A young man from Paterson, Issame El Jazouli, was the top finisher in this year’s UNICO Labor Day 5K, turning in a chip time of 14:58.48. Lara Dorsky of New York City was the top female finisher in 18:41.92.
The top male finisher from Verona was Michael Maglione in 16:15.14 and the top Verona female was Melissa Hidalgo in 18:46.93. In a sign of how strong this year’s competition was, Hidalgo finished almost a full minute faster than her time in the 2021 race, when she was the top female finisher overall.
In the annual Town Council rivalry, Council Attorney Brian Aloia finished well ahead of Deputy Mayor Jack McEvoy 23:48.94. Also in the government category, state Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R-NJ40) finished in 24:57.74.
UNICO is the Italian-American service organization. It has been running a Labor Day race for 41 years to fund its support of community projects and scholarships for high school students. A total of 464 runners from across the metro area competed in this year’s race.
