This past Saturday on her high school track at East Lake, 2023 NCAA Division 1 cross country national champion and NCAA indoor 5K record holder Parker Valby from the University of Florida came back to her old stomping grounds to the first ever Parker Valby Holiday Mile which invited runners of all ages to join her to test their fitness before the holidays at the mile distance as well as get to meet one of the top collegiate distance runners currently in the country.
The first 100 registered runners received a free pair of shoes donated by Nike and Parker Valby as made a donation of $1,000 to local Tampa non-profit Girls on the Run foundation. Before the races started, Valby gave many of her fans an opportunity to get a photo and signature with her in a meet and greet.
During the races, Valby was the honorary meet starter firing off the gun for the kids run, open mile, and elite mile sections which also included several top local high school runners in Florida competing.
IMG Academy sophomore Eliana Black was the top female finisher in a time of 5:09 with her former Cambridge Christian teammate Ava Hendrix in second place at 5:12 and two-time FLYRA middle school state cross country champion Lainee Mercer of the Hillsborough Harriers in third place at 5:19.
Westminster Academy junior Jonathan Pena made the trip up from Fort Lauderdale to chase down 2020 Northeast high school graduate Jordan Foreman (2nd, 4:28.27) to win the boys elite mile with a time of 4:28.27 in a photo finish. Meanwhile, Sickles junior Cooper Cheeser was the top local finisher with a third place effort of 4:34.
She intends on making this annual event which had a total of 74 finishers this past weekend and hundreds more spectators on hand.
