Cristin Mullen Run Benefits St. Rose CYO
The spirit of Cristin Mullen lives on through the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Academy CYO program. On Friday, October 28, St. Rose honored the late athlete and celebrated the ways in which the proceeds of the Cristin Mullen Run are benefitting young athletes at the school.
As described by Bobby Steiner, head of the CYO Program at St. Rose, Mullen was a tremendous athlete herself. “Cristin was a Rockaway resident. She grew up in Belle Harbor and attended St. Francis de Sales grammar school where she played several sports in the CYO program. She then attended Bishop Kearney High School where she participated in swim and track. From there, she moved on to St. Francis College on a full scholarship where she ran track and swam for college. She was a lifeguard for 16 years at Riis Park. After completing college, she ended up getting her teaching certification and she taught as a special education teacher for the Board of Ed in District 75. She ran the NYC Marathon for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. She was a volunteer coach and a participant in several organizations,” Steiner said. “Unfortunately, she also battled epilepsy for over 16 years and fell victim to a massive seizure that took her life at age 35.”
Mullen passed away on December 17, 2020. Since her tragic passing, the Mullen family has found ways to honor their daughter and continue her legacy through something she loved—running. For the past two years, the Cristin Mullen 5K has served as an event to honor her memory, and to raise funds for St. Rose of Lima, a parish near and dear to the Mullen family. The ceremony on October 28 was a prime example of the ways in which the Cristin Mullen Run helps the parish.
“Her mom and her family do a run in her honor, and they do it right out of the parking lot here at St. Rose, so this year, St. Rose was the recipient of all the proceeds that were raised and all of the proceeds that came from that go directly into our program,” Steiner explained. “Every one of our kids is gonna get a warm-up shirt in addition to their uniform this year, which is paid for from the Mullen family donations. All of the coaches are wearing warm up jackets that are paid for through the donation from the Mullen family. All the food and drinks that your kids are about to devour are paid for by the Mullen family,” Steiner said.
Steiner then called the Mullen family up to present St. Rose basketball jackets to them. “Cristin’s mom spoke about her daughter and what a fierce athlete she was, and she could not be any more grateful that the money they donated is going to a CYO program and a good cause here,” Steiner said. “I want you to keep in mind as we go through this current season that this was made possible through these donations, and it just doesn’t happen by itself.”
Donations like that from the Mullen family are a huge help to CYO programs, according to Steiner. “CYO programs across the city struggle financially because they have to be self-independent, so without donations or people participating financially, they don’t have the ability to be successful. Every once in a while, you get a donation that helps out or alumni from a program come back and they make some donations for the equipment because a lot of times without that, the coaches are in their pockets buying equipment, buying basketballs, buying lunches for kids on the way home, gas, all that stuff. This year, we were very fortunate that the St. Rose of Lima CYO program was the recipient of a donation from the Cristin Mullen Run.”
