Chamber Race Serves as a 'Town Wide Event'

You don’t have to be a finely tuned runner to participate in the Chamber of Commerce’s road race on Sunday. But if you are, it’s still a great race to run.

More than 500 participants will take the streets for the eighth annual 5k and half marathon on Sunday morning, bringing together residents from all walks of life for a race that combines competitive fitness and community interaction.

“Everyone is doing the race for a different reason,” said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Nancy Vallee. “You have people volunteering, people walking for their own reasons, and a lot of local gyms who have been training people for six months for this. Then you have the business community who has helped sponsor the race. That’s just the community itself. We also get so many people from outside of community who have recognized this as a great race.”

Vallee said there are 5k participants as young as five years old who are signed up for the course. In addition, several running clubs spread the word about their positive experience after running the race in recent years, and as a result there are many veteran runners signed up.

Money raised during the event will be used to fund scholarships for deserving Wilmington residents.

According to Vallee, the race is a great example of members of the community and various groups coming together.

“I’d really like that thank the town,” said Vallee. “Even though the race is sponsored by the Chamber, it really is a town wide effort.”