by

Alan B. Gibson

Foothills will give locals a chance to cheer the “Runnin’ Dawgs”

Congratulations go out to a group of C.C.H.S. athletes as well as several Clinton County Middle School athletes, and a host of other local and area runners who dragged themselves out of the bed early Saturday morning and found their way to the Mountain View Rec Park for the Foothills Festival 5K Run.

Since Cross County was added to the high school, and now the middle school, athletic lineup several years ago, the Runnin’ Dawgs have been a big part of making each Foothills 5K Run a huge success.

This year was no exception, with over 30 runners from the local squads participating in the 2011 race, and of course the coaches with the teams were right there also, trodding up the pavement and trying hard not to finish behind all of their runners.

A special congratulations also goes out to the two overall winners in Saturday’s race, and they were also both members of the Clinton County Runnin’ Dawgs.

Joe Davis successfully defended his overall win title by crossing the finish line Saturday morning in front of all of the other 164 runners in the field, clocking an overall time for the 5K (3.1 miles) of 18:56. Joe’s finish was just a few yards in front of another runner who was closing in, his brother John Davis, yet another Cross Country team member.

On the girls’ side of Saturday’s race, yet another Runnin’ Dawg, Seanea York, was the first one to cross the finish line, picking up the first place title in the female division with a time of 23:54. Seanea is a member of the Clinton County Middle School Runnin’ Dawgs squad, is currently in the sisth grade and ran Saturday in the 9-12 year age group.

Congrats to the winners and every member of the squad who participated in Saturday’s race – as well as to all of the runners. Your participation is appreciated, not only by the Foothills 5K Run organizers, but by the fans who enjoy watching the early Saturday morning race. The Foothills 5K has become an event that is looked forward to by a growing crowd of people.

While we’re at it, congratulations go out to the organizers of the 5K Run again for a job well done.

If you’ve never stood at the finish line and observed this group working hand in hand to make sure every runner who crosses the line is recorded – with a correct time – in the correct finishing order, then you can’t appreciate just how difficult it can be at times.

It might look like organized chaos to some, but when you learn their system, it’s a very well organized method. A special congratulations goes out to Coordinator Fran Hay, who has now finished putting together some 25 Foothills Festival 5K Runs, and says she would like to step back and see someone else take over the front leadership role, while remaining involved in a lesser degree.

I’m sure she’ll find someone capable of keeping the Foothills 5K the premier event it is, but those are going to be some big shoes to fill.