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EDWARDSVILLE - Runners from around the region came together on beautiful Saturday morning for the annual Route 66 10K.

The event, hosted by the Metro Milers running club, is held in conjunction with the Route 66 Festival, led by the City of Edwardsville.

"It's a beautiful morning and the weather has been great," Race Director David Dowd said. "We couldn't be more pleased with our turnout of over 400 runners. I appreciate the the City of Edwardsville and the Route 66 Festival for having us along as a part of the festivities. All the volunteers and participants combine to be a huge group of people who have organized and prepared for this. They all did a great job."

David Dowd is passing the torch to Tom Gittemeier, who will serve as next year's race director. Melanie Suess is the co-race director and "coordinator extraordinaire." Shannon McWhorter coordinated the volunteer efforts and Erica Hunt serves as the Metro Milers running club president.

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Though some 6K and 10K runs have certain goals at heart, this particular event serves as an amazing opportunity for both novice and skilled runners to enjoy the activity they love, feed off one another's positive energy, provide words of encouragement to friends and strangers, while they take on the 6.2-mile course.

"We've got a great running community here, and we draw runners here from all over the area," Dowd said. "This is just a great area to live, work, and run."

Luke Padesky of St. Louis, Mo., finished in first place overall with a chip time of 34:22.3, traveling down the course at a pace of 5:32. Aaron Werths of Granite City finished second overall with a time of 35:03.4. Elizabeth Parks of Edwardsville was the first female across the finish line with a chip time of 39:21.6 and 6:20 - mile per minute pace. Jaycie Hudson of Edwardsville was the second female finisher with a chip time of 42:26.2.

More results from the Route 66 10K can be found here.

See Photo Gallery Below:

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