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2008 5K Run/Walk is Big Success!
The 5th Annual Neighbors Sharing with Neighbors 5K was blessed with sunny weather on the morning of Saturday 1 November 2008, much to the delight of the approximately 70 participants.
The competitors gathered at Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 8115 Oaklandon Road for the 9AM start of the footrace that coursed through The Highlands at Geist, Admirals Landing and Crystal Pointe neighborhoods. Attendance was increased a bit over prior years, either due to Halloween candy guilt or because the only other foot races in town that day were four to eight times the distance.
Numerous volunteers and donors contributed to the success of this year’s event. Publicity was courtesy of atGeist.com’s community calendar and The Running Company and The Runners Forum allowed us to distribute race applications in their stores. Gail Henricks, Lealon Tonkinson, Heath Kirkpatrick and Pastor Sattler took care of course marking, registration, refreshments, photography, timing and results. New this year were pairs of gift certificates for Chef Suzanne’s Thursday evening cooking classes at The Fox Pub and Grill which were awarded to the masters male and female first place finishers. Mudsocks Grill provided a generous supply of discount coupons for our racers. Finally, thanks to the efforts of Jim and Edna Boerger, the nearly $700 in entry fees collected will be matched by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans for a total cash contribution of almost $1400 to The Sharing Place, a food and clothing pantry serving our neighbors at 7049 East 10th Street.
Line honors went to JurJuan Walker while setting a course record of 17:17, followed by Michael Hlavek in second place. Michael Denney was third overall and first in the male masters division. Austin Potts was the fourth finisher overall and first in the male under 20 division. Chuck Butler was fifth overall and second in the male masters division. Larry Varchetti was sixth overall and third in the male masters division. Ashley Potts was the seventh fastest finisher overall as well as the fastest female overall followed by Heidi Benson as the second fastest female overall and the fastest female in the masters division. Ashley’s mom, Janet Potts, was the third fastest female overall and the second fastest female in the masters division. The third fastest female in the masters division was JoAnne Palmer. Richard Beck at age 82 was the oldest participant. Forty four racers were first time participants in this event and four participants have completed all four years of this race: Ashley and Austin Potts, and Cindy and Tom Tokarek. Thanks to all our patient neighbors for allowing us to enjoy a safe romp through the area. Please join us next year as we undertake to help the less fortunate in our community.
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