Correspondent photo / Sean Barron A cheerful Chris Chrestay, 64, of Girard, crosses the finish line after having completed Saturday’s annual New Year’s Resolution 5K Run at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

By SEAN BARRON

Correspondent

CANFIELD — It’s probable that Katie Bennett used at least part of the holidays to catch up with her mother, though that proved a bit challenging for her when the two of them met at the Canfield Fairgrounds.

“My mom runs these all the time. She is outrunning me,” Bennett, of Greenford, said about her mother Lisa Bennett.

Katie Bennett, an Ohio State University chemical-engineering major, is on break from school and has used part of that time to run with her mother, also of Greenford, in Saturday’s annual New Year’s Resolution 5K Run at the fairgrounds.

Hosting the event was Second Sole, an athletic footwear business in Boardman.

An estimated 200 people of all ages took part in the double-loop fundraiser run, formerly known as the Jingle Bell Run. Part of the proceeds will benefit the fair, Mark Lipinsky, race director, noted.

Other funds will go toward the Youngstown Road Runners Club, which was established in 1975 and includes walkers and runners from the area, Lipinsky noted.

“Whatever we can give back always helps,” he said, adding, “We do (the race) every year to help people close out the year on a high note and get ready for next year.”

Others who completed the 5K race within the fairgrounds and look forward to celebrating 2023 were Hannah Kliner, Mason Konchar and Nick Gallo, all of Chester, W.Va.

“It’s awesome to see everyone come out for New Year’s,” said Konchar, who’s serving in the Army and is receiving training at Fort Eisenhower near Augusta, Ga.

He also called the Mahoning Valley “a feel-good environment to run in,” and an ideal place to spend time with friends.

Staying positive and contributing to the community are two of Konchar’s primary New Year’s resolutions, he continued.

Reconnecting with friends was another large benefit of having participated in the friendly competition, said Kliner and Gallo, both of whom are on their high school’s track team. In a sense, Saturday’s race was akin to a small reunion with friends he hadn’t seen in a while, Gallo explained.

“Staying motivated and healthy,” Gallo said about his resolutions for 2023.

Besides providing the opportunity to run twice around the course, the New Year’s Resolution Run proved to be a double-take for Jeff Ladner, 60, of Stow.

“I ran a 5-mile this morning in Hudson that had been canceled last week” because of the extreme cold and inclement weather, he said. “I made it a double today.”

Ladner, who’s originally from Warren, added that he typically runs in the New Year’s race alternating years, and that he “kind of grew up running in the Mahoning Valley.”

What are his resolutions as the calendar will soon flip from 2022 to 2023?

“Just keep running. I’ve got to keep moving,” Ladner continued.

Sheer joy crossed the face of Joann Desmond of Girard after she walked across the finish line and checked her phone, which revealed she had burned more than 500 calories.

An added bonus for Desmond, 64, was being able to run with best friend, Chris Chrestay, also 64 and of Girard, who posted a time of 39:43.

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