From Montauk to Manhattan, runner set for extraordinary feat

Running a marathon — 26.2 miles — is no easy for feat for anyone.

But for Christopher LaMagna, that’s a walk in the park. An ultramarathoner, his training runs, which he does on an almost daily basis, are usually 20 miles or longer.

And next month, he’s setting off on the run a lifetime, for the second year in a row. Starting in Montauk on Jan. 7, at 4 a.m., LaMagna will travel 130 miles on foot, ending in Manhattan at some point the following day.

And what is sure to be a remarkable trip isn’t without reason. LaMagna is raising money ahead of the run, and will do so along the way, through a crowd-funding site, with all proceeds benefiting the Long Island Crisis Center in Bellmore, a nonprofit that provides free programs and support for Long Islanders at critical times in their lives.

Having dealt with his own mental health struggles, LaMagna, 30, who grew up in Queens, said he turned to running during the pandemic as a way to alleviate stress and anxiety amid what was a turbulent time for many.

“I started running a block, walking a block — I had no stamina,” he told the Herald last week. “I wanted to test myself physically and mentally — your body can take a lot if you’re able to tackle the mental process. Once you conquer that wall, you can just keep going forward.”

A professional chef, LaMagna now lives in West Islip and works at the Babylon Mercantile, a cooking school and shop in Babylon.

Last year, he started looking for a local organization that focuses on improving people’s mental health and well-being, because he wanted to give back to an effort that helped people going through struggles similar to those he had faced. In that search, he stumbled on the Crisis Center, and got in touch with the group.

“It’s a grass-roots place,” he said. “After walking through the building and meeting people, I felt that connection.”

The first time LaMagna made the 130-mile run was in January, and he raised $8,000 for the organization. For next month’s run, he has set a goal o $20,000.

“But honestly, it is not about the money,” he said. “The best way to put it is, I’m trying to run so people know they’re not alone. No one should ever feel alone.”

His efforts were so appreciated that the Crisis Center named LaMagna its 2022 Person of the Year, Tawni Engel, the associate executive director of the group, said.

“He literally just called me up, out of nowhere, a year ago, and said, ‘I’m going to do this,’” Engel recalled. “He’s very open about his own mental health struggles, and you know, thoughts of suicide, and that kind of stuff that he’s dealt with all his life. He decided he wanted to do this ultrarun to raise awareness around mental health and suicide prevention, and to raise money for the Long Island Crisis Center.”

Training for such a feat is time-consuming, and requires a lot of miles on the trail. On average, LaMagna estimates that he runs 50 to 70 miles a week, only taking one day off for a “little bit of recovery.” He runs mostly on the Long Island Greenbelt Trail, which stretches from Heckscher State Park, on the South Shore, to Sunken Meadow State Park, on the North Shore, a distance of about 32 miles.

The run is on, he said, no matter the weather conditions. “Rain, snow, sleet,” he said, “whatever it is, it’s happening.”

He has a time in mind in which he would like to finish, but he declined to share it, not wanting to jinx himself, he joked. He also said that anyone is welcome to run along with him on the trek.

“If anyone wants to join, I don’t mind slowing down to meet their pace,” he said. “It’s more about the community.”

LaMagna wrote on his crowd-funding page that running has become very special to him. “Not only has running allowed me to connect with a fantastic community of people, I now know that I am never alone,” he explained. “This run is a way of bringing awareness to something that affects many of us and is often not discussed.”

He said that any support for the Crisis Center would be greatly appreciated. To donate to his cause, see his exact course if you want to cheer him on, or find a list of aid stations where fellow runners can join in, go to TinyURL.com/MontaukToManhattan.