Garden City 'Divas' Run Half Marathon

The ladies were crowned with a tiara and given a pink boa and Diva medal.

Posted by Carisa Giardino (Editor), October 8, 2012 at 01:48 pm

Garden City Divas Fern Leleonnec, Danielle Gaudio-Lalehzar, Maria Arianas and Marisa Ruta.

Four Garden City moms took to the streets early Sunday all in the name of girl power.

Residents Fern Leleonnec, Danielle Gaudio-Lalehzar, Maria Arianas and Marisa Ruta, who meet regularly for a 5:15 a.m. run, participated in the Long Island Diva half marathon this weekend.

They were among the more than 3,000 who took part in this year's event. Every finisher is crowned with a tiara and given a pink boa and Diva medal.

"As women we give so much of ourselves every day to our families, our careers and our community and this is something we do for us. It’s a great role model of health, goal setting and achievement to our children," Arianas said.

Leleonnec, Gaudio-Lalehzar and Arianas (co-founder of Camp Italia) started training for the very first Diva Half in 2010 and have been running ever since. All three went on to complete their first ING NY marathon in 2011.

Ruta ( owner of La Bottega and Caffe Barocco) did her first Diva Half in 2011 and will run her first ING NY marathon this November.

The ladies say the "energy and camaraderie felt among runners is contagious and infectious" and suggest to anyone who's ever had the urge to do a half marathon, full marathon or even the Garden City Turkey Trot to "just grab a friend and start training and do it."