The LIBERTY PARK 5K RUN was held in Liberty Park on 08-25 on a fairly fair day considering it had been over 100 for several days in a row. They usually have a new Race Director for this race every year but the same pleasant volunteers seem to be around for each running of this event. Last year’s Race Director, Susan McCullum took care of data entry both before the run and after the run. There was a lot of good food before and after the race from area restaurants and grocery stores. The winner was Peyton Shirley in 18:06 over this somewhat hilly course with Russell Placey finishing 2^nd in 18:46 and 3^rd was Joey Bole in 19:05. The 1^st Female, finishing 3^rd overall, was Erica Braswell in 18:51, 2^nd was Sarah Viamonte in 21:11 and 3^rd was Natalie Lockhart in 21:17. The 1^st Master was Bob Williams in 20:18 and the 1^st Female Master was Cindy Dietsch. There were 191 total registered (not counting the 50 or 60 kids who ran the 1 mile Fun Run).

The E2 5K was held in Trussville on 08-18 on a point-to-point CERTIFIED COURSE. It had a couple of challenging hills but also had some really nice down hills. It would just help if you saved a little for the last hill ending at the 3 mile point. The Race Director, Rhona Clark, did a great job in organizing the event. Being a runner makes a lot of difference in knowing what the runners expect and appreciate. It was pretty hot during the race and the first 5 finishers were all High School Track runners who were really competing against each other and all ended up pretty well spent after the race. The winner was Clay Simpson in 17:02, 2^nd was Steven Rich in 17:04, and 3^rd was Adam Vise in 18:45. The 1^st Female was Ashley Brisco in 21:50, 2^nd was Natalie Lockhart in 22:16 and 3^rd was Lacey Johnson in 25:00. The 1^st Master was Wayne Quick in 19:36 and the 1^st Female Master was Cheryl Ezell in 39:31. All of the Church volunteers were great! There were 112 registered runners.

The SHAKE & BAKE 5K was held in Mt. Laurel on 08-04. The run goes out on Hwy.41 for about 3/4 of a mile and then comes back to the village and loops around the neighborhood finishing right next to a park. The course may be modified some next year since they have opened up more streets with the Village and plus there have been complaints about the 1 mile point being off. The total distance is O.K., it’s just that the road has been paved and I’m not so sure anyone really knows where the 1 mi. point is. The winner was Dewayne Miner in 16:25, 2^nd was Prince Whatley in 18:34 and 3^rd was Brandon Field in 18:40. The 1^st Female was Mallory Carrington in 26:03, 2^nd was Kellie Persall in 26:06 and 3^rd was Lisa Brush in 26:09. The 1^st Master was Logan Cook in 20:09 and the 1^st Female Master was Kellie Persall. There were 63 runners in all registered.

I kind of thought that the PEAVINE FALLS RUN on July 4^th would have it’s largest crowd in 26 yrs since the 4^th was falling on a midweek day and not many people would be driving. The largest registration prior to this race was 349 people in 2002 and we had 401 sign up this year. I even purchased more t-shirts so that we would not run out so soon, but obviously we ran 5:out. The weather was really good – not all that hot. “Tria” was a new sponsor this year and gave us several cases of fruit and a large batch of store baked cookies. Coke donated bottled “Dasani” water and bottled “Powerade” which was a lot more convenient that using cups, but I never thought how heavy the load would be on my poor little truck. The bed of the truck was full to the top of bottled water and plus I had 6 10 gallon coolers for the water on the course. I couldn’t go much over 45 MPH on the interstate. That could not be said for this year’s winner, Scott Strand, who blistered the course in 43:20 (5:17/MI) and breaking the course record by 1:20! 2^nd place 5 minutes back was Stephan Payne in 48:25 and Tony Herndon was 3^rd in 49:37. The 1^st Female was Mary Jo Schmaltz back to her “speedy” self after a long lay off in 55:11, 2^nd was Stephanie Wilkins in 1:01:01 and 3^rd was Sarah Viamonte in 1:02:10. The 1^st Master was Jeff Clark in 52:48 and the 1^st Female Master was Carol Pritchard in 1:03:23.

The RACE TO THE COURTHOUSE 5K was on 06-23 with the race starting at the Downtown YMCA and ending on 20^th St just short of Linn Park. First time Race Director, did a fantastic job organizing this event along with a great staff from the YMCA. Everything was going great until the BTC printer decided not to work again, so we had to read the winners off the computer screen in the sunlight! The $33 HP from Walmart was given a nice new home to the first person who took it and I went out and bought a much nicer model. The winner was Dewayne Miner in 15:40, 2^nd was Nick Cutchens in 17:39 and 3^rd place went to Wynn McCellan in 17:49. The 1^st Female was Jess Smith in 30:39, 2^nd was Lori Von Pingel in 21:30 and 3^rd was Caitlin Miner in 21:41. The 1^st Master was Jeff Clark in 18:01 and the 1^st Female Master was Michelle Oliver in 23:13.