Downtown Iola was all ajingle Monday afternoon for the annual Jingle Bell Jog. MANY participants came costumed. DAMARIS Kunkler and John Robertson, full-time Thrive employees, aided Toland in setting up and executing the Jingle Bell Jog. Members of Iola High’s leadership class and several other volunteers also helped out.
Participants tied bells to their shoes as they ran or walked through north Iola. Many ran in groups of friends or family members.
Opal Beshore, dressed warmly to ward off the chill, came to enjoy from the sidelines, and also to cheer on her favorite runner.
Colby Works, a freshman at Iola High, didn’t disappoint. Young Works broke through a strand of garland about a minute after Tanner Wilson, another high schooler, was first to finish.
As a tot, Works attended Beshore’s day-care center.
Works and Wilson, a junior at the Garnett high school, were among about 75 runners who took off west on Jackson Avenue and then north on Washington.
The run covered five kilometers — about 3.1 miles — and took the first two finishers about 18 minutes to negotiate. Because of its fun-run nature, no official finishes or times were kept.
Walkers, another 35 to 40 participants, went three kilometers, or a little less than 2 miles. Don Burns was first in from the 3K, but he added some jogging to his walk so he could finish in time to help, as a Thrive Allen County volunteer, with post-event activities.
Thrive sponsored the 15th Jingle Bell Jog. Hot chocolate, bottled water and gingerbread cookies awaited finishers.
Mari Hill and some of her friends showed up again this year dressed colorfully as elves. Leonard Delaughter, LaHarpe, came as Frosty the Showman, dressed head to foot in white and carrying a broom.
Several embraced reindeer themes, with floppy horns and big round noses. Elves were common.
Many alumns home for the holidays participated in the fun run.
Stephen Gilpin, a 1995 IHS graduate, came from Hiawatha, on a visit to his parents, Jim and Karen Gilpin.
The cold, which had many waiting in vehicles until a minute or two before the event started, didn’t have great effect on Gilpin, 35.
“I ran in a cancer benefit at Hiawatha in October and it was about as cold as this,” he said.
While he enjoys recreational running, Gilpin doesn’t get in as much as he’d like. He stays busy as a commercial artist.
“I’m working on illustrating four books right now,” Gilpin said, going about the work in a series that has him moving from one to another.
Gilpin has worked professionally as an artist since 2000 and started illustrating books six years ago.
“We had 90 signed up ahead of time for the run and walk,” Kunkler said an hour before the start. “I imagine we’ll have a number more,” noting that last year’s field totaled 115.
Participant numbers climbed well in excess of 100 by the time the starter’s gun sounded.
Jingle Bell Jog crisp, but fun
