PART ONE: Ellwood City Arts, Crafts, Food & Entertainment Festival Series: 10k Race Has New Name, Organizer

In our annual series spotlighting the annual Ellwood City Arts, Crafts, Food & Entertainment Festival, we look at a series of subjects, people, and entertainers who will help the festival make its mark this 4th of July holiday season.

PART ONE: Ellwood City Arts, Crafts, Food & Entertainment Festival Series: 10k Race Has New Name, Organizer

The annual beloved 10k race will be held on Saturday, June 29, at 9 a.m.

This year’s race has a different name and a new organizer, but runners and the community can expect the same great race that has been around for decades.

There is one new thing, according to the event’s new organizer Nathan Brown, a one mile “race” that is basically a completion race. There won’t be any formal awards for the one mile “race,” but participants will receive a time.

Brown replaces Edward Leymarie—who served 41 years of dedication as the event organizer—and is also the Ellwood City Area School District’s Varsity Track and Field coach as well as the coach of the Junior High and Varsity Cross Country Teams.

“The goal has been to keep the same as it has been,” Brown said. “We want to keep up with the tradition and improve what can be improved on.”

According to Brown, the Ellwood City Arts & Crafts Food Festival 10K (formally known as the Ledger 10k) is a great 10k to start on for those who have been running 5k races.

“There is a lot of encouragement throughout the course. A lot of community members  watch the race. It’s also a relatively flat course. Low pressure. It’s great for 5k runners looking to get feet wet on a 10k. It actually used to be one of the destination 10k races in the area.”

Brown expects more than 100 participants between the ages of 13 and well into the 70s.

Last year’s race featured participants from as close as Ellwood City itself, Ambridge, Pittsburgh, and other Pennsylvania neighborhoods and as far as Texas, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia, and Delaware.

For those interested in participating, there’s a registration page you can visit by clicking here.

The cost to participate is $15 for pre-registration for the 10k and $10 for the one mile (before June 26 at 11:59 p.m.) Participants can also sign up the day of the race, but the cost will rise by $3.

The race is a fundraiser for track and field. Brown said he had been looking for a way to raise money for the local sport. He also wanted a way to reach the community.

“I am pretty well embedded in the schools. I also needed a good community connection. This way my way of reaching out to the rest of community.”

Leymarie said he is glad to see the race continue.

“I’m happy with that it’s continuing. I just wanted it to go on, and I believe Nate will do a good job he’s already done a great job so far.”