CRSS Race for Hope Profile: Ruth Sadinsky, Runner AND National Anthem Singer (AND wicked cool mom!)

Name: Ruth Sadinsky

Age: 45

Hometown: Elmira, NY

CRSS Race for Hope participant since: 2010

1) What is your connection to the Capital region? I’ve lived and worked here for 20+ years and have been raising my family here for 14 years. My son Ben attends Montessori Magnet School in the Albany Public School district. Sam is in ninth grade at the Doane Stuart School. My husband, Greg who also runs the race is a lieutenant and paramedic on the Albany Fire Department. He’s lived here his whole life. This city is in his blood!

2) Who or what is the inspiration behind your participation? The first year I ran, there was a bald eagle flying overhead that many people saw as we were milling about eating our post-race bananas. It seemed like a good omen. It would have been a perfect backdrop to the National Anthem before the race.

“The first year I ran [the CRSS Race for Hope], there was a bald eagle flying overhead that many people saw as we were milling about eating our post-race bananas. It seemed like a good omen.”

3) What song gets you moving on race day? The National Anthem!

I’ve had the distinct honor of singing it at the start of the Race for Hope since 2010 as well as the Freihofer’s Run for Women for two years, and a handful of races around the region. The key to making the song sound good is to not over-dramatize it. Nobody can do it like Whitney Houston did and I’ve found its best not to try. Just sing it big and clear and the crowd is bound to feel the patriotism in the song.

4) Any advice for a new CRSS Race for Hope participant? The race starts with a fairly long hill. Get to the race early enough to run the hill once or twice before you do it for real. At the end, just let the nice big downhill carry you home!

5) You turn the last corner and the finish line is in view, the best reward you could find waiting for you is my two boys cheering for me. Even though they are usually too embarrassed to actually “cheer” I know they are proud to see their mom racing, and even more proud that I sing before the race. That’s a pretty unique thing for a mom to do.

About CRSS Race for Hope

Since 2009, the Capital Region Special Surgery Race for Hope events have raised over $200,000, of which all monies have been dedicated to fundraising, since overhead costs are underwritten by Capital Region Special Surgery. This year's 5K will be held on Saturday, September 30, 2017. The major goal of the Capital Region Special Surgery – Race for Hope Fund, in partnership with the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region, is to make grants to not-for-profit organizations/programs serving uninsured and underinsured patients who are experiencing a financial hardship related to a brain, head, or neck cancer diagnosis in the Capital Region (Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, Washington counties). Thus far, these proceeds have been allocated to the following local 501c3 organizations: Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region, Inc. C.R. Wood Cancer Center at Glens Falls Hospital, Ellis Hospital Foundation, Inc., Saratoga Hospital—Mollie Wilmot Radiation Oncology Center, and patient services at St. Peter’s Cancer Care Center.

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