the race coordinator since 2005 before James Grossi took over this year. “I don’t think this is going to be the biggest race, but I do think it’ll be one of the more meaningful races.”

Luss admitted that the club is prepared to see a lot fewer runners than in years past. As of last week, there were about 60 runners preregistered, but that number is expected to balloon beyond 300 with day-of registrants. The first race in 1991 had just over 300 finishers.

Most local races returning after being virtual only or canceled altogether due to the pandemic have seen their numbers decrease considerably, but the thought is that they will continue to rise as the specter of the pandemic fades.

“We’ve done everything in a real condensed time schedule,” Luss said. “We usually have this planned months in advance. We banged this out in probably two months. But we also don’t have the numbers coming to the [Rotary] meetings like we used to. The club is kind of in a state of recovery.”

To further that point, James Grossi, who helped out Luss in organizing the event for the first time this year, and will take hold of organizing it going forward, said “it’s been nothing short of a miracle to pull this thing together,” in the short amount of time that they’ve had.

"Under current circumstances, this is the only event we can do this year and everyone has been getting behind it,” he explained. “I’m overwhelmed by all of the support I’ve gotten. From sponsors to fellow Rotarians, there has been a lot of support from a lot of good people who really have done the lion’s share of the work. I’ve been very fortunate in that regard.”

Current Rotary Club President Dermot Dolan pointed out that part of the reason why participation might not be as high as in years past is because much of the summer population has now left the area for the season. But he’s optimistic that the turnout will be just fine.

“We anticipate seeing the numbers of participation go up this week,” Dolan said on Friday. “We have a nice Sunday morning forecast and we have the Hamptons Marathon this weekend. We hope it’s a great success. Our race is a great opportunity for a recovery run from that. For those people who typically run in 10Ks and marathons, the Firecracker is a nice easy 8K around Lake Agawam and we can’t wait to see everybody Sunday morning.

“In honor of the work of past presidents, such as Paul Conroy and Fred VanderWerven, we wanted to make sure we had the 30th edition of the race,” he added. “We’re just so excited to be able to make it happen and it comes with great cooperation of everyone involved with Southampton Village to ensure that it does happen.”

Dolan said the generosity from local businesses as sponsors has been tremendous. Sponsorships work in tiers, with platinum, golf, silver and bronze options. As of last week, there was one platinum sponsor who provides $2,500, seven gold sponsors who each provide $1,000, 21 silver sponsors who provide $500 each and even more bronze sponsors.”

With the Firecracker being a local race, put on by local people from a local club and featuring a lot of local runners, it was important to the club to keep it going and hopefully it can continue for years to come.

“It has been what you would call a work of passion for us, it’s certainly been that for Paul in particular, but it is a local event to benefit the local community,” Dolan said. “We got to the 30th year and we intend to continue the tradition for many, many years to come.”