Member of the Month: Jay Satenstein!

You may have seen Jay Satenstein either organizing or participating in area races, or may know that he is an excellent runner and competitor, but you may not know how much effort he has given to his career and family, as well as his contributions to the community in general. Easily identifiable by his trademark handlebar mustache, Jay is not only visible running on local roads and trails, but is often visible in the community dedicating his time to public service.

For forty years Jay has been a Smithtown resident, and although he was not a big athlete during his days at Smithtown High School, there was no question what football team was his favorite. His dad, Bernard "Big Ollie" Satenstein, played for the Giants in the 1920's, and at 6'6" and 280 lbs. was big enough to play both offensive and defensive line. Like many players of his time, Jay's dad worked five days a week as a sales and spokesman, practiced on Saturday, and played on Sunday, a non-stop work ethic his son was destined to inherit.

It was in high school that Jay met the most important person of his life, his future wife Pat. Although they attended different high schools and were nearly total opposites- Jay just a regular guy and Pat a valedictorian- they started a relationship that would last a lifetime. Jay put many miles on his 1954 Pontiac visiting Pat while she attended college in Oneonta. The miles paid off and Pat married Jay just one day after graduation! Pat, also an integral member of the Bohemia Track Club, is now Jay's wife of thirty years, and Jay has always appreciated the support she has given over the years.

For employment, Jay had to look no farther than the family. In 1961, Jay's mother and stepfather opened Harel Jewelers in Brentwood (a combination of their names, Harold and Elaine), and Jay was immediately put to work. His ethics and drive served him well, and as more stores opened, Jay was able to buy the original site in 1972. He has owned and operated the store ever since, a job that requires six and often seven days a week of attention. The Satenstein family soon came to include sons David and John.

It may be hard to believe, but Jay once smoked two packs a day of unfiltered Camel cigarettes. Back in the mid-1970's he simply decided to stop and instead adopted the habit of biking. He became an active member of the Suffolk Bike Riders Association (SBRA), and often biked to and from work- a ten mile trip each way. Then, one day while vacationing in Hampton Bays, he was told about the local Potatohampton 10K race. The next day he and his pair of Thom McAn Jox successfully finished the race at a well-advised eight-minute pace. Chatting it up during the run, and assuming that conversation was common during races, he was told to shut up by struggling competitors.

Shortly after his initial achievement, Jay's next race was the Bay Shore Half Marathon. If that wasn't incredible enough, his third competition, only three months after his first, was the New York Marathon where he ran a very impressive 3:50. The rest is, as they say, history. Jay has gone on to run an estimated 75 marathons, his best time being a dazzling 2:44 while looping Flushing Meadow Park . It is obvious he prefers the marathon to other events, since he has run the twenty-six miles almost as often as races of other distances.

When it comes to more casual running, Jay is a creature of habit. For the past twenty years, he has found time to run as often as possible, particularly in the early morning, finding that it clears his head for the rest of the day. As a matter of fact, employees at the jewelry store can often tell when he hasn't run that day. Jay has followed many routines over the years. He used to meet his neighbor and "coach" Doug Pavone at 6:00 am on weekdays for morning runs or track workouts (Jay continues to keep up his morning jogs). Wednesday afternoons are longer treks, either group runs at Sunken Meadow Park in the summer, or on the Greenbelt Trail from East Islip during winter months. As a longtime "River Road Rat", Sunday mornings could only mean meeting at Waldbaum's in Smithtown for long runs through Stony Brook, Head of the Harbor and on Nissequogue's River Road. In the past, during heavy training weeks, Jay has run up to 70 miles, spurred on by ultramarathoner friends Joe Dugan and Don Jewel.

Although not a race-a-week runner, Jay has excelled in selective races not only on Long Island, but also in New York City, Albany, Boston, Washington DC, Florida, Bermuda, Las Vegas and Hawaii. Speaking of Hawaii, Jay and Pat recently purchased a condominium on Maui, and understandably disappear for stretches of time from our area. As teachers, Pat and close friend and BTC member Mary Trotto spend much of the summer there, while Jay joins them for several weeks. While on the "other" Island, Jay loves to swim in the ocean and is sure to jog every morning on the beach, hilly trails or volcanoes, leaving the rest of the day for shopping or just plain relaxing.

Although his store takes up much of his energy, Jay has always found time to be part of the community- several communities to be exact. For nearly every organization he has joined (he has even been a Boy Scout group leader), Jay has gone on to be a key component. An integral member of Bohemia Track Club since the early 1980's, Jay is the current President Emeritus, and was recently inducted into the newly created Hall of Fame. In addition to being active in the track club, he is Vice President of the Smithtown High School Athletics Booster Club, which raises money for student scholarships and Athlete of the Year awards, and he is a longtime member of the Brentwood Rotary Club, for which he has held the presidency twice.

Jay has been the driving force and the director of the Brentwood Rotary Club 5K Cookie Run, which just celebrated its 18th year. Originally a Saturday night run on the grounds of Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center, the race has grown from an initial group of 100 to over 700 runners, and has gained prominence as one of the larger area races. The success of the race is a testimony to the hours and hours of time Jay has dedicated to lining up sponsors and managing the hundreds of logistics involved in directing a road race.

Whether in career, family, community or personal pursuits, Jay Satenstein has been not only a success, but an example. For his effort within the Bohemia Track Club alone he is owed a great debt of gratitude, and now as a Hall of Famer and current Member of the Month, he will hopefully receive some of the recognition his many efforts have earned him.