The Palace Saloon 5K

One of GWTC’s longest continuous running races, the Palace Saloon 5K was first run in 1975 near Natural Bridge. A late volunteer caused the lead runners to continue past the turn around. The nextand has kept a reputation of being a fast and fun event ever since. The 2018 race was directed by Mark Priddy, who has a lot of good experience directing the Flash 12K. In 2017, the final stats for the Palace showed 1043 finishers, including top finisher Stan Linton who finished in a time of 15:16 (fastest time since 1994) and top female finisher, 12 year old Ani Veltcheva, winning her second Palace title, this time in 17:58. The Palace Saloon 5K is traditionally one of the fastest 5K fields in town.

The 2016 edition was the State RRCA 5K Championship. Mike Burns made his mark on the Palace Saloon 5K after taking over as race director in 2013. The race exceeded 1300 finishers his first three years, including a record 1389 in 2013, before dipping to just over 1000 last year. With a big crowd and a great celebration at the end, this race is a lot of fun – well, other than the uphill from just past the 2-mile mark to 2.5 miles or so. You have to love that long downhill finish though and it’s a great way to follow the Springtime 10K. The web page is at http://ps5k.com/.