KEY LARGO, Florida Keys – A field of 500 runners ranging from 4 to 76 years old competed on a panoramic course above the Upper Florida Keys and the eastern edges of the Florida Everglades Saturday morning during the annual Key Largo Bridge Run.
Racers running and walking in several 5k divisions crossed the 65-foot-high Jewfish Creek Bridge, considered the entryway to the Florida Keys. The bridge is the southern portion of the 18-Mile Stretch, a section of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway that connects mainland South Florida with Key Largo.
Runners represented Argentina and U.S. states including Florida, Idaho, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, according to organizers.
Anthony Kelhower, age 36, of Marathon, Florida, won the overall 5k with a time of 18 minutes and 38.03 seconds. Jessica Hanley, 26, of Tavernier, Florida, won the overall women’s division in 22:48:76.
Key Largo resident Allen Jones, 49, won the men’s masters division with a time of 21:58:84. Women’s masters winner Jenny Flynn, 48, also from Key Largo, posted a time of 25:39:57.
Key Largo runner Rex Zimmerman, 27, ran the entire race barefoot, placing first in the male 25-29 age division with a time of 20:42:78.
