By Rebecca Adcock
The weather was perfect for the Apple Dumpling Festival 5K. Thank you to the more than 100 participants who took off early Saturday morning to traverse the Mayo River Rail Trail. The race was won in a time of 20:00 by Jonathan Lazaro of Woolwine, followed by RJ Scott in 20:10 and Mark Joyce of Bassett in 21:13. On the women’s side; Elizabeth Warriner was top finisher in 27:37, second was Sybil Slate in 28:28 and third was Eden Nickelson in 29:26.
Many of the runners were under the age of 12. They were part of the Stuart Elementary School Run Club, which had been training afterschool for six weeks leading up the event. Other runners came from surrounding areas of Martinsville, Floyd, Pinnacle and Aberdeen, N.C.
Monies raised support ongoing efforts of the Dan River Basin Association’s trail enhancement work in Patrick County. Specifically, this money will be used to place signage with each of the five Trail H.A.N.D.S. sculptures that are placed around Patrick County. One sculpture is along the Mayo River Rail Trail.
This event would not be possible without the help of sponsors. We would like to thank Patrick County Tourism, Patrick County Chamber of Commerce, Blue Ridge Accounting and Tax Services, Patrick County Eye Associates, Jones and Deshon Orthodontics, Clark Gas and Oil, Blue Ridge Bank, Clark Brothers Construction, Farmers’ Insurance, Blue Ridge Therapy Connection, Patrick County Med Spa and Windy Hill Orchards. For complete list of results, visit the Apple Dumpling Festival 5K Facebook event page.
