Bonrouhi Memorial Alumni Run

Members of Jannette Bonrouhi-Zakaim's family came to encourage the many alumni runners below).

The fall 2003 Jannette Bonrouhi Memorial Alumni Run drew scores of alumni of Ithaca's track and cross-country programs. The annual event, renamed in 2001 for IC cross-country and track star Jannette Bonrouhi-Zakaim '90, who died suddenly in 2000, also brought out many members of Bonrouhi-Zakaim's family.

The Ithacan wrote at the time of the renaming of the run, "Bonrouhi-Zakaim was the best distance runner in school history. She is the only four-time cross-country all-American the program has produced. She placed 10th in the NCAA championship meet her freshman year and then bettered that as a sophomore. Her fifth-place finish that year still stands as the school's best finish ever at nationals. She led her team to four consecutive top-five showings at the NCAAs, including third-place finishes in 1987 and 1989 and the second overall spot in 1986. In the spring seasons, she earned six more all-American honors as a part of the track team, earning three each in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs. She was also a captain for two years in each sport."

Bonrouhi-Zakaim was not only a stellar athlete, but an exceptional student as well. She was named to the GTE academic all-American first team and won the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association scholar-athlete award in her senior year. Her coaches and teammates decided soon after her death to rename the annual run in her honor as a most fitting tribute to a widely admired and beloved student athlete.

Photos by Sheryl D. Sinkow