Carnival Run Is Fun Event For Entire Family
BankFirst is sponsoring the 3K Watermelon Walk/Run on Saturday, August 3rd at Railroad Park. Registration starts at 6:30 AM at the Pavilion, with the race beginning at 7:30 AM. Finishers will receive T-shirts while supplies last. BankFirst workers modeling the race t-shirts are (from left) Tyler Hill, Kim Ingram, Judy Rogers, Patsy Francis, Chris Hart, Regina Caulder, Rod Harris, Julianna Millwood, Jennifer Jones and Leshon Polk
The longtime carnival run is a true community event. Sure, there is intense competition as pavement pounders jockey for a first place finish, but for many it is a Saturday morning stroll with friends and family. Mothers push strollers, friends deck out in costumes and competitors young and old look forward to the event year after year. The camaraderie also extends to runners in surrounding areas. Randy Burt lives in Oxford and has competed almost every year during the last quarter-century, making him one of the most tenured race veterans.
“I keep coming back because I love this race,” Burt reported after last year’s run. “I am treated like a hometown competitor.”
Randy Burt of Oxford has competed in the carnival run for almost a quarter-century.
Burt recalls striking up a friendship with one of the early race organizers, the late Jack Grass, many years ago.
“He always encouraged me to keep coming. Whether I place or not, I come here because I love it,” Burt said. “One year I was injured and I came just to watch. It crushed me not to compete, but the bank still gave me a T-shirt.”
Burt is a little older and slower now, but has a few top three finishes in the past including the 2011 race ago when the fastest runners were given a watermelon to carry as they approached the finish line.
“That was a fun race,” Burt added. “We had to slow down and tote the watermelon. I think I finished second that year.”
The race also spawns strong rivalry, especially between competitors Samuel Bryan and Charlie Dawson. Bryan defended his title with a first place win last year after also finishing first in 2022.
Dawson is also a two-time winner. The men enjoy the good-natured competition, and both runners were almost step-for-step during the entire race in 2023. Dawson, who is six feet, one-and-a-half inches tall said Bryan’s stride was noticeably longer. Bryan is six feet, four inches tall.
“I was out there running, tap… tap… tap..,” Dawson said after the race was over. “He was running, boom… boom… boom… I was like, I think the dinosaurs are coming back.”
Samuel Bryan crossed the finish line a few steps ahead of Charlie Dawson in the 2023 carnival run. Bryan and Dawson celebrated their record times after the race with a high five.
Bryan crossed the finish line in nine minutes, 20 seconds – a new carnival record for the 3K. Dawson crossed it a step behind him – nine minutes and 22 seconds.
A long stride wasn’t the edge for another winner in the 2023 race. Twelve-year old Jovie Lopprinzi won first place in the female division. As she clutched her trophy, several people asked how she was able to run so fast and earn the big win. She had a prompt response.
“With my little legs,” she told the crowd.
Last year’s race brought 314 contestants, and it appears this year will be another big race.
Registration starts Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. and the race starts at 7:30. The course remains unchanged and has been carefully mapped out to include as few hills as possible. The race course starts alongside the Railroad Park pavilion, and heads north on Railroad Street. The runners and walkers will take a right on Central Street and enjoy a view of City Park before taking another right and heading toward Davidson Elementary School. A loop on Boyd Street points runners back along the same path to the finish line, which is the same as the starting point. The route is cordoned off, and police officers escort the race participants for safety.
Samuel Bryan dedicated his 2023 win in the carnival run to breast cancer survivor Christy Mills (bottom left photo). Mills told him that she would be at the race to cheer for him and she was waiting at the finish line when he crossed first. Their friendship started years earlier when he visited the dental office in Water Valley where Mills works, and she encouraged him to start participating in the carnival race.
