The reboot or sequel is rarely better than the original, right? Saturday morning’s full-fledged return of the legendary Pill Hill 10K presented by Window World blew that notion out of the water.
More than 300 people signed up for the race, which had been run only once since 2003. The Pill Hill 10K was a staple of the Huntsville running scene for about 20 years before it ended. It started as a fundraiser for the local hospital cardiac unit and raised about $650,000 in its first 10 years. A shift in race directors, other events, time, changes and all the things happened, and it finally went cold.
Race director Kelly Scott Clary brought it back 19 years later in 2022, a quick-hit addition to the local schedule. Clary said “I kind of shoved it through to get it going again.” It was on the third weekend in May, the week before the Cotton Row 10K. About 70 registered for the 2022 version, won by Josh Whitehead of Madison in a speedy 36+ minutes.
The original course routed runners through the Thornblade neighborhood and longer parts of Garth and Drake avenues. The new route incorporates more hills, possibly all of them, in Thornblade. It gives runners more than 1,000 feet of elevation at the highest point, the “Trevor Climb” that has a 16.9 percent grade. It’s the lung-bustingest of the roughly 15 hills or inclines on the route.
Clary was blown away by the interest this year.
“I was hoping for about 150 and we had more than 300 register,” he said. “After 2022, I was hoping we could just double the registration this time. So, to have more than 300 was wonderful. It was a great morning for a race.”
Fundraiser for HPD CFF
The Pill Hill 10K is a fundraiser for the Huntsville Police Department Citizens Foundation Fund. The fund supports families of fallen officers, officers in need of medical or mental health issues, and the HPD Memorial. The goal of the Pill Hill 10K is to raise awareness of issues officers face in the line of duty and impacts on their mental health.
“We raised about $14,000 in 2022 for the fund and this year we’ll end somewhere between $35,000 and $40,000,” Clary said. “So, we more than doubled that. The plan for the future is to hopefully have it this weekend, depending on scheduling, and to keep doubling every year. I’d love to get this to where it’s well over 1,000 runners and raise more than $100,000 every year. That’s the plan.
“Window World was the presenting sponsor and made the largest donation overall. They do a phenomenal job for our community donating money to all kinds of charities all over town. Mike and Melissa Edwards are the owners and dear friends of mine, and Melissa has law officers in her family. It’s something that’s close to her heart and something they’re excited about being a part of as we move forward, too.”
Clary said he’d love to have more corporate sponsors to help raise money for the HPD Citizens Foundation Fund. Tiered donor levels, such as Gold-Silver-Bronze, for example, likely will expand as more plans are made.
“I can’t believe there’s not a corporation in town that doesn’t want to support the department’s fund,” he said.
Race sponsors included Marco’s Pizza, Krispy Kreme, Huntsville Police Department and Fleet Feet, with logistics support from ArrowLive Timing and Huntsville Track Club.
Who Won the Races?
Weather conditions were perfect, with a nip at the start, sunshine throughout and some pollen snot-rockets along the way. Spring, right?
Jake Baker, 25, of Huntsville claimed the win in 41:44, almost three minutes ahead of Steven LaMarr, 43, of Chattanooga. LaMarr finished in 44:20. Stephen Trumbull, 41, of Madison, was third in 44:41 and Kyle Chiriboga, 24, of Wayzata, Minn., was fourth in 45:25.
Jamie Holt, 40, of Madison, took the women’s title and finished 10th overall in 48:42. She was the only woman in the Top 20 finishers. Megan Light, 33, of Arab, was second (22nd overall) in 51:07, and Dana Overton, 49, of Owens Cross Roads, was third (24th) in 51:16. They were the only three among the Top 30. Katie Venckus, 41, of Gurley, was fourth in 52:29.
Overton won the Female Masters title, and LaMarr claimed the Men’s Masters award.
The field had 241 finishers and runners from six states including Michigan and Virginia along with two from Dubai of United Arab Emirates. Within Alabama, runners came in from Tuscaloosa, Gardendale, Cullman, Waverly, Florence and around Huntsville.
See all of the results of the Pill Hill 10K presented by Window World here.
Wanna See Some Photos?
Photos from the Pill Hill 10K were taken by Gregg Gelmis and Nick Emmons with We Run Race Photos. How many? More than 4,000 … which is not the number of hills on the course although it maybe felt like it (occasionally).
See the WRRP galleries here to find all the images to download, courtesy of Merit Bank.
FEATURE PHOTO: Jamie Holt of Madison speeds toward the finish of the Pill Hill 10K Saturday morning in Huntsville. She won the women’s title and was among the Top 10 finishers. (Photo courtesy of We Run Race Photos)
