by Annah Chaya
The COVID-19 pandemic halted many events and activities around the world in 2020 and 2021.
The St. Luke’s Half Marathon and 5k were two of the many events that felt the effect of the
pandemic.
After being canceled in 2020 and postponed and canceled again in 2021, race directors
Leslie Billowitch and Brian Patterson were anxious to bring back the races in April 2022.
Billowitch, who is the president of the Lehigh Valley Road Runners, and Patterson, who has
been on the race committee since the ‘90s, stepped into the role of co-race director to continue the
tradition of the race and make sure it was successful. They took over the positions after former
race directors Neal Novak and Bob Shively stepped down after years of laudable
leadership.
The two stepped into the role and learned quickly how many moving parts there are involved in
planning the races. They said they had amazing support systems in place to help them along the
way.
“I think the most important thing was the enthusiasm of both the committee and the
participants,” said Patterson, in response to bringing back the race for the first time since 2019.
After cancellations like many large distances races faced, Billowitch and Patterson finally
received the go-ahead from the City of Allentown and St. Luke’s to hold the race in 2022.
“To finally be able to meet with St. Luke’s and have them say, ‘Yes, we’re moving forward’ and
the City saying, ‘Yes, we’re moving forward,’ made everyone so excited,” Billowitch said. Dealing with the constant back and forth between everyone and trying to get everything for the race approved, Billowitch and Patterson worked tirelessly with the race committee, sponsors, and the City of Allentown to successfully and safely put together the 2022 race.
“I think everyone who was negotiating back and forth was very clear on the optics of keeping
people safe and preserving the integrity of the race for runners and sponsors,” said Patterson.
Some parts of the race were being reconciled only a few weeks before race day.
“The day we got the permit from the City was important,” Billowitch said. “Then more questions would come. We’d get all those answers and then more questions would come. And I was like,
‘Oh, my God, we have like two weeks left.’”
Billowitch and Patterson tried to keep the race similar to how it used to run before the COVID-
19 pandemic. They were able to bring back many fan-favorite parts of the race, which the City of
Allentown truly embraced on race day.
“We still had our food, we still had the bands. Everything was still as it had been in previous
years. So I don’t feel that anything really got altered,” Billowitch said. “Had it been two years
ago, I think you would have seen a much different race.”
Billowitch and Patterson commended everyone who helped in putting together the race,
especially the St. Luke’s race committee.
“That committee does amazing things,” Billowitch said. “I think having them and just knowing
it’s going to happen. Just absolutely knowing this race is going to happen, I think for me was a
breath of fresh air.”