Paige Booth, of Lancaster, ran in the children's fun run during the Race Against Racism Saturday with her peers in the 7-to-9 age group.
But that wasn't enough for the petite runner.
The 40-pound girl, accompanied by Bryon Miller, ran the "big" race with several thousand adults.
"I love running," the spirited but tired 7-year-old said. "I've run five miles before."
Miller accompanies Paige so she doesn't get trampled by the much larger competitors who might not see her, he said.
"I want to be a track star someday," she said after completing the race. "I've been running with the adults since I was 4."
The 10th YWCA Race Against Racism, touting an environmentally friendly theme, kicked off at 8:30 a.m. with the children's fun run. The main gun sounded at 9. A record 2,856 runners and walkers participated.
This year, the competitive runners were equipped with electronic chips so their times were more accurately recorded.
As in years past, the Kenyan runners proved to be unbeatable, with Sammuel Ndereba taking the crown with a time of 14:41 for the 3.1-mile run.
Irene Limika, of Kenya, was the overall female winner with a time of 16:42.
These professional runners travel around to compete for the money, which Saturday was $500, said John Jascoll, director of development and communications.
Matt Wagoner, of Camp Hill, finished fifth among the men with a time of 15:32 and Sayard Tanis, of Harrisburg, finished fourth for the women with a time of 19:18.
"It's fun and nice to run against them," Wagoner, 30, said of the professionals. "My goal is to stick with them as long as I can. They make me run faster."
A physics teacher at Red Land High School, Lewisberry, Wagoner said he ran through high school and college and would like to turn professional someday
Tanis, who agrees the Kenyans and Ethiopians make her run faster, said, "It's always good competition. It's fun to win, but it's good to run with good competition."
Tanis, 26, who is studying to be a physical therapist, runs 10 to 15 races a year. "I love to run and I want to do it every day. I'd be a professional if I could."
During the children's race, the children 6 and under ran first, charging down Chestnut Street to Tony the Tiger, who signaled the children to turn around and run back to the finish line. (The big cat was on hand for Kellogg's, a sponsor of the event.)
One youngster was tripped at the start and ran to his grandmother.
Valerie Claxton, a volunteer who was starting the fun run races and cheering the runners on, checked on the boy, who was not hurt. "Nobody gets hurt," she yelled as the 7-to-9 group took the starting line.
The gregarious woman got the children all wound up before their sprint to the Kellogg mascot.
Celebrating the 10th year for the race that promotes eliminating racism and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all, the YWCA added a Humanities Festival in Musser Park.
Jascoll said the festival of food, crafts and entertainment is "a fitting christening for the newly renovated park."
Some of the vendors for the day included the Rainbow Rose Coalition supporting civil unions; Ten Thousand Villages; and Beads for Life, which works to eradicate poverty by selling beads and jewelry made from them.
Jenn Knepper, who was manning the booth, said she volunteers her time to promote the beads.
"Three women from Colorado started the nonprofit company after they visited Uganda," she said. "The beads are made by women in Uganda, but they had no way of selling them."
The women use strips of magazine pages and roll the paper into beads. The beads are then sent to Colorado, where they are sold through
BeadforLife.com, she said.
"It's all fair trade that provides the women with health care, education and medications," the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center nurse said.
The YWCA also went green this year. Instead of foam cups for the runners, reusable water bottles were handed out. They could be filled from large water containers that held municipal water. Goody bags were made of recycled materials and can be reused. And 10 trees were planted along the race route to commemorate the anniversary.
Participant Jim Weidensaul said, "They're doing their part to go green. They're doing a great job."
Cris Foehlinger is a staff writer for the Sunday News. Her e-mail address is cfoehlinger@lnpnews.com.
