Start of the Heritage Valley 5-10K Run & Fitness Walk.

The annual Heritage Valley 5k-10K Race, Fitness Walk, Fun Run and Health Fair was again a success. Over 150 runners & walkers entered this year. The race is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Fillmore with partners Fillmore Unified School District and Cops Running for Charity. Runners & walkers of all ages enjoyed great weather. After the race the participants, family members and friends enjoyed the sunshine on the lawn of FUSD administration waiting for final results. Vendors included Relay for Life, Attraction Spa, Runners Lane of Santa Clarita, and Greg Palmer of Jatamansi Massage. Timing systems and results were handled by Podium One Timing and Race Management of Santa Clarita.

Donated prizes were raffled off by Rotarians Bob Hammond and George Golden. Raffle items were donated by Starbucks, El Pescador Restaurant, Fosters Freeze of Santa Paula, Rabalais’ Bistro, Rancho Simpatica & Ed McFadden, Attraction Spa, Richardson Ranch, Cindy & Mike Blatt, Don & Ruth Gunderson, Rigo Landeros, Jan Marholin, Fillmore Piru Citrus Association, The Scented Path, Central Station Bar & Grill, and Elkins Ranch Golf Course.

Overall female winner of the 5K was Erika Ruiz in 21:38.12 and overall male winner was Anthony Rivas in 17:25.1. Overall female winner of the 10K was Maria Villalobos in 46:57.8 and overall male winner was Kevin McSweeney in 39:16.9. These winners received a gift certificate from Runners Lane. Medals were presented to the top three places in each age group/gender.

Teams participated for the opportunity to win funds for their favorite charity. The first place team in the 5k was the FitQuest with Rory. A $100 donation will be made to American Cancer Society. The first place team in the 10K was FitQuest with Jason. A $100 donation will be made to San Salvador Mission in Piru.

Fun Run entrants, Asher Gonzalez (3yrs), Ariel Sanchez (7) and Jason Martinez (12) participated in a 1 mile run. They all wore #1 on their running bibs as they ran around the Sespe School and FUSD administration building.

The Rotary Club of Fillmore would like to thank our sponsors and supporters with special acknowledgement to our Silver & Bronze Sponsors. Silver Sponsors: Fillmore Piru Citrus Assocation, Valley Care IPA, Union Bank and Harrison Industries.

Bronze sponsors: Mission Avocados, Hands-On Consultations, Edward Jones, Gary & Vicki Ball, Ag Land Services, Richardson Ranches, VCDSA and Ventura County Search & Rescue. Fitness Fans: Aguirre Financial, Bennett’s Honey Farm, Cindy & Mike Blatt, Jan Marholin, FitQuest, Western Yosemite Insurance Services, Valley Crest Trees, Barkley Insurance, & Risk Management – Sean Morris, Sketchpad Publications, Water Art Design, Krazy Jumps (tables), The Water Store (water & ice), Santa Clara Valley Bank (10 cases of bottled water), Subway (sandwich platters), Super A (boxes of fruit) and all the raffle item donors.

Thank you to all our volunteers: Epi Torres, Joe Martinez, Rafael Laureano, Julie Lugo, Daisy Palma, Scott & Jan Lee, Ari Larson, Shane Ragatz, Julie Latshaw, Stephen McKeown, Paige McKeown, Diane Wareham, Shelly Johnson, Joanne Torres (PYS), Ivette Huerta, Brian Richmond, Kim Tafoya, Trina Tafoya, Tony Tafoya, Mario Gaspar, Lupita Perez, Isaac Gonzales, Anthony Rodriguez, Adriana Rodriguez and Cristian Cabrera. (Our apologies to anyone we missed!).

Funds raised from this event go to school sports & fitness equipment and Rotary community projects like FHS & Sierra H.S. scholarships, dictionaries to all third graders, RYLA (youth leadership camp), Car Seat project, public access gate at FHS track, Condor Cross Country, Grad Nite Live, Cub Scout Pack 3400 – just to name a few.