Amick repeats at Firecracker 5K

Asheville Citizen-Times

WEAVERVILLE — It is a good thing Daniel Amick decided to run in the 16th annual Kiwanis Firecracker 5K in Weaverville — but maybe not for the other runners.

Amick, who thought the race was canceled, had planned to run in a 5K in Knoxville this weekend. When he found out that the race was still on, the Weaverville resident kept his commitment in Tennessee, but made it home in time to take first place in his hometown event.
Amick said he thought he would be too tired to run in Saturday's 5K, but he managed to get out of bed and cross the finish line in 15 minutes, 2 seconds.
“I can't explain it,” he said.
Amick finished this year's race nearly one minute faster than his first-place finish last year, but this year's course wound through the countryside, starting and ending at North Buncombe High, rather than following Weaver Boulevard through Weaverville as it had in past years.
Organizers had to change the route after the town canceled its July 4 celebration, and street closures would not be in effect.
“We had to figure it all out again,” said Mary Lynn Manns, race coordinator with the North Buncombe Kiwanis Club. “Everything changed this year. We were here at 6 a.m. scrambling.”
Despite the changes, and the initial confusion that the race was canceled, nearly 300 runners came out for the race, the largest fundraiser of the year for the Kiwanis Club's college scholarship program for North Buncombe High students.
“We didn't want this thing to die,” Manns said. “Even if we're down (in number of runners), we're happy.”
Wake Forest University junior and cross-country runner Marley Burns was the first female to cross the finish line in 19 minutes, 49 seconds. It was the first time in four years that the Weaverville native had been in Western North Carolina for the race.
“I haven't done the race in such a long time, I thought it would be fun,” she said. “I like when we went through downtown (on the old race course), with people cheering on Main Street, but I'm glad that they still had it.”
It was Nadine Gnall's first time running in the Firecracker 5K. The Weaverville resident is training to run in the Citizen-Times Half Marathon in September as part of Sole Mates, a program that raises money for Girls on the Run, the program for young girls that encourages healthy living and a positive self-image through running.
Gnall plans to coach the program at Weaverville Elementary this fall, where her daughter attends fourth grade.
“I figured (the race) was close to home, and it was a good run and it was a good way to start off the day,” she said.