The 24th running of the Morgan Hill Freedom Run this year, a major fundraiser and event for the Morgan Hill Freedom Fest, was particularly poignant given last year’s need to keep the community safe.
One of the first in person races in the county in the past 16 months, it was an opportunity to gather, see friends and run very fast, according to Freedom Run organizers
The run has evolved over time to include the children’s 1-mile and a United States Track and Field sanctioned 5k race. The sanction gives the local running community and the running community at large an opportunity to compete with athletes that are among the fastest in the country.
“Honoring our Heroes” was the Freedom Fest theme this year, and event organizers held a moment of silence to reflect on our ability to be there ,and on remembering those throughout the world lost and still struggling with the pandemic.
Morgan Hill mayor Rich Constantine thanked all the runners for attending and gave a rousing speech to encourage participants to run fast and have a great time.
The Children’s 1-mile, 11 and under, had 124 finishers. The winning time was 6:44 with twins Emerson Lamar and Chace Lamar winning the overall at exactly the same time.
There were 486 5k finishers. The 5k men’s finish was exciting and tense as Trevor Halsted of Palo Alto finished with a 14:58 time, followed by Matt Hazel of Morgan Hill with a time of 14:59.
The 5k women’s time was equally fast with Christine Hoffman of Palo Alto winning with a time of 17:57
Co-race directors Alicia Carlson and Charles Weston (director for the past 21 years) shared, “It was so great to see everyone out on the run, we had more children than ever before. We want to thank all of the runners and our volunteers for making it such a wonderful event!”
Complete results and a downloadable certificate of completion are available on the Morgan Hill Freedom Fest Freedom Run website, morganhillfreedomfest.com.
