Early last Wednesday, 155 runners and walkers competed in the inaugural 4 for the 4^th four mile run in Avon July 3. The race through Kinnakeet Shores heated up quick as the temperature climbed after the 7 a.m. start.

Shawn Rumery set a blistering pace of 5 minutes and 57 seconds for an overall time of 23:50 to take first. Leah Nyce, age 16, was the second-place overall winner and edged out Patrick Campbell by a nose.

With a patriotic theme, most everyone was wearing the red, white and blue race t-shirts, which were included in the registration packet. There was music, refreshments, participation medals and good times all around.

For the children on hand, the Barrier Island Group – or B.I.G. – also offered a 1,776-foot-long Family Fun Run and some speedy kids blasted the down and out course.

Race director Jenny Ash, along with organizers Tom and Laurie Amatucci, went all out to make sure this first-ever event was a success and it worked.

There was plenty of onsite preparation the day before the race and they started getting things ready in the dark the morning of the race.

But to Laurie and the rest, it was worth it.

“All our participants had a great time and enjoyed their race experience,” Laurie said, and she also acknowledged all the efforts of the volunteers.

“Thank you all for getting up at such an early hour and working so hard to make the event a success,” she said. “Kudos to our great food team from OBX Buddies, our water stop team manned by Chicamacomico Life Saving Station and our course marshals from Hatteras Island Meals!”

“Special thanks to our finish line team led by John Contestable,” Laurie added. “Kelly Monroe for handling all the volunteer check-in and serving as a course marshal.

“Jason Walsh for handling all the race day registration, our fantastic set up team John Griffin and Frances McQuire – I can’t believe you showed up at 5:30 and worked your butts off in the dark!

“The CERT Team [Community Emergency Response Team], Martin Somers for driving down from Salvo and supplying the music for the day and the Avon Volunteer Fire Department for cooking the hot dogs … the list just goes on and on!”

B.I.G. also offered the Holiday Hustle 5K back in December, which finished at the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island. There’s talk of another race on Hatteras Island later this summer.

For more on B.I.G., go to barrierislandgroup.com.

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