‘Make room for dinner:’ Record number of participants run Palm Coast's Feet to Feast 5K

Embry-Riddle freshman Nicholas Scarangelli won the Thanksgiving morning race and kept on running.

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Nicholas Scarangelli crossed the finish line first at the Feet to Feast 5K and kept on running.

Scarangelli won the Thanksgiving morning race at the Daytona State College Flagler/Palm Coast Campus, but the Strava tracking app on his watch showed that he was four-tenths of a mile short of a 5K. He wanted his time documented on the app, so he ran a little farther through the parking lot.

"The woods might have messed with the GPS, so it might have been a full 5K," Scarangelli said. But he wanted to be sure. His race time was 15:48. His time on the Strava app was 16:11.

Scarangelli, 18, is a freshman cross country/track and field runner at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. The Ocean City, New Jersey, native said he came out for the race just to have fun.

"I'm getting ready for (indoor track) season, so I didn't want to kill myself," he said. "I'm looking to go under 15 minutes (in the 5,000-meter run). That's my goal."

Seabreeze High School sophomore Hunter Shuler finished second with a personal-record 16:37. Matanzas High senior Nina Rodriguez finished first among women with a time of 19:35. They were among several high school runners coming off cross country season.

The race, hosted by the City of Palm Coast, set a record this year with more than 800 runners and walkers registering. Some walked or ran with their pets. Many dressed up. But none matched the outfit of Deb Blair, of Palm Coast, who won the prize for best costume.

Former high school state cross country champ Sam Vazquez with his wife, Flo, son Julian,7, and daughter Genesis, 2. Photo by Brent Woronoff

Blair's head fit through a table that was dressed up for Thanksgiving with a festive table cloth and plates, glasses and silverware attached. As she was running with her bulky costume, she would announce, "Make room for dinner."

Blair, 65, is no newcomer to road racing. Just four days earlier, she completed the Arizona Ironman triathlon, a 142-mile ordeal of swimming, biking and running. It was her fourth Ironman race. She finished second in her age group.

Running the Feet to Feast 5K in costume is nothing new for Blair, either. Last year, she dressed up as feet, so this year she decided to dress up as a feast. In the past, she said, she has run as a pumpkin pie and as a green bean casserole.

Age group winners won a real pie. A portion of the proceeds from the event was donated to the Grace Community Food Pantry.

Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, who gave each runner/walker a medal as they finished, was buoyed by the number of young people in attendance. The city is known for its retired population, but younger people are moving in, he said. 

"We are turning the tide with a healthy, vibrant attitude for the future," Alfin said.

Breanna Blair, Deb Blair and Eric Richmond. Deb Blair dressed up as feet last year. This year she was a feast. Photo by Brent Woronoff


 

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