'It's Finally Done Fun Run' A Huge Success

The on Sunday morning was a huge success, bringing out 363 runners to race on the soon-to-be-completed Route 202 Parkway.

"We wanted 100," said Public Information Coordinator Stacy Crandell, who organized the event with supervisors Chairwoman Candyce Chimera, "but we got more than we expected. We were very happy."

Chimera said the weather was fantastic for the race.

"Last year, we talked about how important it was for us to be interconnected for this project. We thought about being more family friendly and said we'd like to do this so let's try it," Chimera said.

Everyone who participated, Chimera said, "couldn't have been nicer."

Chimera herself, as well as Supervisor Mike Fox, took part in the race.

"It's beautiful," she said of the aesthetics of the Parkway. "It's really pretty to look at, and at some points, it's a little bit of an uphill and it was tough."

She said she continues to run quite a bit on the Parkway.

"Once the cars get on there, it may not be so nice," she said.

At the end of the Montgomery Township Supervisors' meeting Monday night, Chimera read out a list of names to thank for the event.

"A very heartfelt thanks for all the work that went into our 'It's Finally Done Fun Run' on Sunday," Chimera said. "It was a bigger success than any of use could have imagined."

Crandell, she said, was at the top of that list.

"She did the most and spent the most time and took all the grief from all the people who called in with questions that she didn't even know how to answer," Chimera said. "For taking something none of us have ever done before and running with it, a huge hats off to you."

"Exceptional job," said Fox. "Great, great job."

Chimera said everybody who was thanked was there at 5 a.m. in the dark, preparing for the event.

"We should have had headlights on our head, but we got it done," she said. "Everybody at that hour of the morning had smiles on their face. We couldn't have asked for more."

Supervisors Vice Chairman Joe Walsh's nephew, RJ Every, 24, of Harleysville, was the winner of the race with a time of 16:08.

"The chair deserves a big thanks. Great job," Walsh said. "I remember her bringing it up months ago, and from that her and Stacy ran with it and spent a lot of time on this."

Chimera said a lot of people asked if the township will do it again next year.

"We'll just let the dust settle. Maybe we'll think about it and see what we can do next year," she said. "We did it!"

Crandell said a check of proceeds from the event will be donated to the Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Foundation on September 24. 

Second and third place winners in the race were Scott Landis, 48, of North Wales at 17:44; and Charles Thompson, 41, of Chalfont, at 18:43.

You can view all places and participants at Pretzel City Sports at this link or view the PDF in our gallery.

Here are the names of those thanked for the event:

Township Staff

• Stacy Crandell
• Larry Gregan, township manager
• Ann Shade
• Sharon Tucker, parks and recreation coordinator
• Charlotte Becker
• Deb Rivas
• Shirley Snyder
• Lucy Gonzalez
• Gwen Bryant
• Rich Grier, IT director
• Rick Lesniak, director of fire services
• Bruce Shoupe, planning and zoning director

Police, Fire and EMS

• Deputy Chief Scott Bendig
• Lt. Gerry Dougherty
• Officer Dave Dunlap
• Officer Rob Johnson
• Officer Joe McGuigan
• Officer Jason English
• Officer Brandi McCoy
• Officer Tim Woch
• Officer Jake Beebe
• FDMT Chief Bill Weigman
• VMSC Assistant Chief Erick Myers

Public Works

• Kevin Costello
• Ray Barndt
• Greg Reiff
• Larry Knechel
• Scott Deiley
• Mark Hockman

Sponsors for the event included Joseph Ambler Inn (who allowed use of their parking lot for participants), Boucher & James, Inc.; Dischell, Bartle & Dooley; Doylestown Hospital; Gimore & Associates; Traffic Planning & Design; B101 FM; BucksMont Indoor Sports Center; FDMT; Fleet Feet Sports North Wales; Fulton Bank; Life Is Good; Massage Envy; North Wales Water Authority; Outback Steakhouse; RE/MAX - Candyce Fluehr Chimera; Retro Fitness North Wales; Road ID; State Rep. Kate Harper; State Rep. Todd Stephens; Suburban Cyclists Unlimited; Texas Roadhouse; Volunteer Medical Service Corps; Walsh Pancio, LLC; Wawa; and Windmill Day School and Camp.