A successful feast: Feet to Feast 5K has over 600 participants

The Feet to Feast 5K was a heart-pounding success on Thursday.

The 5K, held on Thanksgiving Day, had 640 registrations, and 617 participants, and it was held at the Daytona State College Flagler Campus in Palm Coast. Every participant was given a medal and T-shirt, and top runners for each division won a pie.

Jared Dawson, recreation specialist for the City of Palm Coast, said that the participation this year was unlike anything he’d seen since he began organizing the race.

“We’re used to events growing each year, but this year it just exploded,” Dawson said. “And I’m thankful for that. I’m glad it’s an event that people want to sign up for.”

The race began at 7:45 a.m. and began on the east side of the campus. Participants had a reception afterwards.

The race had several community partners, Dawson said, including AdventHealth. AdventHealth was the race’s largest sponsor, Dawson said.

“We’ve been lucky to have some great community partners,” Dawson said.

The top runner overall and for the men was Justin Gilliam, 17, of Palm Coast with a clock time of 16 minutes and 7 seconds. The top female runner was Shannon Hickey Jones, 37, of Ormond Beach with a 17 minute and 52 second run time.

Gilliam placed first overall, and Jones placed fourth. In the second and third overall spots were Christian Norfolk, 16, and Sean Gilliam, 19, also of Palm Coast.

Participants were able to sign up for one of two Feet to Feast 5K’s: the Run/Walk for ages 19 and up, or the student 5K for those 18 and under.

There were over 20 divisions with registered participants, divided by gender and age range. In the 65-59 bracket, Nancy Coye, 68, placed topped for the women and Joe Riello, 66, placed for the men.

“It was a great morning for the race – the weather was just right. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun,” Dawson said. “I really enjoyed being the one to hype everyone up at the start line.”