|
The Jingle Bell Jog's eventual winners Brian Carlson (in Santa hat) and Alyssa Hyden are front and center at the start of the fifth-annual 5K race in downtown Stanford Sunday afternoon. The fund-raising run/walk drew 451 participants and helped raise over $11,000 for the Alzheimer¿s Association Louisville chapter. (Nancy Leedy / nancy@theinteriorjournal.com / December 5, 2012) |
STANFORD – Many people find that, as they get older, their memory seems to become less and less reliable, and some start to question, Am I getting Alzheimer’s?
Sadly, the answer to that question is so often “yes,” with Alzheimer’s growing at an alarming rate to rob them of their memory. Estimates are that 5.4 million Americans suffer from the disease.
On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people took time to remember those affected by the disease by participating in the fifth annual Jingle Bell Jog 5K Run/Walk through the downtown streets of Stanford.
It was a record-breaking day for the annual event with over 540 registering and 451 runners and walkers actually jingling their way along the 3.1-mile course to raise over $11,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association Louisville chapter.
And no one was happier about the turnout than Jingle Bell Jog chairman Angela Todd, who started the Alzheimer’s event in honor of her father, the late Robert L. DeZarn.
“I’m very proud and I think my dad would be very proud because the majority of the people that came out were there just for the cause. The cause means a lot to a lot of people,” she said. “I want people to be aware, and I’m very proud of the work that the committee has done to get the word out about Alzheimer’s and to get people talking about it.”
The Jingle Bell Jog is not limited to local participation, with the fund-raiser run/walk far-reaching. Todd said the event has received donations for Alzheimer’s from all across the state, with many actually making the trek to Stanford to toe the starting line of the 5K race.
“Jason (Todd) and I run a lot of races and there are some really, really good runners in these races who only go to the bigger races, the ‘cadillac’ races. And they were here Sunday,” Todd said. “When we saw them walking around, we were like, ‘Wow!’”
The number of walkup registrations on race day also hit a new high Sunday.
“The most walkups we’d ever had before was 34 and Sunday we had 106,” Todd said.
Brian Carlson, 15, a Lincoln County High School sophomore, repeated as the overall winner in the benefit run/walk. The Stanford runner trimmed 14 seconds off last year’s winning time, covering the 3.1-mile distance in 17:47.
“It seemed a lot easier this time,” Carlson said of the repeat. “I know the course better and it wasn’t cold like in previous years.”
Carlson nipped Cole Grecco at the finish to win last year, but he was all alone at the finish this time around, with second-place runner Brennan Perkins 40 seconds back at 18:27.
“I didn’t hear anybody around me, all I heard was my jingle bells,” Carlson said of his finish. “In the beginning I felt like it was going to be kind of a tough race because a lot of people started up at the front. I was near the front for the first mile before I started to take off, and then I just started opening up a gap.”
Cross country runners swept the individual titles Sunday as Alyssa Hyden of Somerset was the top overall female runner. The Pulaski County eighth-grader, who placed 15th overall, finished her first ever Jingle Bell Jog in a time of 22:01.
While pleased with her finish, Hyden, the reigning Class 3A, Region 7 high school cross country champion, said her time wasn’t her best.
“My times are usually faster for most 3.1’s, but I’ve only run once since cross country so I guess that’s pretty good,” Hyden said.
Many race participants lament about the hills on the Stanford course, but Hyden said the hills weren’t what bothered her in the race.
“I guess because of cross country, where I’m use to running hills, that the hills just weren’t that big of a deal. It was the heat that gave me some troubles,” she said. “It feels good now that I’ve finished, but the sun was shining down during the race making it hot.”
Hyden, as well as most of the 451 participants, crossed the finish line with a present in hand. To add to the fun of the winter run, mountains of presents were set up at the 1-mile, 2-mile and 3-mile marks of the race, with entrants allowed to choose one gift.
“I’m so thrilled with how well everything went,” Todd said of her latest Alzheimer’s effort. “It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of sleepless nights but, when you have as many positive comments as we’ve had and you get the word out about Alzheimer’s to more people, that makes it all worth it.”
