Over 330 people took to the streets on Pella’s southeast side on a cold and windy Saturday morning to take part in the Gene Van Wyk Memorial 5K Run and Walk.  It was the fourth annual running of the race, and despite the weather, amassed the largest number of participants the event has seen.  
36-year-old Louis Pelsang of Iowa City ran the 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 27 seconds to take first place overall; while Lisa Ver Meer of Pella was the first female to cross the line – doing so in 22 minutes, 16 seconds.  
An event that is built just as much around family as it is running, the Gene Van Wyk race included runners as young as four-year-old Landon Fransman, to 82-year-old Stanley Mulder of Otley; along with numerous families who walked the course together.

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