'Perfect location': Nearly 90 participate in Morley's Run
Nov. 5—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Blake Furman raised his fist as he ran toward the Stone Bridge — and the final curve for Morley's Run.
He was the first to cross the 5-mile race's finish line — but certainly not the last among a pool of 89 participants.
"This is the perfect location for a downhill race," Furman, of Parkhill said, after completing the run at the 27-minute mark. "It was fun."
It was also for a crucial cause, said Sue Sheehan, The Tribune-Democrat's regional director of audience development.
Race proceeds benefit the Newspapers in Education program, which provides no-cost newspaper subscriptions to 220 teachers' classrooms in 32 school districts across Bedford, Cambria, Indiana and Somerset counties.
Saturday's race took runners through Westmont Borough, Stackhouse Park and Cambria City on their way to Peoples Natural Gas Park.
Sheehan said there was a small army of volunteers along the way making sure the event ran without issues.
She estimated that 30 people volunteered time, including 15 from the Somerset and Cambria Fire Police Association.
Morley's Run corporate sponsors included Jobcase, Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center at Windber, and Concurrent Technologies Corp; as well as the following, Em's Subs, Galliker's Dairy, Gingerbread Man Running Co., Johnstown Area Heritage Association, Kamzik's Septic Service, Ken's BiLo, Luther P. Miller Inc., Rita's Bakery and Pizza, RE/MAX Realtors, Sunseri Wholesale Food and Paper, GAP Federal Credit Union, Kabler/Thomas Financial, Walnut Medical Services, Rosie and the Jammers, Davidsville Fuel, 814 Lanes & Games, Cowie McGraw Financial Group and Westmont Grove.
"We rely on a lot of sponsors — everything from drinks to fruit and nutrition bars, it's all donated," Sheehan said. "We wouldn't be able to do this without community support."
Participant Christian Leech said he was grateful the event is held each year from a runner's standpoint, too.
The Johnstown man said he just started to get serious about the sport over the past year — and has been traveling to participate in recent months.
This past week, he ran in an event in Erie.
"It's great to have something like this here in Johnstown," he said.
He and Furman said they'd love to see Johnstown bring back an annual marathon.
Sheehan said this year's turnout was an improvement over 2022.
That wasn't a big surprise though, she said.
"From what I'm hearing from other race organizers, coming back from COVID-19 was a slow start," she said. "But they are building back up ... and we did, too, this year."
