Staff report
* Preliminary results (PDF) Updated – 10 a.m. 11/1/2015
* Start line video – Ready, set, go!
* Official event website
* Event Facebook page
* Mangum Track Club Facebook group
HAMLET — A Holly Springs man and a Hamlet woman won their respective divisions on Saturday in Hamlet in the 31st annual Seaboard Festival 5K run/walk, an event that more than doubled in size from last year to this.
Bradley Scholl, 43, led 192 official finishers to the finish line in 20 minutes and 34.6 seconds. He was followed closely by Phillip Norton, 55, of Laurel Hill, in 20;57.6. Michael Keller, 33, of Whispering Pines, rounded out the top three with a time of 21:19.1 and William Lunceford, 35, of Hamlet, was the top Richmond County finisher in 21:24.3, good for fourth overall.
Deborah Gardner, 40, paced the female runners and walkers in 23:59.6, outdistancing runner-up Sharon Deese, 53, of Aberdeen (24:22) and Brittany Norton, 27, of Laurel Hill (24:33.1).
The Seaboard Festival distance race, which has varied in distance over the past three-plus decades, is staged by members of the Mangum Track Club in conjunction with the annual Seaboard Festival on Main Street in Hamlet. This year marked the start of a new era for the 5K run/walk, as veteran race director Mark Long handed over the reins to the husband and wife duo of Duke and Missy Smith.
The Smiths made some quick changes to this year’s run from years past. Those changes included making sure every finisher received a medal — in this case, an engraved wooden tablet on a ribbon.
Proceeds from the race are given to the Seaboard Festival Committee and are distributed to area charities at a future committee meeting.
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