Gateway to the Smokies Half Marathon: Saturday, May 14
This year’s Gateway to the Smokies Half Marathon was a resounding success! The weather was undeniably perfect and we had a great group of runners from Florida, New Jersey, Alabama, Washington DC, as well as our neighboring states.
Local law enforcement once again did an excellent job monitoring the course and ensuring the safety of our runners and their cheering squads. In appreciation of their efforts, Frog Level Brewing Company hosted a pancake and sausage breakfast to benefit their respective organizations – Waynesville Police Department, Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, Waynesville Fire Department and the Civilian Police Academy. We want to extend a special thanks to Clark Williams, owner & brewmaster of Frog Level Brewing Company, for his dedicated community support of both the Chamber and local organizations such as law enforcement.
Every runner was awarded a medal for completing the course. The fastest male/female runners in each age category received additional gold/silver/bronze medals. Fastest overall winners were:
#1 Jared Berry of Powell, TN
#2 Sarah Beth Lee of Waynesville, NC
#3 Kevin Fitzgerald of Waynesville, NC
All runners have great stories to tell, races they’ve completed, new “personal best” records. Our 2nd annual half marathon brought forth some particularly touching moments. We are so proud to have the following folks add to our running story:
- Our own Kevin Fitzgerald, who won last year’s race, came in third.
- Another participant ran in honor of her husband who also raced last year, but tragically passed away in March at the age of 74.
- One family ran together, pushing a member of their team in a running stroller, for 13.1 miles, over hill and dale.
Enjoy these incredible moments:
