Projo GameTime Blog

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

He made it!

Frank Abate, the special education teacher and volunteer assistant coach of the Westerly baseball team, successfully completed the Philadelphia Half-Marathon on Sunday. Saying last week that he would be running for everyone who had supported him in his efforts and would do "whatever it takes to finish," the 34-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, crossed the finish line in 4 hours, 22 minutes and 26 seconds.

Journal photo/John Freidah
Frank Abate completes his final training run last Wednesday in Weekapaug in preparation for Sunday's Philadelphia Half-Marathon.

"He did a tremendous job," Westerly athletic director Jamey Vetelino, who helped his longtime friend train for the race, said in a voice mail message to the Journal on Sunday. "(He's) pretty tired, but myself and the other people that came down here with him are all extremely proud of him. He ran it just as planned. It was a perfect race plan. He executed tremendously. He was focused. It was great to watch. It was really exciting."

Abate ran the half-marathon in honor of his late father Frank Abate Sr., who lost a battle with pancreatic cancer in 2004. With the assistance of Westerly senior Andrew Felicetti, who incorporated his baseball coach's ambitious endeavor into his senior project, Abate raised more than $4,000 for the American Cancer Society. (Those who would still like to contribute to Abate's effort should send checks made payable to "American Cancer Society" to: Frank Abate, 75 Oak St., Westerly, R.I. 02891.)

"Frank Abate, a lifelong friend had served as an assistant coach to me at Westerly in both basketball and baseball," Neal Cobleigh wrote in an e-mail to the Journal after reading about Abate's plans to run the Philadelphia Half-Marathon.

"His aim was to learn from me. But it was me who learned so much more from him, about perseverance, determination, caring, and the strength of the human spirit," said Cobleigh, who is now the basketball coach at Wheeler High School in North Stonington, Conn. "There is no one I admire more."

 Tags  cerebral palsy Frank Abate Philadelphia Half-Marathon running Westerly

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