A Big Success for Little People
Our first Annual 1K Run was a big success! This event took place on Saturday, October 22, 2016, from 8:00–11:00 AM. Approximately 100 people attended, which included runners, parents, sponsors, and staff. Thanks to their help, we collected nearly 191 pounds of food and $191 in cash, the latter of which will provide an incredible 764 healthy meals for area children.
All proceeds from our 1K Run went to the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank in support of its BackPack Program. This important program ensures that 1,600 local, at-risk children are provided with the nutritious foods they need to get through weekends and holidays. To show our support, Williamsburg Memorial Park is donating $500 to the BackPack Program, which will provide an additional 2,000 meals to at-need kids!
Donations
As the holiday approaches, area children need your help more than ever. Every dollar you contribute provides a child with four healthy meals. To make a secure, tax-deductible donation, please visit our donation portal. No amount is too small.
We will also be accepting food donations throughout the year. Anytime you would like to donate some of the suggested food items, simply drop them off at our Customer Service Center and we’ll make sure they get to the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank so they can be distributed to local children.
Photos
Photos of this year’s race can be found in our 2016 Photo Gallery. If you’d like to share a few of your own, please feel free to post them on our Facebook Page, or email them to us.
Winners
As we see it, everyone who supported this event was a winner and we truly appreciate all of your efforts. But there were a few kids, nine to be exact, that were just a little faster than the rest. Here are the gold, silver, and bronze medalists in each race category.
Wave 1–4th/5th Grade Race
1st Place: Shauna Davis, #9
2nd Place: Elyce Gilstrap, #30
3rd Place: Braiden Wight, #25
Wave 2–2nd/3rd Grade Race
1st Place: Sakura Otsuka, #22
2nd Place: Paul Olsen III, #21
3rd Place: James Claiborne, #4
Wave 3–1st and Under Race
1st Place: Nairobi Cox, #8
2nd Place: Jefferson Gage, #13
3rd Place: Ethan Collett, #7
Prizes
Each 1st place winner received a custom-designed gold medal and a $25 Target gift card. 2nd place winners received a silver medal and a $15 Chick-Fil-A gift card, and 3rd place winners received a bronze medal and a $15 Chick-Fil-A gift card. All runners received a free T-shirt and goodie bag filled with treats and coupons from our sponsors. Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you to everyone who participated!
Feedback
Although we feel like we got a lot of stuff right, we did note a few things we can improve. One thing we had planned on doing was posting runner times on this website. Unfortunately, a computer glitch prevented us from doing that this year, but rest assured we’ll have runner times and more in 2017.
The Williamsburg Memorial Park 1K Run and the Backpack Program is something we’re totally committed to. With your help, we can make this annual event even better. Please use our Contact Form to share with us your thoughts on this year’s 1K Run. What did you like? What can we improve? What would you do differently? Any comments or suggestions are very much appreciated.
