KING CITY — Rotary Club of King City hosted its third annual Rabbit Run on March 30 off Oasis Road in King City, where participants faced 18-mph winds and occasional sprinkles throughout the otherwise bright, sunny Saturday morning.
A total of 124 runners and walkers traversed an exhilarating route through the San Bernabe Vineyard estate of Delicato Family Wines.
Mee Memorial occupational therapist and Rotarian Barry MacGregor volunteered his time and skills on-site to provide medical attention as needed. MacGregor also brought his bicycle and served as the pacesetter for the 5K, ensuring no runners went astray in the vineyard.
Leading the way on the 5K was the overall and top male adult runner, Josh Riley, with a time of 16:50, and the overall and top female adult runner was Emily Cole with 21:41.
Top male 5K runners from their respective age categories were as follows: Raymundo Hernandez (Masters), Larry Umbarger (Silver Striders), Alfonso Garcia (Teen) and Axel Clifton (Youth). Top female 5K runners were Marsha Green (Masters), Karen Park (Silver Striders) and Hadassah Todd (Teen).
In the 1-mile fun run, Beatrice Sanchez took first place overall and top female runner, and Adrian Diaz was the top-placing male runner. Other top participants in the 1 mile were Carmen Meza Gomez, Sue Gourley, Maria Temoxle and Leilani Ortiz for the females; José De Jesús Garcia, John Pekema, Joseph Simbre and Derek Garcia placed first for the male age categories.
Rotary offered a “no gender specified” category to participants this year, and acknowledges the registered fun run participants who placed first in their age category, but declined to provide their names.
Many treats awaited runners and walkers at the end of their respective courses, some for children and some for adults.
For children, Peppa Pig made an appearance. In the spirit of Easter, Peppa donned a pair of Easter Bunny ears and posed for photos with excited children, as well as some young-at-heart adults.
Delicato Family Wines hosted a wine-tasting table for participants of appropriate age. The is the second year that the Rabbit Run hosted a post-course wine tasting. The activity served runners and walkers a delightful opportunity to congratulate one another on accomplishing their wellness goals.
The event proceeds will support the Rotary Club of King City Foundation scholarship program. To date, the scholarship program has awarded more than $136,000 in scholarships to graduates of King City High School.
This year’s top overall 5K runner was a recipient of one such Foundation scholarship.
“I graduated in 2021 from King City High,” said Josh Riley, who finished first overall in the 5K, granting him a coveted carrot cake prize and $300 in prize money and merchandise from Kasey’s Fitness. “Now, I go to UC Merced, where I’m on the track and cross country team. I also joined the UC Merced Rotaract Club, which is the college level version of Rotary. It’s a great service organization and I want to give back to my community just like Rotary has given to me.”
The 85 runners in the 5K course and 39 participants in the 1-mile course received Rabbit Run 2024 custom T-shirts and a participation ribbon. The top male and female runners in the five different age categories additionally received a medal and a carrot cake. View the entire race results at webscorer.com/RabbitRun.
Kasey’s Fitness donated prize baskets, which Rotary awarded to top overall runners and raffled to all participants based on bib number.
For those who didn’t make it this year, Rotary aims for the opportunity to present itself again in 2025. Rotary thanks Event Committee Chair TJ Plew-Hearne for her hard work behind the scenes in organizing this event.
