The 23rd annual Coffee Regional Medical Center Heart 2 Heart Trail Run and Walk held Saturday, March 6, was a huge success with over 200 registered participants. Runners and walkers lined up in front of the General Coffee State Park Group Shelter to compete for medals, door prizes, and good health.
The 10k and 5K races were part of the 2021 Georgia Grand Prix Series, where runners earn points for competing in the state of Georgia. The 1.5-mile walk and a 1.5-mile Youth Fun Run kicked off the event at 8:30 am. In addition to these events, General Coffee State Park provided camping, archery, pioneer crafts, and guided tours of the farm and trails. It was truly exciting to see so many people participating in a day of family activities.
Overall winners submitting the fastest times in the 5K run were: William “Garrett” Mancil, with a time of 21:47, who won the Overall Male division, and Haley Howell, with a time of 25:21, who won the Overall Female division. First, second, and third place medals were given in each five-year age division for the 5K event. Overall winners submitting the fastest times in the 10K run were: Daniel Vickers, with a time of 47:11, who won the Overall Male division, and Brayden Bailey, with a time of 49:29, who won the Overall Female division. All 10K finishers received medals along with the 1.5-mile Fun Runners. The overall winners also received a gift bag filled with prizes and a gift card.
Sponsorships and community support were overwhelming! A huge thank you goes to our Douglas Chick-fil-A for sponsoring chicken sandwiches and chips for a post-race meal. We also thank our sponsors: RW Griffin Industries, Specialized Structures, Austin Respiratory, PCC Airfoils, LLC, Smile Doctors Braces by Fender-Goggans Orthodontics, GracePointe Church, Burnam Berry Farms, Fairfield Inn, Property Hunters of South Georgia, Beta Sigma Phi – Alpha Theta Chapter, Mary’s Restaurant, L&M Supply, Williams Institutional Foods, Burger King, Beta Sigma Phi – Kappa Beta Chapter, Clements, Purvis, and Stewart, P.C., Premium Peanut, Trojan Cargo Sales, LLC, Premium Touch Graphics, R. Scott Moore, CPA, Premium Waters, and Moore than Graphics. We also want to thank local businesses for donations including food, beverages, and event giveaways. In addition, we want to thank those individuals who made private donations to the Cardiac Rehab Scholarship.
Of course, no event would be successful without the tremendous amount of community support and enthusiasm of the many volunteers who supported this event. We want to thank Coffee High School NJROTC, South Georgia State College Pre-Med club, CRMC EMS team, and Coffee Regional’s Rise-Up volunteer group. Additionally, we want to thank Luke, Heather, and the volunteers at General Coffee State Park for doing a fantastic job in clearing trails, setting up, and supporting the event.
Importantly, we want to thank all of the individuals and businesses in the community who supported our Wear Red t-shirt campaign, paper heart sales, and our flower sale throughout the month of February. A special thanks to Kevin Koeppler and Sunbelt Greenhouses for supplying beautiful hydrangeas and cyclamens for our first flower sale. This flower sale was extremely successful and we hope to continue with this fundraiser in the future.
February is National Heart Disease Awareness month and, according to national studies, heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. The focus of our campaign is to bring more awareness to the community about heart disease and how it affects us all. It’s important to understand your risk factors and how to make simple lifestyle modifications to prevent heart disease. Please visit our website www.wellness247.org to learn more about heart disease and prevention.
The proceeds from all events throughout February will benefit the CRMC Cardiac Rehab Scholarship under the CRMC Foundation.