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After threatening to bring rain and thunderstorms all week, Mother Nature gave the Camellia City a temporary reprieve last Saturday morning. While the winds wildly whipped through Confederate Park downtown, the skies stayed clear and dry, allowing the 115 participants in the 11^th annual Healthy Kids 5/10K Walk/Run to take to the streets, the only water evident being the bottled kind passed out along the route.

Educators, physicians, bank tellers, students, office managers, optometrists, busy moms and more were represented in the pool of participants Saturday morning—all running or walking in support of the continued fight against child neglect and abuse.

Representatives of MMS Timing of Montgomery were the official timers for the event, and John Stryker was the first across the finish line for the 5K at just over 19 minutes and 23 seconds. In second place was Hunter Adair, followed by Trey Poppell in third; Jeremy Raines, fourth; Jim Parish, fifth; Caleb Gardner, sixth; Jessica Miller, seventh; Joshua Jenkins, eighth; Payton Thomas, ninth and Josh Lowman, tenth.

In the 10K, Trent Thompson came in first with a time of just over 42 minutes and 51 seconds. In second place was Brandon Slagley, with Mitch Bozeman, third; Jonathan Kidd, fourth; Melody Pipken, fifth and Jeremy Knox rouding out the slate in sixth place.

While Healthy Kids director Lisa Nimmer cheered on—and in some cases, joined the participants on their final assault on the finish line—volunteers and event sponsors in Confederate Park provided the youngsters gathered there with plenty of activities including everything from bouncing and sliding on the inflatables to playing lawn bowling and ring toss, getting their faces painted or enjoying a tasty snack.

Sponsors also offered freebies such as hand fans, tote bags and more at the booths set up under the park’s leafy boughs.  Iconic characters including Marvel’s Thor and Iron Man and Disney’s Mickey and Minnie Mouse also roamed the park to meet and greet the kids and pose for photos.

Once the top runners’ medals had been presented, runners of all ages got the chance to win door prizes donated by sponsors. The morning closed out with the much-anticipated fun run, led by none other than Captain America himself as the children raced around the block for bragging rights.

Nimmer professed herself well pleased with this Saturday in the park.

“I really appreciate all of our wonderful sponsors and everyone who came out to be a part of our event.  Events like this truly show the power and strength of community when we come together for a common cause,” said Nimmer, who also got to cheer on several of her own family members participating in the morning’s walk/run.

“It’s been a great day.”