Running club times start-up of season

The Kachemak Bay Running Club unveiled its new timing clock Friday at the club’s annual membership meeting held at Beluga Lake Lodge. The clock was immediately put to use with a fun run and walk, followed by the meeting.

The club’s two biggest fundraisers — the annual Migration and Spit runs  — helped pay for the new equipment. 

“Roughly 25 percent of the revenue (of those runs) is club money. The other 75 percent is for youth sports and is funneled into high school and middle school events and Hershey Track and Field,” said former club president and current board member Bill Steyer.

Also new to the club this year is a chip timing system, paid with a $2,000 grant from the Homer Foundation. 

“That will be terrific. It will make things so much easier,” said Steyer.

The timing system also will be available for high school cross-country and other long-distance events.

At a membership meeting later this month, officers will be selected by the club’s board of directors. 

Information on Kachemak Bay Running Club can be found at kachemakbayrunningclub.org and on Facebook. 

Upcoming events include:

• May 11: 17th annual Migration Run, a USA Track and Field certified 5K event on Spit Trail. Entry fee is $20 for ages 18 and older, $15 for ages 10-17 and free for participants younger than age 10. The race begins at 9 a.m. at the Fishing Hole and is sponsored by the Homer Chamber of Commerce and the Kachemak Bay Running Club.

• June 28: Homer Spit Run, a USATF certified 10K course that begins at Homer High School and continues to the end of the Spit. Entry fee is $30 before June 20, $40 after June 20; children under the age of 10 are free. It is sponsored by South Peninsula Hospital, Homer Community Recreation, Homer News and Kachemak Bay
Running Club.

• Oct. 4: Run to the Altar, a half marathon that begins at Homer High School and ends on the Homer bluff. The 13.1-mile hilly course traverses a mixture of roads and trails. Start time for walkers is 9 a.m., for runners it is 10 a.m. There is no entry fee.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.