During a beautiful Monday morning, there were plenty of festivities at Court Square in downtown McMinnville as the town celebrated our nation’s independence with parades, Pioneerette dancing and a cemetery tour led by Mayor Jimmy Haley.
The festivities began with the 35th annual Dr Pepper/ Noon Rotary, Fun Run/Walk 5K.
Matthew Bratcher came in first with a blazing time of 19:57. Anthony Palmer was second with a time of 20:10 and Brandon Eckel rounded out the top three with a time of 20:30.
The event saw 140 participate, ranging from ages 7 and up. Some familiar names that participated were Eckel, who is the owner of Carbide CrossFit and an active military member, Scott Holmes, who is the School Board chair, and Tennessee Warehouse owner Herschel Wells Jr.
Eckel had this to say about running in the event on a day that is special to many Americans and what the course was like.
“I’ve been honored to come out and race in this event for the past five years in a row. I’m in the military and I’ve been deployed for the past 10 years, so coming back home and being able to be a part of something local and honoring the 240th birthday of America is a huge deal for me.”
Eckel added, “We have a gorgeous downtown area and the course takes you through the spectacular scenery McMinnville has to offer so that was a plus.”
One of the event organizers, Kendra Foust had this to say on what the main purpose of the Fun Run is and how impressed all of the organizers were with the turnout.
“We as the city of McMinnville, along with Noon Rotary and Dr Pepper, were happy with the turnout and we’re glad we could get so many people to come out and participate. That was the main goal.”
Foust had this to say to people who may have missed the race this year but may want to participate in the future.
“We would like for the number of people to increase each year and to come out and see and enjoy all of the events that the downtown celebration has to offer.”
Full results from the race can be seen in Friday’s edition.