Do you want to start 2020 on the right foot? Hillsborough County has created a fun, unique race for local runners.
Run Hillsborough 5K features four races from January through April at different parks located around the county, including Riverview on Saturday, February 15 and Dover on Saturday, March 21. This is the first year that the county has offered a race series.
According to the Hillsborough County website, races allow participants to compete against other racers on a journey through nature preserves, conservation parks, streams, trails and a variety of terrains. All participants get a T-shirt and can claim their medal at the end of the race.
On January 11, the first race of the series, the Ed Radice event, featured a 5K race/one-mile walk. Pets were allowed on the walk as well. According to Vince Bowers, Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation program supervisor, about 100 runners participated in the race.
Bowers said that the county offered two races in 2018 and that they wanted expand on that, as well as their annual Hiking Spree that starts on Sunday, November 1 and ends on Monday, March 1, where participants can earn a medal or patch by hiking on at least eight designated trails located throughout the county.
“Walking, running, anything you can do with the outdoors is definitely a benefit to you healthwise,” said Bowers. “Connecting our community with our parks, whether it be through playing on a playground, taking a hike or running a 5K, that’s our goal as a department, to connect our parks and our communities and the families that live in them.”
The next race will be on Saturday, February 15 at 12108 Rhodine Rd. in Riverview. Check in at 7:30 a.m., and the 5K Race starts at 8:30 a.m.
Other upcoming races in the Run Hillsborough series include the William Owens Pass Park 5K on Saturday, March 21 at 1300 Sydney Dover Rd. in Dover and the Carrollwood Village Park 5K on Saturday, April 18 at 4680 West Village Dr. in Tampa.
Fees are $30 per runner for the 5K and $15 for the walk. For more information, contact Vince Bowers (BowersV@hcflgov.net) or call 557-8272. Runners can also view their race results on HillsboroughCounty.org.
