GULF SHORES, Ala. – Before Saturday, the goal of this year’s Sweetheart Run organizers was to make the 2012 edition the biggest and best in the 11-year history of the event. By all accounts, the event, sponsored by the LA Fleet Feet running club, lived up to the organizers’ goals.

“We had more participants than we’ve ever had,” Race Director Walt Graham said. “At the beginning of the week we knew we had more than 450 participants pre-registered, and we had a few more trickle in by Thursday. However, by the time late registration was held Friday afternoon and walk-up registration was completed Saturday morning, we had registered more than 800. That is by far the most participation we’ve had in the history of the event.

While race officials were shooting for more than 600 participants, the official count for registrations was 827. “Several of us, including Donna Holmes, Pam Winstead, Richard Dickerson, Rob and Jenny Barnas, Jane and Norm Thomas worked on this event for several months. The hard work that our L. A. Fleet Feet Club members put in paid off in a big way Saturday,” Graham said. “Mother Nature cooperated and we had a great day for running. It may have been a little on the chilly side for those standing along the race route, but the temperature was perfect for the runners and walkers.”

There were 122 runners who participated in the 10K run, 329 runners who participated in the 5K run, 166 walkers in the 5K walk and 126 participants in the one-mile fun run and walk. Winners included Jose Pulgarin of Pensacola, Fla. who won the 10K race with a time of 36:03, Rebecca Massie of Robertsdale who was the first woman to cross the 10K finish line at 40:04, Matthew Babikow of Gulf Breeze, Fla. took home first place in the 5K race with a time of 19:08, Svetlana Como of Gulf Shores won the women’s 5K with a time of 21:21, Al Vekovias of Orange Beach won the 5K walk with a time of 33:15, Stephanie Pluscht of Mobile won the women’s 5K walk with a time of 35:55, Gerrod Broxson of Elberta won the Fun Run with a time of 5:05 and Amaivani Pimentel of Elberta took first place for the women in the Fun Run with a time of 6:07.

Graham said the number of actual participants was slightly lower than the number who registered, but that is true for almost any race. “We all have personal lives that sometime interfere with our best-laid plans,” Graham said. “However, even though we had some register who didn’t participate, they can rest assured their entry fees will go toward some great causes this year, such as the Gulf Coast Arts Council, Foley High School Jr. ROTC program, Alabama Free Clinic in Baldwin County and the 8 to 10 local school teams that participated in the 1 mile run.” In its 11-year history, the Sweetheart Run has generated well over $75,000 for worthwhile causes in the area.

Graham said he wanted to give special appreciation to The Hangout restaurant in Gulf Shores. “The restaurant was not only our finish line, they provided a great post-race meal for our runners and walkers and a great facility to give out our prizes and awards,” Graham said. “I can’t say enough about how important The Hangout was to our race. I was afraid we would catch them off-guard with the post-race meal because of the number of people we had sign up at the last minute. However, they had plenty food and beverages for everyone.”

Along with The Hangout, Graham said the other race sponsors played a vital role in the race, providing everything from fresh bananas and water to gift certificates and post-race refreshments. Sponsors for the race included the UPS Stores in Orange Beach and Foley, Publix, Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports Commission, Island Air, Results Fitness, South Baldwin Medical Center, Original Oyster House, Thomason Storage, Cosmo’s Restaurant & Bar, Cobalt restaurant, Wintzell’s Oyster House, Riviera Utilities, Sunny 105.7, Tacky Jacks, DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen, Columbia Southern University, Edward Jones Investments, the Mullet Wrapper, Papa Rocco’s, Meyer Real Estate, Kaiser Realty, Four Seasons Properties, Sports-N-More and Fullerton Tax Associates, Inc.

“We’ll take a little time off to recover from the race,” Graham said. “But we’ll be back at planning next year’s race before too long. Our organizing committee and club members are going to have to continue doing a great job to top the results from this year, but I have confidence we can do it.”

The L. A. Fleet Feet Running Club invites all runners and walkers to participate in an easy run/walk Tuesday nights at 6:30. They meet in the West parking lot of the Gulf Shores Public Beach restrooms located at the intersection of Ala. Hwy. 59 and Ala. Hwy. 182.

For more information about the L. A. Fleet Feet Run Club contact Graham at 205-966-4366, or visit www.lafleetfeet.com.