Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

|| High Country Press Newswire

May 29, 2008 issue

A Cool 5 Fundraising Race on Beech Mountain June 7

Story by Corinne Saunders

Sponsored by Beech Mountain Recreation Department, A Cool 5 is a five-mile fundraising race that will benefit the new children’s playground on Beech Mountain.

Named for the cool summer temperatures Beech residents enjoy, the race will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 7.

“Rory Ellington and Brad Mettee developed the course for the 1.8-mile fun walk and A Cool 5,” said Fred Pfohl of Fred’s General Mercantile, who is involved with fundraising efforts.

Race registration is $30, and participants can register until the time of the race.
Children under 12 who participate in the run or the 1.8-mile fun walk receive a $5 discount, so their fee is $25, and all participants will receive a goodie bag with a T-shirt, water bottle, pair of socks and a few other items.

Awards will be given for all race categories, determined by age and ranging from 19 and under to 70 and up.

“We’re hoping for about 150 participants; we’ve had a pretty good preregistration deal,” Pfohl said.

Margaret Hagerty of Concord, a marathon runner who is 85 years old and has run in more than 70 marathon events and on all seven continents, will run in this inaugural race on Beech. Hagerty, who holds a Guinness World Record, began running marathons at age 64 and will show medals and talk about her accomplishments at the pre-race pasta dinner at Buckeye Recreation Center on Friday, June 6.

“We said, ‘This is an interesting lady…we’d like to have her as our guest up here and have her come and be part of our deal,’” Pfohl said.
The pasta dinner costs $5 and begins at 6:00 p.m.; Hagerty will speak at 6:30 p.m.

The fundraising and planning for the playground will continue through next year, and the playground completion date is set for August 2009, Pfohl said.
“We hope to raise $10,000 from this race to go toward the playground,” he said, adding that the project cost is about $80,000.

Leathers Associates, a company from upstate New York that designed the playground for Cannon Hospital, will plan and design the playground for Buckeye Lake Park.

“They go to local schools [and the] architects listen to kids, find out what they’d like in a playground,” Pfohl said.

The existing playground is in need of an upgrade, and the new one will be environmentally friendly and constructed by volunteers, he added.

The playground will come about with the support and efforts of many people in Avery County—“the community of Beech Mountain, businesses up here, sponsorships up here, local builders and other folks,” Pfohl said, adding that the organizers hope the actual construction of the playground will be done in one week next August.

For more information or to register for the race, call 828-387-3003 or click to www.acool5.com.