Runners, walkers participate in Smokebusters 5K Run/Walk

Tony Rigdon of Columbia crosses the finish line Saturday to win the New Bloomfield School Smokebusters Kick Butts 5K Run/Walk race Saturday along the Stinson Creek Trail in Fulton.
Tony Rigdon of Columbia crosses the finish line Saturday to win the New Bloomfield School Smokebusters Kick Butts 5K Run/Walk race Saturday along the Stinson Creek Trail in Fulton.

About 50 people participated in the New Bloomfield Smokebusters Kick Butts 5K Run/Walk Saturday along the Stinson Creek Trail in Fulton.

The event was organized as part of an anti-smoking effort at New Bloomfield Schools.

Erin Hillis, a New Bloomfield special education teacher, organized the event to help raise money to send Junior Honor Society members of seventh, eighth and ninth grades to a Leadership Conference in Chicago. Some of the proceeds also will be used to help support anti-smoking efforts.

The race was won by Rony Rigdon of Columbia with a time of 18 minutes and 36 seconds for the 5 kilometers, or 3.1 miles, competition.

David Tramel, superintendent of the New Bloomfield R-3 School District, finished among the leaders in the race with a time of 22 minutes and 37 seconds.

"I compete mostly in marathon races. It is a good 5K course," Tramel said of the Stinson Creek Trail in Fulton.

The Fulton City Council approved use of the trail for the New Bloomfield Schools' event.