This year, the Pizza Race finished with something warm, beautiful and well deserved. And no, it was not the pizza. As the hour mark struck on this year’s 5k, a proud Jeni-Fit team composed of family and friends from thousands of miles across the nation crossed the finish line with their chests held high. At the middle of the proud team was Jeni-Fit’s beloved trainer, Winnie, who had been diagnosed with ALS only last year. Team Jeni-fit had just kicked some ALS, and boy was it a knockout.

For anyone who ran or spectated the race, they would agree it was quite the sight to be seen; 70 gray Jeni-Fit shirts crossed the finish line boasting the slogan “Kiss my ALS” on their backs. All the cute puns aside, what Team Jeni-Fit did was very special- not only were they able to raise well over $3,600 in support of ALS, but the members of team Jeni-Fit created a large spectrum of emotions. The most important of those emotions were the first and last, both of which happened to be the same: pride. The pride during the pre-race pictures of the entire Team Jeni-Fit was evident; some participants were proud of the fact that they trained hard at Jeni-Fit Studios to be able to run the race. Even more explosive was the pride at the end of the race; it could be found in an elderly woman’s eyes who flew from Florida to see her daughter’s bravery as she stepped over the finish line, telling ALS that it could not stop her.

As everyone left the race with thousands of calories scattered on Westfield’s streets, and an excess of pizza in their stomach’s (of course, not in Team Jeni-Fit’s stomach), the race ultimately left its mark by demonstrating the power of unity, perseverance and the extensive Jeni-Fit family.

Eli Wirtshafter