By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

Before the Christmas Parade made its way through downtown Madison last Saturday, the Rotary Club held its annual Christmas Rush Classic races, which included a 5K run, an 8K run and a one-mile fun run.
Rusty Ewing, the coordinator for the races, stated that 358 runners competed in the three races, and that everything, “went very smooth[ly].”
Although Ewing didn’t know exactly how many years the Christmas Rush Classic has taken place, he estimate that the event has gone back for “somewhere around 28 years.”
Being in line with the Rotary Club’s tradition of giving back to the community, all of the funds raised by the Christmas Rush Classic, “go towards local student scholarships, Handicap ramp building projects, etc,” and that, “all monies [go] back into the community.”
Ben Lefholz of Gray placed first overall in the 5K race, but Dalton Shaw, runner for the Morgan County Middle School (MCMS) Cross Country team, placed third overall with a time of 19: 29.
In the 8K race, Chris Dietrich of Eatonton came in first with a time of 28:34. The fastest runner for Morgan County in the 8K was Zach Massey, 28, of Buckhead, who finished the race in 33:39.
While the races were run, the Humane Society held an event nearby, the Bow Wow Breakfast, which was to benefit the Humane Society of Morgan County’s Sick and Injured Animal Fund. The event was catered by Waffle House, and plates were $10 in advance or $12 at the door.

Printed in the December 13, 2012 edition