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Scary fast: Runners hit Washington streets for annual 5K

by | Oct 6, 2026

Two groups of boys pass each other during Saturday’s race.
Runners pass quickly down Warren Avenue.
Miranda Hope waves at Christine van den Toorn as she turns the corner onto Warren Avenue during Saturday’s 5k race.
Mae Anderson ahead of a pack of racers on Gay Street.
Cullen Jenkins nearing the finish line. He placed 18th.
Spider girl Mae Anderson takes off at the start of the race.
Sophia Montague runs up the final hill of the race toward the finish line at The Washington School.
Leif Anderson, dressed as a banana, stops at one of the candy stations along the race route.
Miranda Hope waves at Christine van den Toorn as she turns the corner onto Warren Avenue during Saturday’s 5k race.
Runners pass quickly down Warren Avenue.
Mae Anderson ahead of a pack of racers on Gay Street.
Cullen Jenkins nearing the finish line. He placed 18th.
Spider girl Mae Anderson takes off at the start of the race.
Sophia Montague runs up the final hill of the race toward the finish line at The Washington School.
Kai Smith, who placed first overall, making his way back up Warren Avenue for the second leg of the race.
Riley Smith and Avery Norman (center) running together.
Headwaters executive director Lacey Jenkins speaks to runners before Saturday’s race commenced at The Washington School.
Kai Smith, who placed first overall, making his way back up Warren Avenue for the second leg of the race.
Headwaters executive director Lacey Jenkins speaks to runners before Saturday’s race commenced at The Washington School.
A girl runs by a route marker along Mt. Salem Avenue toward the finish line.
Two groups of boys pass each other during Saturday’s race.
A girl runs by a route marker along Mt. Salem Avenue toward the finish line.
Hunter Downes running up Warren Avenue.
Runners and walkers along the race route.
Hunter Downes running up Warren Avenue.
Runners and walkers along the race route.
Riley Smith and Avery Norman (center) running together.
Leif Anderson, dressed as a banana, stops at one of the candy stations along the race route.

Runners wove through the Town of Washington last Saturday during the second annual Monster Mash Fun Run Dash, a 5K fundraiser hosted by the Headwaters Foundation, a nonprofit that supports Rappahannock County Public Schools. 

The winners were:

  • First place: Kai Smith
  • Second place: Barrett Jenkins
  • Third place: Randy Downes 
Photos by Ireland Hayes

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.