Published Sunday, September 05, 2010

400 take part in annual road race

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Newnan Times-Herald

Some 400 runners descended on downtown Newnan Saturday morning for the Mike Fitzpatrick Sunrise on the Square Labor Day Road Race.

“It was an amazing race,” said Linda Kee, Newnan Main Street director.

The race drew approximately 100 more competitors than last year, Kee said.

She thinks the weather had a lot to do with it. “A lot of people wait until the last minute to see how the weather is going to be,” she said. “The weather was gorgeous. It was a great 62 degrees this morning.”

Runners also enjoy the race route, and “people love coming downtown because there are things to do after the race,” Kee said. “This year we had quite a few people from outside of Newnan. I talked to several people who had never been to Newnan before.”

The overall male and female winners were Orinthal Striggles and Shawanna White. The masters division winners were Ken Youngers and Barbara Chandler.

“It was a beautiful morning on the square. We had great volunteers. It went flawlessly,” Kee added.

By 9 a.m., people were already shopping at Market Day and the sidewalk sales as well. “Downtown was buzzing,” she said.

The Saturday before Labor Day is “our big day in downtown,” Kee said. Main Street will shift its focus to the Powers’ Festival today and Monday, where Main Street merchants and volunteers will be manning the Powers’ Crossroads Country Store.

Main Street and Powers’ have partnered this year, and “it has been a great partnership,” Kee said. “We have just been delighted to work with Powers’ this year. It brings the whole Labor Day together.”