The Fourth of July in the Central Susquehanna Valley features many traditions — parades, fireworks, family get-togethers — but only one has all of those things and more in common: The annual Mifflinburg July 4 5K.
Friends, family members and runners of all ages and abilities gather annually at the Mifflinburg Community Park for the challenging 3.1-mile race. And, as with every year’s race, the proceeds go right back into the community’s Fourth of July celebration, which includes a pet parade, music, fireworks and much, much more.
And, this event just keeps getting bigger.
Last year’s event featured 433 runners, making it the biggest yet. This year organizers are expecting even more — 500 — as the event celebrates its 25th anniversary.
“That’s what we’re shooting for,” said committee member Freddi Carlip, editor of Runner’s Gazette. “It speaks highly of the race and the events surrounding it on the Fourth of July, the birth of our country.”
“We’re preparing for it,” said longtime race director Don Bowman. “I think that all of us on the committee would be delighted to know that in the 25th year we got to the 500 number. It’s a hallmark number for a hallmark year.”
To give you an idea of how much the event has grown over the last decade plus, the 1996 race featured 221 runners. That number topped 300 for the first time in 2003 and 347 hit the streets in 2006.
Not bad for a race that was sparked by the late Tom Muchler and was organized for years with only three committee members (there are seven now).
Bowman admitted that it wasn’t until recently that he came to the realization that Mifflinburg’s 5K is the largest such event in the area.
“In fact it was only three to four years ago that Freddi said to me, ‘Do you know you’re the largest race in the area?’ I did not know that. It’s nice to know that we get that kind of recognition.”
The committee is continually trying to better the race as well. This year, Bowman said the committee is acting on a number of suggestions offered by runners, including the possible removal of speed bumps in the park and the closure of select intersections during the course of the race. The race will also move the quicker runners to the front to avoid bunching at the beginning of the race, he said.
Providing runners with quality gifts hasn’t hurt either.
“We look at the success we’ve had and I think that we have consistently tried to provide runners with very nice premiums,” said Bowman. “I know that from being around people that wear our shirts year after year. We offer high quality.”
The race continually attracts some of the best runners from throughout the area as well. A list of past winners is a “Who’s Who” of area, regional and often, national prominence.
NCAA Division I runners Chris Spooner and Ashleigh Wetzel have won the Tom Muchler Award — presented annually to the top male and female winners in honor of the race’s initial organizer and a former runner who died in 2002 — along with Casey Miller, who will be taking her talents to the University of Illinois this fall.
But the race attracts all kinds of runners looking for a challenge. And there are hundreds more who don’t run, but choose to line the borough and township streets to cheer on those who brave the course, which features a challenging hill followed by a sharp downhill that leads to a flat finish.
“We have a lot of recent high school graduates, kids home from college,” said Carlip. “It’s a great opportunity to re-connect with people you haven’t seen in a while.”
The race steps off at 9 a.m. Friday from the park.
Notes: Race records have stood for more than 11 years in Mifflinburg due in part to high heat and humidity on race day. Friday’s forecast, minus showers, could produce some fast times. Stay tuned.

chris brady: 570-742-9671
sports@standard-journal.com