Kewash half-marathon celebrates 10 years this weekend

WASHINGTON — An annual event will mark a decade of tradition Saturday morning in Washington, where runners will line up for the 10th Kewash half-marathon.

Organizers said they planned to go all out, in celebration of the milestone year.

Co-organizer Kyla Wilkening said this year’s race would provide medals in every event, rather than just the half-marathon. It also will recognize two specific runners with a plaque celebrating their participation in every year of the event since its inception.

“It’s kind of a big deal,” Wilkening said. “We’re trying to make it as special as possible for the anniversary of the race.”

Organizers said the run through town and along the Kewash Nature Trail drew participants from far and wide, with 13 states already represented on the preregistration list, which as of Tuesday, had nearly 500 names. That’s far above the 70-person roster from its first year.

Michelle Driscoll, one of the event’s founders and another co-organizer for this year’s run, said she was excited to see how much it had grown.

“When we started, we just had hoped to get a lot of runners to our community, and showcase Washington,” she said. “We’ve definitely attracted people from all over the country … and we’ve wanted to have just a fun race. And people do say our race is fun. It’s nice to have people hang around afterward and meet each other.”

The 5k, 10k and half-marathon races will all start at the usual location in front of JP’s 207 at 8 a.m. Saturday.

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