Runners and Walkers start Parma Day with five kilometer event

   Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s Parma Day Harvest Festival 5k! It was a beautiful morning for a run or walk in Parma, Mich., on Sept. 27, and the start of the 3.1-mile run, walk, or stroll got things started for the celebration of all things Parma.

   Finishing in first place overall was 14-year-old Taelor Eernisse, who ran the course in just under 20 minutes. “I really like to run,” Eernisse said. “It feels good.”

   Joanne Worden was first place among female competitors. “I ran this course last year,” she said. “That’s a really long straightaway coming into town.

Time	Bib#	First Name	Last Name	Gender
19:57	217	Taelor	Eernisse	M	first overall male
22:23	219	Josh	Otto	M	1st age/gender division
23:38	214	Sherwin	Wray	M	1st age/gender division
25:38:00	218	Bailey	Railer	M	1st age/gender division
25:39:00	201	Logan	Baum	M	1st age/gender division
26:46:00	204	Gale	Easton	M	1st age/gender division
28:37:00	213	Joann	Worden	F	first overall female
32:20:00	215	Gena	Young	F	1st age/gender division
36:48:00	202	Tami	Cary	F	1st age/gender division
39:18:00	203	Mya	Dake	F	1st age/gender division
39:25:00	212	Marcia	Rimer	F	1st age/gender division
43:08:00	205	Bonnie	Easton	F	1st age/gender division
43:28:00	206	Elise	Hawes	F	1st age/gender division
43:28:00	208	Haylie	Phillips	F	1st age/gender division
45:32:00	209	John	Reule	M	1st age/gender division
45:34:00	210	Paula	Reule	F	1st age/gender division
45:35:00	211	Laura	Reule	F	1st age/gender division
49:52:00	216	Mary	Konkol	F	1st age/gender division
52:44:00	207	Michele	Munn	F	1st age/gender division
52:44:00	220	Jim	Munn	M	1st age/gender division

Hooray for Parma!

Thank you to the PDHF Committee -- especially Tera Dorr and Jamie Baum -- for their commitment to this aspect of Parma Day. Special thanks go to Gena Young, Gale Easton and Blaine Goodrich, who helped get things going yesterday morning. 

Register now for the Parma Day Harvest Festival 5k

On a race course similar to that of the Goodbye Yeti, walkers and runners will start and finish in downtown Parma, Michigan, at 8 a.m. on Sept. 27. 

Click here to register online. 

Those who register on or before midnight, Sept. 19 will receive a commemorative T-shirt. The fee is only $20.
Pre-registration for kids 12 and under is $10, but this is only necessary if they want shirts. Otherwise, kids run free.  

Downtown Parma, Mich., as seen from the lawn of the public library. 

If you have questions, or would like to volunteer time or resources to the organizing of this event, email  lucas.sponsler @ westernschools.org.

We made the cover of the County Press!

Not only that, but Mrs. Sponsler is tweeting about it.

You are a winner

Just getting to the starting line makes you a winner. 

There was a moment, probably several of them, where you said to yourself something like, "I can't do this." But you didn't listen, and you kept going. That makes you a winner. 

When you felt the wind whipping across the fields of Parma, the interstate highway roaring in the distance, and you saw the flags flapping at the finish line, you knew you could do it. So you dug down, found the gumption and the grit you needed, and finished strong. That makes you a winner.

Then, as your body tried to get back to "normal," you felt a mix of dizziness and euphoria. Maybe your legs felt like jelly for a bit. And you knew you had left it all on the race course. That makes you a winner.

Regardless of how you place or how long it takes, pushing yourself to get up and get moving: that makes you a winner.

Goodbye Yeti 2014 a success

From left, Anthony Winnie, Mason McFerran, and Mackenzie Kellar display their hardware. 

     Nearly 100 participants gathered in Parma today for the annual running of the Yeti. After a winter of record-breaking low temperatures and snow fall, runners, walkers and strollers chased away the Western Yeti, cousin of the mythical abominable snowman of the Himalayas by completing the kids half mile and the 5k road race.
     The air was cool, in the upper 30s, but still on this overcast morning. It was a good day to run.
      Winning the kids half mile on a course adapted were Caitlin Young and Jeffrey Palmer.
      Finishing in first place among females was Mackenzie Kellar, and the overall winner of the male division was Anthony Winnie. Mason McFerran was honored with the Best Yeti Costume Award.
      Results for the 5k are available at http://www.runningfoundation.com/Yeti_Run_Down.html

Say goodbye on March 15. Click HERE to register.

HERE

Use this form to register, or register online.

Register online by clicking (HERE).

www.runningfoundation.com/Yeti_Run_Down.html (HERE).HERE

This winter proves it: the Yeti will need to be chased away.

"Maybe if we run a 5k, it'll stop snowing and the sun will shine."