Eli won the day once again at a local 5K as he finished well ahead of the pack on the Silver Comet Trail in Rockmart on Saturday morning, participating in an event raising money for the Sheriff’s Office’s C.H.A.M.P.S. Program.
22-year-old Elijah Pace of Cedartown took the top spot in the first-ever C.H.A.M.P.S. Dash 5K with a time of 17:24.8, finishing a full three minutes ahead of second-place runner Adam Pierce. Joey Purser of Rome took third place in Saturday’s race.
Mattie Blum of Cartersville was the overall female winner of the race, finishing at 26:31.
Check out the full results here.
Sheriff Johnny Moats was among the winners of the run, taking the top spot in his age group. He finished at 44:37 in his first place age-group finish.
He told Polk Today that he ran the race without doing any training ahead of his first-ever 5K.
“We are thankful for the many participants we had in this weekend’s race and the opportunity they provide us through this new fundraiser to help ensure we’re sending deputies into our elementary schools to provide our youth in much needed drug and safety education,” Moats said.
Some 53 runners and walkers were timed in the first year of the race. Entry fees and sponsorships fundraising will be used to help the C.H.A.M.P.S. program with its education mission for the 2024-25 school year.
