Heart and Sole jump-starts United Way fundraising campaign
This youngster shows the spirit of giving your all to the finish line during the United Way Heart and Sole fundraiser race on Aug. 3. United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties uses this race to kick off its fundraising campaign, which this year is set at $1.43 million.
United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties welcomed 602 registered runners to Wooster on Saturday, Aug. 3 for its campaign kick-off event, Heart and Sole, a 5k/10k/half-marathon that was presented by Wooster Community Hospital.
The event was done in conjunction with the start of UWWH’s 2019 campaign. The goal is to raise $1.43 million. Last year UWWH met its goal of $1.3 million and has upped the ante this year.
What makes this $1.43 million so purposeful is every penny goes right back into the Wayne and Holmes communities, where people are in need of aid, both financially and in other ways.
The funds raised will be granted to local agencies that run programs in four focus areas including health, mental-health and substance-abuse treatment; safety net; youth development; and workforce development.
As always the race highlighted the giving of the community and also some of the beauty of Wooster as runners followed a path throughout the city.
UWWH welcomed runners age 4-85, and runners traveled from as far away as Flagstaff, Arizona to participate. This included runners from 10 company teams that have teamed up with United Way, Shaeffler sending the largest number of participants with 79 runners.
The event kicked off on Friday, Aug. 2 with a packet pick-up party in the UWWH parking lot, sponsored by GOJO Industries. The event gave the runners the opportunity to eat dinner, play some games, dance, and pick up their bib and T-shirt for race morning. It helped make the race run smoothly as runners were not rushed the morning of the race, which saw sunny skies.
“It was a seamless and very successful event,” said Katie Koglman, UWWH executive director. “We had so much support from the sponsors and runners representing all of the communities we serve in Wayne and Holmes counties.”
The Saturday morning portion of the event kicked off with the singing of the national anthem, in which the whole crowd participated. The three races kicked off between 7 and 7:30 a.m. and went off without a hitch. Awards were given to age-group winners, as well as to the top-three male and female placers in each race. The winners were awarded prize baskets from area businesses.
According to Koglman, the race had many upgrades this year including a new half-marathon course that challenged the runners from start to finish.
“We had over 70 volunteers on hand between Friday and Saturday to help this event run as smoothly as possible,” Koglman said. “This type of event is only possible with the support of volunteers, as well as the United Way board of directors.”
The winner of the half-marathon in the men’s race was John Rice, who ran the course in 1:26.08. He was hounded by runner-up Heath Grissinger, who ended the race in 1:28.02, and third place went to Gabe Pacer at 1:34.35. The women’s division was won by Teresa Ferguson in 1:28.10, where she was just nipped by men’s runner-up Grissinger. The runner-up honor went to Julie Varner in 1:32.18 while third place went to Nicole Gareri-David in 1:36.02.
The men’s 10k winner was Kevin White, who ran a 36.24, while runner-up went to Ben Stahl in 43.15. Third place was Joshua Frichtel, who finished in 43.56. The women’s 10k winner was Rachel Wentworth, who fired off a 43.26, while Jennifer Ridgeway was the runner-up, winding down her race in 48.52, and third went to Elizabeth Bugner, who ran a 50:06.
The winner of the men’s 5k was Breyden Hay, who came home in 16.50. Second place went to Alexander Thompson, who ran a 17.10, while Carter Withrow was third in 21.31. Mattie Dunlap won the women’s 5k in 23.12 with the runner-up nod going to Abby Snyder in 23.59. Third place went to Josephine Keeke, who ran the race in 25.54.