RIVERFEST RUN CELEBRATES ITS TENTH YEAR AS PART OF RIVERFEST

Area fitness and leisure runners and walkers will have a chance to participate in the 10th annual Kohlfeld Riverfest Run Friday.

The 5-mile run is sponsored by Kohlfeld Distributing and organized by the Cape Road Runners, which also hosts a one-mile Fitness Walk and Fun Run.

"We started out with the 5-mile run and four years ago we added the 1-mile race," said Joy Gilbert, race director and member of the Cape Road Runners. "The one-mile is more for recreational runners."

Gilbert said that in recent years there have been more families participating in the run. "It's a family fun event," she said. "Parents and kids are both entered. We have 3-year-olds to 80-year-olds."

Gilbert said people come from a wide region to participate in the races.

"We advertise in two national running magazines," she said, "and we get a lot of people from Southern Illinois, St. Louis, outside of Cape and western Kentucky. We have somebody from East Lansing, Mich."

Last year 371 people finished the race, said Gilbert. The Cape Road Runners set 400 as their goal for participation this year.

Gilbert attributed the race's affiliation with Riverfest as a factor in its popularity. "People know it's a good race," she said, "and they like to go to Riverfest.

"They can run the race, and then go to Riverfest and enjoy some good food and entertainment. It's a nice evening."

Both races start at the corner of Broadway and Main at 7:30 p.m., and runners can register until 7 p.m. for either race.

Late registration fee is $6. Registration will be on the parking lot of Boatmen's Bank.

The 5-mile race will follow Main street north to Cape Rock Drive. Then runners will follow Cape Rock Drive east, circle around Cape Rock and race back to the starting point.

One-mile runners will follow the same route except they will run only as far as the corner of Main and Pearl, where the old Florsheim shoe plant stood, and turn back.

People who want to walk the 5-mile course must start at 7 p.m. in order to finish before 8:30, Gilbert said.

"Everybody, as they cross the finish line, gets an award ribbon for finishing," Gilbert said. "To us, to finish is to win."

She said safety of the runners and spectators is the main concern of the Cape Road Runners.

"We're out there to provide a safe race," she said. "The Cape Police Department blocks traffic to start the race. They have been very cooperative.

"We also have aid stations and volunteers on the course. We're out there to provide any kind of support to anybody who might need it."

Southeast Hospital will have people present at the race to provide first aid, if needed.

Entrants were guaranteed a T-shirt if they entered by June 9, but Gilbert said the Road Runners expected to have plenty of shirts for all participants, even those registering late.

Gilbert said T-shirt designs were changed for this year's race in honor of its 10th anniversary. The shirts now picture a family of runners. "It's also the first year we've given finish ribbons to the runners," she said.

Although everyone in the same event races at the same time, they are divided into male and female and age groups, with prizes going to winners in each division. In the 5-mile run, the first-place man and the first-place woman finishers will each receive a gold watch, courtesy of Kohlfeld.

Other runners who place in the top of their divisions receive trophies, Gilbert said.

Due to insurance and safety concerns, there will be no bicycles, racing strollers, roller blades or skates, or headsets allowed in the race. Gilbert said, however, that participants may push baby strollers on the sidewalk for the 1-mile race only.

Post-race refreshments will be available at the registration site.