CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield Revitalization Corp. (CRC) will hold its first-ever Pumpkin Run/Walk 5K event at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, and participants will race through the downtown and scenic West Side neighborhoods decorated in fall foliage.
The race course will be lined with straw bales, pumpkins and cornstalks so that participants and spectators alike can’t help but to “fall” for downtown Clearfield.
“It’s a walk or run. We can’t stress that enough. They don’t have to run,” said Brock Shaffer, a volunteer with the CRC’s promotions committee. The event will be held rain or shine.
Racers will begin the course near the former Uni-Mart and take East Market Street until turning left onto North Second Street before hanging another left onto North Front Street.
There, racers turn left onto Walnut Street and proceed down Leavy Avenue before turning left again down South and North Third streets until reaching Bridge Street. At this point, racers will cross the Nichols Street Bridge and turn left onto Weaver Street and continue down West Second Avenue.
Racers will turn left onto Wallace Street and take another left onto West First Avenue, where they’ll make a right onto East Market Street, returning to the race’s starting point.
Awards will be presented to the first, second and third place finishes for the overall male and female racer. Individual male and females will be awarded in the following age groups: 14 and under, 15 to 19 years, 20 to 29 years, 30 to 39 years, 40 to 49 years, 50 to 59 years and 60 and over.
An awards ceremony will be held immediately following the race. Participants must be present in order to receive an award, and there will not be any duplicate awards given.
Although participants can sign-up the day of the event, pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Pre-registration can be completed through Oct. 1 and is $15 with a race T-shirt or $10 without.
Late/day of registration will be $20, and T-shirts cannot be guaranteed to these participants. The CRC can only accept cash or personal checks on the day before and the day of the race.
Race packets can be picked up between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7 at the office of Rob Bozovich, State Farm Insurance, which is located at 218 East Locust St., Clearfield, PA 16830.
In addition, participants are able to pick up packets race day during registration from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. at the tent across from the Joseph and Elizabeth Shaw Public Library.
Strollers and dogs are permitted on the race course; however, these participants are asked to begin the race toward the back. Dogs must be on a short leash so they don’t interfere with other participants. Headsets of any kind as well as bicycles and scooters are prohibited from the course, Shaffer said.
“But some participants will be running with pumpkins . . . We’ve had some ask if they could, and we said they could,” he said. Shaffer would like to express his gratitude to all of the event’s sponsors on behalf of the CRC for supporting this event.
For additional information or to register for the Clearfield Pumpkin Run/Walk 5K event, please click here. Anyone with questions is asked to contact the Clearfield Revitalization Corp. at 207 East Market St., Clearfield, PA 16830, by phone at 814-765-6000 or via e-mail at crc.promotions@gmail.com.