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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Cornerstone Fitness is hosting the 18th annual Cornerstone Peach Run on June 18 to kick off the Chilton County Peach Festival.

The Peach Run will feature a 5k and 10k race that will both start at 7 a.m. at Cornerstone Fitness and follow a route through downtown Clanton. There will be age divisions in both races and male and female categories.

“The Peach Run was just thought of as a way to kind of kick off the peach festivities,” Lesia Childress, fitness director at Cornerstone Fitness, said. “Cornerstone got involved as a way to get involved with the community, and this year we are anticipating a large run.”

There will be prizes for all of the age division winners as well as cash prizes for the male and female winners of both the 5k and 10k. Baskets of peaches will be given to the winners at the event as well.

The registration fee is $40, and runners can sign up for the race online at runsignup.com or in person at Cornerstone Fitness at 110 Baker Ave in Clanton. Runners can also sign up on the day of the run. Runners will receive their chips to record their time just before the race.

This year’s run will be held on the same day as the first peach pageant — the Little Miss Peach Pageant. Childress said Cornerstone is excited to begin the festivities for the week, especially on the 75th anniversary of the Peach Festival.

“This has been going on for quite a long time, and they are really planning to do it up big with entertainment at Peach Jam and other things,” Childress said. “We enjoy doing it, and we just love having everyone out. Our owners Barry and Amanda really invest, and we try to reach out to people, not only in Chilton County. There are people who come from Birmingham and all over.”

The 2022 Cornerstone Peach Run falls on Father’s Day weekend this year as well. Childress said many runners use the race as a Father’s Day event to do with their fathers.

The peach queens will be at the run to cheer runners out of the starting gate, welcome them back at the finish line and give out the prizes to the winners of each division.

Alabama Congressman Gary Palmer is sponsoring the T-shirts for the event.

Childress said the Peach Run also honors the peach farmers in Chilton County.

“It is just a way to say ‘Peach season is here,’” Childress said. “We just enjoy being the first, and the tradition of getting the spirits of people ready for what is coming.”

More information on the Cornerstone Peach Run, call Cornerstone Fitness at 205-280-6450.