Mineral Bluff’s Lucas Roof led a large field of Fannin County runners who made their marks as top finishers in the Walk the Line 5k in McCaysville/Copperhill Saturday, July 19.
Roof was the second place finisher overall with a time of 18:39, trailing first place finisher Winn Rickenbaker of Big Canoe by only 25 seconds. Roof was entered in the 40-49 year old male age group and the winner competed in the 10-19 year old male group.
Another Fannin Countian, Jamari Dunn of Blue Ridge, came in third place overall with a time of 19:39.
Jamel Johnson of Blue Ridge also placed in the top ten, finishing sixth at 20:44.
Several area runners led their respective divisions.
Boone McClure of Blue Ridge took first place in the 1-9 Male class.
Kaisley McClure of Blue Ridge was the winner in the 1-9 Female group.
Madeline Schueneman won first place in the 10-19 Female competition.
Jamari Dunn was the first place winner in the 10-19 Male event.
Roof was the winner in the 40-49 Male group.
Other area runners crossed the finish line in the top three of their groups.
Jorge Perez of Cherry Log finished second in the 30-39 Male competition.
Miranda Roof of Mineral Bluff was the second place finisher in the 40-49 Female group.
Bill Heikkila of Morganton won second place in the 70-79 Male group.
Sherry Roof of Mineral Bluff placed second in the 70-79 Female group.
This year’s race drew a record 343 registrations for both in-person and virtual participants with 273 crossing the finish line in McCaysville.
Walk the Line 5k was launched in 2021 as a community event to boost summer tourism and has now become a “signature fixture” in the Copper Basin, Race Director Matt Cole said. It is an anchor for the Riverwalk Run Series, billed as America’s only two-state, 5k series. Other races are the Trout Trot 5k and Bigfoot Boogie 5k.
Cole said that so far this year 126 runners have completed both the Trout Trot and Walk the Line races. They will earn their Challenge Prize by completing the Bigfoot Boogie Saturday, November 8.