Newsday

So she and the family organized a Father's Day memorial 5K run honoring Downey, 63, a longtime runner, father of five and noted disaster specialist, who headed up recovery teams after the Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

"It's a good day to get people together, because it's so sad" for those who have lost their fathers, said Tortorici, 41, taking a break from the festivities yesterday at the Knights of Columbus Hall's ballfield in Downey's hometown of Deer Park.

More than 1,500 runners and walkers registered for the event this year, which also included a kids' run. After the races, participants and their families enjoyed a day in the sun, sipping sodas and beer, and eating hot dogs and pretzels donated by local businesses. Children shrieked as they tumbled down an inflatable slide shaped like a firetruck; others clambered around a gleaming red 1951 fire engine belonging to the FDNY's Fire Family Transport Foundation.

Now in its fourth year, the event has raised about $50,000 since its inception, said Downey's son, Joseph, an FDNY battalion chief who lives in West Islip. Proceeds go to local charities and a scholarship fund in Downey's name.

Organizers also honored the three city firefighters who died on Father's Day 2001 after an explosion during a blaze at an Astoria hardware store.

"We felt that my dad had given so much in his life that it was time to give back in his name," said Downey, 43. "It's not just to remember him. ... It's for all the fathers who can't be with their families, especially those who died on 9/11."

Some who came have ties to the fire department; others are community members who rallied around the family after Downey's death.

"He was such a great father," Babylon councilwoman Carol Quirk, a longtime Deer Park resident, said of Downey as his 12 grandchildren scrambled up and around the stage. "It's so fitting."

Keith Croslin, 39, of Deer Park never knew Ray Downey, but signed up for the run in 2003 after his son brought a flier home from school. His sons, ages 9 and 5, both ran in the kids' run this year; for a more private Father's Day celebration, he said, "they're gonna take me out for dinner."

Clare Quinones, 34, earned first place in the Deer Park resident category with a time of 24:01. She grew up with the Downey kids and has participated each year; while she ran, her husband minded their two children, toddlers who don't yet understand the sad backstory behind the festive event.

The Rev. Frank Gaeta of Saints Cyril and Methodius parish in Deer Park called the run a "beautiful celebration of families." He asked those assembled to remember absent fathers "and bless the fathers who are all here."