Residents run to support local schools in annual 5K race.

On most Saturdays you wouldn’t think a school would be busy.  But when it came to supporting the local schools, the lot at was full on Saturday.

The Third Annual Race to Educate, organized by the Howell Township Education Foundation, is a yearly event to raise money for the children in the district. The day's activities included a 5K race for those who wanted to run and a 1 mile "Fun Run" for those who wanted to walk.

Both events began and ended in the school's parking lot. The event began early on Saturday with registration opening at 7:30 am. The first 1 mile race started at 8:30 am while the second longer 5K race began at 9:00 am. Registration took place online before the event and also at the event in the morning.

As part of the day several local companies had booths at the event where they interacted with the crowd before and after the race. The was on hand to help with the race's safety as well as EMS services.

This year also has a special challenge which was added to last year's event as well. The Howell Township Education Foundation offered a grant worth $1,000 to the school who had the most registrants racing during the day. During registration each person was asked which school they were associated with and the school with the most participants would be entitled to the grant. That school was who also took the honors at last year's race.

Registration for the race was $20 before May 21st and $25 after that, including the day of the race. The first 600 registered racers also got a T-Shirt for participating.

Larry Gurman, Chairman of the Howell Township Education Foundation, was in attendance on race day. He spoke about the race and what it means to organize the annual event. "We’ve been in existence since 2005," said Gurman. "This race is the primary fundraiser for us and we use the funds to award grants to teachers and other staff who are presenting our students with new curriculum; things that they don't otherwise don’t get through the district."

Gurman, who made announcements and handed out the prizes after the race said the event has grown every year. "The first year we had about 120 runners and we doubled it last year," said Gurman. "We are expecting a larger crowd this year." 

The chairman said he wanted to thank all the sponsors and runners who came out for the day. "It’s a wonderful event. The idea is to have a little fun, it's healthy and it brings the community together. We see it building from year to year and its nice seeing it become more of an annual event on the Howell calendar."

The top three places for Men and Women received prize money consisting of 100, 75 and 50 dollars respectively. The winner of the 1 Mile Fun Run was Samantha Messina, a third grader from Ramtown Elementary. She took home a First Place Medal and a gift certificate for winning the race. In the 5K race the overall winner was Tyler Gillies who came through at 17:26. For the ladies, Meagan Drapkin took First Place by crossing the finish line at 19:56. The last runners crossed the finish line at about 10:00 Saturday morning.

To find out more about the race and to view the final results please visit them on their website. You can also find them on Facebook or on Twitter.