It’s time for the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival, and with it comes an event that is in its 16th year, the Fiddler 5K and 1-mile Fun Run. Event organizers say the race is open to everyone, and is held each year for a very worthy cause.

"This is our sixteenth year for the Fiddler 5K," Fiddler 5K Director Tecia Puckett Pryor told the Review. "It’s hard to believe it’s been that long, but we raise money for Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County, and Habitat is building its fifth house. The current house is on Spring Street and construction has begun, with all of the proceeds for the Fiddler 5K going towards the building of that home. This is one of Habitat’s main fundraisers, so we really hope people will come out and support it."

Habitat for Humanity helps provide homes for deserving families, who help in the building process. "They’re out there every Saturday, anytime there’s work," Pryor said. "I understand this family has been working really, really hard trying to help get things built. They do their own sweat equity, and they’re happy to do that. We’ve got a great partner family."

Money raised from the race go towards building material for the project. The race will be held on Saturday, July 5, at 7 AM, with the start line in front of the First Baptist Life Enrichment Center on Church Street. "We changed the start line a couple of years ago," Pryor continued. "It used to start on Highway 56, but it starts and ends on Church Street now. The finish line is right in front of Love-Cantrell Funeral Home."

Pryor encourages everyone to preregister this year. There is a printable registration form at www.fiddler5k.com as well as a link to online registration. It will take you to OneStopRace, where you can register online until midnight on July 2. The race check-in is on Saturday morning, but you can also walk up and register before the race starts. Race day registration will be at 6 AM at the Love-Cantrell Funeral Home parking lot. Everyone that preregisters can pick up their packets on Friday night from 5-7:00 or Saturday morning at 6:30 at the start line at the Life Enrichment Center. According to Pryor, picking up their packets on Friday can save them a little time, and let them sleep a little longer on Saturday morning.

"Anyone can participate," Pryor said. "We have a 1-mile fun run for people of all ages. If you want to walk, that’s probably the best course, unless you’re a fast walker. We leave the 5K course open for an hour, so if you can walk 3.1 miles in an hour, you’re welcome to walk the 5K course."

"The fun run course is not a strenuous course. We give prizes for the 1-mile fun run, 12 and under male and female, overall winners and first, second, and third. The kids really love that race, and the course stays in town. It doesn’t go down Town Hill, it stays in town where it’s very flat and ends where the 5K does."

Pryor said the 5K participants will go down Town Hill, by the golf course, the hospital, and back up Main Street. "Main Street has a pretty steady grade going up, that you may not notice as much driving in a car, but if you’re running it you certainly do. It’s a fairly challenging course, but it’s a very pretty course. People enjoy running it. We have people that have run in this race for years, in fact we several people that if they have not run all sixteen, they have run fourteen or fifteen races. We’re always happy to have all our repeat runners. Last year, a local woman, Kristen VanVranken, had a new course record for the females."

The race will have a pretty good crowd with 300-400 runners expected from all over the country. Pryor said that even when the weather doesn’t cooperate the attendance is good. "The last five years we have had 350-plus runners participate. A couple of years we over 400, and last year we a deluge of rain and still had over 350 runners registered, with about 275 people braving the weather."

"People come from all over for the Jamboree, or come to see family for the Fourth, and that make our race really interesting. I noticed we already have someone registered from California, and another from Texas."

As in past years, the race is monitored electronically so runners will be able to see their times as soon as they finish. "We have been doing chip timing for several years, we use Tennessee Race Timing out of Cookeville. Runners can get their times as soon as they cross the finish line. We did it by paper for years, and about five years ago made that change. It’s great, and for a race our size it’s necessary."

Run, walk, or just stop by and be a spectator. The Fiddler 5K and 1-mile Fun Run will be fun for all ages, and help give a family a home.