Registering for the race: The Winterville Snowflake 10K will start at 9 a.m. Jan. 13 at 101 S. Marigold Lane. The cost of entering is $70. Participants can register at runsignup.com. Online registration ends Jan. 8.
The Oglethorpe Echo
The Firefly Trail Race series is marking its fifth anniversary in 2024.
The four races take runners throughout Oglethorpe County, and the first race — the Winterville Snowflake 10K — will be on Jan. 13. This also marks a decade for the Snowflake 10K, the oldest of the four races.
The coordination team wants to see increased levels of participants to run or walk in each series race, in part to bring people to Oglethorpe County to see the Firefly Trail’s development for themselves.
“We would hope that the race series would bring people that are not used to perhaps being in a particular area for them to see what benefits that are there,” said Anne Garner, series co-coordinator.
The Firefly Trail is a planned stretch of 39 miles connecting Athens-Clarke County to Union Point, which runs right through Oglethorpe County. Funds from race participants and sponsors go into the trail communities and to help build the Firefly Trail itself.
“I'm just so proud of all of the work that's going on with the Firefly Trail and how hard the board at Firefly Inc. works on getting the grants and the funding and all of that to get this trail completed,” said Carole Black, series co-coordinator and owner of Classic Race Services. “I'm very proud to be just a very, very small part of that.”
The team of Black and Garner have worked in unison with John Kissane, Firefly Trail development coordinator, and the Firefly Trail board to continue to develop the trail during the last five years.
“Our goal is to be able to put some amenities along the whole trail and to have enough money to put … signage or some kind of artwork or something along the trail,” Garner said.
In 2025, it’s possible that a fifth, or even sixth, race would be added to the series to include east Athens and a town further down the trail. For 2024, the other races in the series are:
- Maxeys Model Mile 5K, Maxeys, on May 18
- Restoration Run 5K, Crawford, on Sept. 2
- Junction Jamboree Jog 5K, Union Point, Sept. 28
Awards will be given to winners in the following categories: overall male/female, masters male/female and top three male/female finishers in five-year or 10-year age groups.
The series will also continue to be held virtually. In the past, racers have competed in the series from surrounding states and even Australia.
“That's probably what I'm most proud of,” Black said, “bringing participation to the trail and introducing it to people that had no idea about what it was.”