Anthem 5K starts Triple Crown

Kentuckiana’s foremost running series returns on Saturday with its first race of the year. So get ready for the Two Rivers 5K at General Butler State Resort Park in Carrollton, Ky.

Oops.

With all due respect to the second annual Kentucky State Parks Race Series (which actually does begin on Saturday with the Two Rivers 5K), the Louisville Triple Crown of Running, of course, is Kentuckiana’s foremost series.

And that should be obvious when the Triple Crown’s first race, the Anthem 5K Fitness Classic, flexes its muscles in downtown Louisville on Saturday.

Nearly 5,300 people already had entered the five-kilometer race before late registration began today, and that number could increase significantly with the promise of good weather. According to forecasts, the temperature will be approaching 60 degrees when the race begins at 8:30 a.m.

Many of the race’s top contenders are veterans, including, among the men, Brevard, N.C., resident Stuart Moran, who was second last year; Bowling Green, Ky., resident Jef Scott, who was third last year; and Scott’s twin brother James, who was third two years ago.; and, among the women, Bowling Green’s Bonita Paul, who was second last year; Lexington, Ky., resident Susie Bush, who won two years ago; and Jef Scott’s wife Michelle, who was fifth last year. In the men’s race, also watch for newcomer Paul Howarth of Indianapolis.

The Triple Crown debuted in 1984 and annually draws nearly 18,000 runners, walkers and wheelchairs. The Anthem 5K, which replaced the Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon in a restructuring after the 2003 series, will be followed by the Rodes City Run (10K) on March 25 and the Papa John’s 10 Miler/USATF Men’s National Ten Mile Championship on April 15.

More information about the series and each of the races can be found here.

By the way, the other races in the Kentucky State Parks Race Series are the Spring Classic 5K at Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park on April 1; the Barren River 5K at Barren River State Resort Park on May 20; the Possum Ridge 5K at Taylorsville State Park on June 17; and the Magnolia 5K at Rough River State Resort Park on July 15. More information can be found here.