Stony Brook Grad Student Wins LI Marathon

A Stony Brook graduate student who is an alumnus of the Seawolves’ cross country team was crowned the men’s winner at Sunday's 2013 RXR Long Island Marathon.

Derek Rammelkamp won the marathon with a time of  two hours, 32 minutes and 11 seconds; Kelly Gillen, a Manhasset native, won the the race for women with a time of three hours and three minutes.

The Long Island Marathon was the first marathon Rammelkamp ever ran.

"I was going to originally do the New York City Marathon in the fall, but that was cancelled, so I had to push it back," he said. "This is the local event on Long Island so I chose to do this."

Rammelkamp ran the marathon with his twin brother Thomas – also a graduate student at Stony Brook – who came in fourth.

"We were ahead running together for about 18 miles, but then he got tired," Derek Rammelkamp said. "I felt strong and he told me to go ahead."

Derek Rammelkamp won the Joe Keany Memorial Run in Miller Place in 2011 and came in fourth last year while Thomas came in second in 2012. As a Seawolf, Derek Rammelkamp competed in 2011 in a number of regional or national 8K races, finishing at No. 141 in the NCAA Regionals.

With reporting from Danielle De Souza and Rich Arleo