Halloween 13k Spooks Up West Endicott

October 31st, 2018 - (ENDICOTT, NY) – Halloween 13k runners lined up near the Endicott Visitor Center Sunday morning for the Halloween 13k & Relay.  The race began at 9:30am.  The course looped around Endicott and traveled out and back to the Tri Cities Airpot by the Enjoie Golf Course Driving Range.  The Halloween 13k & Relay raises money to support those in with Prader-Willi Syndrome.  The Halloween 13k and 2-Person Relay is the final race of the Empire Road Race Series.  Race Director, Rachel Johnson, spoke today about the festivities.

Confluence Running: How did the Halloween 13k go today?

Rachel Johnson: Today went really well.  We were a little nervous because of the weather forecast because it was going to be all rain, but people came out anyway.  They came in costume.  Runners are a tough group and rain won't keep them away.  It held off.  It was just kind of a sprinkle for most of the time and I think everybody had fun, had a good day, and we had a lot of runners out here today. 

Confluence Running: What was the winning time?

Rachel Johnson: The winning time was 50:02, I believe.  I might be off by a couple of seconds, but it was right about and almost exactly 50 minutes.  It was a 13k, so that's just about 8 miles.

Confluence Running: What was your favorite costume for today?

Rachel Johnson: Oh my gosh, there were so many good costumes today. But I'd have to say my favorite was the Dupree team.  They came as Prince Charming and their little girl was dressed as Cinderella, and their whole baby carriage was Cinderella's carriage.  It was lit up, and it was just amazing, they put so much effort into it, it was awesome.

Confluence Running: Talk to me about some of the other costumes that you saw today.

Rachel Johnson: We had Reindeer out there, we had Forest Gump, I was Dorothy.  There was another Cinderella, and a Bell, and there was a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.  There were some really creative and cleaver people out there.

Confluence Running: Talk to me about what the Halloween 13k is for.

Rachel Johnson: The Halloween 13k is a fundraiser actually for people with Prader-Willi Syndrome, something that my 11 year old daughter was diagnosed with when she was 2.  And we were so worried that Halloween was going to be a holiday that we couldn't celebrate having that disability.  So we decided to flip the script and make it something that we could celebrate and celebrate with hundreds of runners in our community and make it a really fun and healthy event for everybody.

Confluence Running: And do you have any numbers for today?

Rachel Johnson: Coming into this morning we had 250+ runners registered and then we had a lot more people than I thought on a rainy day come and sign up on race day.  I think we were closing in on about 275, maybe 300.  We had some good numbers.  We were happy with how it turned out today.

Confluence Running: What were your major sponsors for today?

Rachel Johnson: Visions Federal Credit Union has been our title sponsor every year and they've supported up since the beginning and were so grateful to them.  Wegman's Sponsored us.  UHS sponsored trainers for anyone who was injured, and they sponsored Kidapolooza, so all the kids events.  We had activities.  We usually have a fun run.  And today it turned into a dance party.  Some healthy trick or treating in the neighborhood.  And Spiedie & Rib Pit.  We've got our community sponsors that have been good to us every year and we're so grateful for them.

Confluence Running: Talk to me a little about the course and how you came up with it.

Rachel Johnson: So the course runs through Endicott.  It starts at the Endicott Visitors Center.  And it runs through parts of the village, down to the Tri-Cities Airport, and then back to the U-E (Union-Endicott) High School bus loop.  I came up with it because we're from Endicott and so we wanted to spread awareness about our cause in our hometown.  We wanted to have a community event in a place where we don't usually come together.  [Races] are usually in the City of Binghamton and we wanted to branch out a little bit.  And we wanted to create a new and exciting course for everybody.  It lended itself quite well for the relay because we could exchange at the airport.  Sometimes on those nice days we get to see planes coming in and out which is fun too.

Confluence Running: Anything else you'd like to add?

Rachel Johnson: Thank you to everybody that comes.  We've had people that have come every year.  We have new people come each year.  We're just hoping to just keep building and getting more and more people out here to Endicott.  And the costumes are always so fun.  And we're just so grateful to have all the support.  Thanks!