On Sunday, June 26, a large field of runners triumphed over the early-summer heat at the fourth annual Running The Ave 5K, which took place in downtown Vineland and featured a newly designed course that gave runners a full tour of downtown Vineland, including the Landis Theater, City Hall, and the city’s new police station.
The run was organized by Main Street Vineland, in cooperation with Second Capital Running, with Premier Orthopaedic Associates as the major sponsor and NovaCare and East Oak Animal Hospital as sponsors.
This year’s race had 127 finishers, and more than 20 percent were local runners under the age of 18 and as young as seven years old.
Runners included those from seven New Jersey counties, as well as Pennsylvania and Maryland, and, when the event was over, the winners were:
Winner: Edward Ross, age 47, of Mullica Hill, with a time of 16 min. 33 sec.
First Female Finisher: Erin Walker-Decastro, age 42, of Turnersville, with a time of 19 min. 20 sec.
Vineland’s Fastest Finisher: Jason Harrell, age 47, with a time of 18 min. 10 sec.
True Grit Award (last place finisher—“to celebrate the spirit of never giving up”): Lauren Davenport, age 41, of Millville
For this sanctioned race, Vineland’s downtown business district was transformed into a magnificent 5K course, which included a run through beautiful Landis Park. Volunteers encouraged the runners as they traversed the course.
This race again did Vineland and The Ave proud. The tremendous response each year has been truly gratifying,.
Event coordinator Andre Rivera, of Second Capital Running, was, again, the strong leading light for this project, from start to finish, and making it a fun, competitive, safe event.
Andre, the runners, as well as all the sponsors and providers of services, all did a tremendous job. This event maintains its place as a key part of Main Street Vineland’s summer season on The Ave.”
The Vineland Health Department also sponsored a health fair in the parking lots on the 600 block of Elmer Street. It included vaccinations, participation by local health-related vendors, and refreshments, including an ice cream truck.
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