About 80 runners entered Charleston’s annual Challenge Mid-Winter Classic Saturday morning at Carl Sandburg Elementary School.
Participants could enter to run either a five-, 10- or 15-kilometer race.
The event has been hosted by Charleston for over a decade and invites residents of Charleston as well as people from other towns to enjoy the city’s scenery, according to Lori Henderson, the Charleston department of parks and recreation, tourism and special events supervisor.
“My favorite part is the camaraderie,” Henderson said. “Welcoming out-of-towners here, seeing our residents return year after year for this race. Runners have a very distinct camaraderie amongst each other, and it’s enjoyable to be there with them.”
For some, running is a way to gain mental clarity. The physical exertion mixed with the mental fortitude necessary to complete a race is exactly what lots of the people who signed up for the event said they needed.
For others, such as 63-year-old Chris Slavach, running is how they form relationships.
“My wife and I met when we were on the track team in college and we’ve been running for 40 years,” Slavach said. “We’ve fortunately been able to physically continue to do it, and it’s just something we really enjoy.”
Each race had an overall male and female winner as well as a male and female winner from different age groups. The winners were given various prizes such as fanny packs and cups.
The weather was warmer than is typical for an outdoor event in early February, which may have worked to John Butcher’s benefit.
Butcher, 31, won the 15k race with a time of just over 54 minutes.
“It’s a great race, and it has been a great day too,” Butcher said. “I’m just happy to have a race available to us in February. There’s not too many out here, so just glad it’s here and well supported.”
Some runners use mental gymnastics to push themselves through the race, like 53-year-old Grant Tice. He won the 10k race and was nearly five minutes faster than the second place runner.
Tice said he is constantly calculating in his head to figure out how much of the race he has left to encourage himself to keep going.
“I’m basically doing math trying to think how close I am to the finish,” Tice said.
Also running the 5k was Jay Hoeflinger. At 73 years old, he was the oldest person to run the 5k. Hoeflinger and his friend Richard King run together once a week.
“We enjoy running together,” King said. “We’ve been running together for several years.”
This was an important race for Hoeflinger, who is rehabbing from an injury he suffered. This race was Hoeflinger’s first race back since his injury in the fall.
“It was a significant injury,” Hoeflinger said. “I was unable to run for about two months. I think I’ve gotten back to more or less running shape.”
Henderson says this event makes about $1,000, which benefits the department of parks and recreation.
According to Henderson, this is the only running event Charleston hosts.
Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.