Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – Runners from all across Craighead County came together Saturday to test their speed in the 30th rendition of the Hytrol 5K/10K race as participation hit the highest in the event’s history.
The annual race celebrated its 30th anniversary with a record-breaking 255 runners, a 40% jump from last year’s total. The surge in participants also generated record funding for the Jonesboro Church Health Center, bringing in approximately $7,000 from registration fees. The organization supplies uninsured or underinsured families with health benefits and medical supplies.
Coming into the milestone year for the event, Race Coordinator Hannah Freeland set goals for participation and funding which she overachieved on.
“The main goal was to grow the race every year, and I wanted to get over 200 [runners]. That was the main goal because we had 175 last year,” Freeland said. “Getting over 200 was great, then getting 255 was even better.”
Freeland said a majority of the participants also ran in the Hytrol 5K/10K the previous year and that group acts as a major pull for new runners in the race, contributing to the historic number of registrants.
“A lot of people will say their friend ran it and they told them about it,” Freeland said. “People spreading the word about it, hyping it up, bragging about it, that always helps. All the money goes straight to [Jonesboro Church Health Center] so that always just makes it a lot better.”
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To reach that goal, Freeland enlisted the help of returning participants and local community groups such as the Gearhead Outfitters and Native Brew Works run clubs.
“Normally, at the [Gearhead] run club, there’ll be between 60 and 100 people that meet up. I knew that was going to be a key group to get to. Native also has a run club that meets on Wednesdays and I’ve been telling some of those runners as well,” Freeland said. “[I] was trying to hit those target communities that I knew would sign up for it.”
Justin Depew, the second-place finisher in the men’s division of the 10K and a member of the Gearhead run club, said one of his reasons for participating came from Gearhead’s run club and that the group is very open to working together with races such as Hytrol to promote registration.
“I’m part of the run club, so this is a race that a lot of our run club members do,” Depew said. “We encourage local race directors to host their races there and raise awareness for the running community in the area.”
With the race hitting peak membership through the promotions from returners and run clubs, Freeland said she plans to help grow the race further beyond the running community by promoting the event to a much broader audience.
“I really want to make it a family-friendly event because I know 5Ks and 10Ks can sound pretty intimidating, especially if you’re not a runner,” Freeland said. “You don’t have to make it an actual race and run it the whole time because we have lots of people that’ll come and just walk it as well.”
As the race continues to become a staple in Jonesboro, Depew said the running community of the area continues to grow around it and the people within such as himself are willing to put in work to help it flourish for many years in the future.
“This is probably one of the biggest races in the Jonesboro area,” Depew said. “I try to go and promote the bigger and premier races we have here in Jonesboro and make sure that we try to grow the running community here in Jonesboro.”
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