The Dash for a Playground 5K Saturday, Oct. 29, drew more than 100 people to run, walk or cheer on the participants.
The race, which raised nearly $2,000 that will go to the Pierce PTO Playground Fund, started at the Pierce School in Bennington at 9 a.m. Runners and walkers were greeted with a clear and brisk day before running the roughly 3.5-mile loop that took 56 participants over roads and along the Bennington rail trail.
The Pierce PTO Playground Fund was started last year by the PTO in order to pay for a new playground at the Pierce School. Francestown Elementary School and Pierce School Principal Beth Gibney said the current playground is out ,of date and a new one is needed, adding that a target of $50,000 was set to build a new playground. Following Saturday’s race the Playground Fund is at $35,000.
“Last year, we kicked off a kindness-project fundraiser where students would do acts of kindness,” Gibney said, adding that, ideally, $80,000 would complete the entire project from start to finish.
People from all over the Monadnock region participated in Saturday’s race.
“We had people from the Monadnock Running Club, from Hancock, Dublin, Francestown – just about every town in the district was represented,” Gibney said. “It was great.”
Both children and adults participated in the race, and 15 children ran the Kids Dash around the playground.
“It was definitely a success,” Gibney said, thanking the following businesses for sponsoring the event: Bellows-Nichols Insurance, Edmunds Ace Hardware, Dunkin’ Donuts in Antrim, Shaw’s in Hillsborough, Bennington Fire and Blueberry Hill Design.
“We are looking forward to this race becoming a yearly event with a different fundraising focus each year,” Gibney said.
Winners of the Kids Dash were Ethan Parisi, age 9, first place; Wren Lawler, age 5 second place; and Brynn H., age 8, third place. The full-course winners in the female walkers category were Cheryl Jesse, first place; Jenn Sutton, second place; and Lisa Riley in third. In the male walkers category John McNair came in first, with Tom Morris and Clayton Couch finishing in second and third, respectively.
For the female runners, Sarah Reardon took first place, followed by Heather McKillop in second and Amy Janoch in third place. In the male runners category, Jesse Edwards came in first, followed by Sean Radcliffe and Garret Cassidy, respectively.