Maricopa group to run in Sally Meyerhoff Memorial 5K

A group of more than 100 Maricopa runners, mostly new to the sport, will join local coach Carrie Hinton in a five-kilometer race in Tempe on Saturday to help raise funds for the Sally Meyerhoff Foundation.

Meyerhoff, a Maricopa resident and one of the nation’s top endurance athletes, was killed when she was cycling and struck by a car near the intersection of White and Parker Road and Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway while working toward the Olympic Trials. She had recently won the P.F. Chang’s Rock N’ Roll Arizona Marathon.

Hinton is the founder of the local Couch-to-5K program, which she said can take people with no running experience and train them for a 5K race in nine weeks. The program begins with participants running for 30 seconds and then walking for a minute. It gradually enables members to run a 5K race after nine weeks.

“We have about 140 people in the group right now and we have 105 signed up for the race,” she said of the Dec. 10 5K.

The event will be held at Tempe’s Kiwanis Park at 8 a.m.

The group that will run in Tempe, calls itself the Maricopa Running Club. Serendipitously, the Meyerhoff race happens to fall just after the nine-week course ends. Hinton tries to schedule a 5K at that time, and the fact that the Meyerhoff race coincided with that timing was a bonus — a chance to help honor and benefit the foundation, which was organized to help give back to the community and athletes who may be in need.

“We end our program on a Wednesday and her race is on that Saturday, and everyone agreed that is a perfect run for us to do,” Hinton said.

Hinton’s group started slowly. She began running to get back in shape after giving birth. A friend asked her for help with a running program, and the result through word-of-mouth became a group of about 30. Since that time, membership has exploded to about 140. There is no charge to be a member.

***ADVERTISEMENT***The group meets at Pacana Park on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 7:30 a.m.

“I plan to start another beginners program in about February,” Hinton said.

Anyone interested in joining the club should call Hinton at 480-747-1734 or email her at [email protected].

For information about the Sally Meyerhoff Foundation or to register for Saturday’s 5K, visit http://sallymeyerhofffoundation.com/.