If first impressions are significant, then new Register Reporter Joe Sneve may wonder what he’s walked into.
Sneve, an Iolan of less than a month, was crowned the 2011 queen of the drag race at Friday night’s Mad Bomber Run for Your Life event put on by Crime Stoppers and Thrive Allen County.
“This is quite a town!,” said the South Dakota native.
Well over a 1,000 people flooded the square from early evening to the wee hours of Saturday morning.
Events included a fire truck pull, competitive games, an outdoor movie, vocal and instrumental music on the band stand, face painting, inflatable play structures, telling of the Melvin story, food booths, and the headline event, the officially timed 5K run/3K walk that started with a loud boom at 12:26 a.m. Saturday.
A total of 807 people were registered for the run/walk, up from 603 in 2010. The youngest runner was Harper Hurla, 6, of Eudora; and the oldest was Iola’s Gene McIntosh, 65.
Of the participants, 320 were registered to run the course north on Cottonwood up through Highland Cemetery and down Jefferson back to the square. The walkers followed the same course but cut west on Buchanan. A majority of the houses along the route had left their porch lights on providing a warm welcome to participants along the route. Some residents even stood curbside and cheered on the runners and walkers who endured a typical warm and humid night. Two water stations along the route provided welcomed refreshments.
Communities from Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, and the far reaches of Kansas were represented. Kansas cities included Liberal, Leavenworth, Derby, Wichita, Goddard, Topeka and Lawrence.
The biggest crowd-pleaser of the night was the 11 o’clock drag race where Iola’s finest dressed in womanly attire and either let their male hormones come to the front as they competed in relays, or decided to bask in the moment and leisurely paraded in their finery.
Mayhem, madness fill Melvin fest
