The Hope Watermelon Festival 5K run and walk took place this morning under cloudless skies and mild temperatures that stayed under 76. Runners took off at 7:30 from the South Mockingbird and Park Drive intersection and went northward to start a trapezoidal route that eventually led back around to the same intersection for the finish line.

Lists of finishers were posted in the lot southeast of the starting and finishing point. The top 10 follows with each contestant’s town, age and gender courtesy of Mac’s Race Timing Service.

1. Joe Bariola                      Hot Springs, Arkansas            17        M

2. Evan Armitage                Hot Springs                             18        M

3. Zeke McCain                   Hempwallace                          18        M

4. Carlos Aguilar                 DeQueen                                 16        M

5. Juan Maldonado             DeQueen                                 17        M

6. Lawson Wideman           Jessieville                               19        M

7. Gustavo Garcia               DeQueen                                 17        M

8. Chris Roberts                  Beebee                                    33        M

9. Christian Kratz                Arkadelphia                            17        M

10.  Walt Barton                   Monticello                              39        M

The top finishers among women were:

1. Juliah Rodgers             Hot Springs Village       17        F

2. Emelia Eriksson         Bentonville                            17        F

3. Jenny Kelly                 Little Rock                             43        F

4. Emily Montgomery    Dallas, Texas                          28        F

5. Annabel Sarver           Hot Springs                          16        F

6. Nicole Hobbs              Little Rock                            37        F

7. Jasmin Sumrall           Little Rock                             31        F

8. Lennon Bates              Little Rock                            32        F

9. Valerie Lemmons       Conway                                34        F

10. Halli Baber                 Pearcy                                  13        F

Among the walkers, here is the top 10:

1. Holly Kerr                  Austin                        66        F

2. Sherrie Rankin           De Kalb, Texas           58        F

3. Kim Hall                     Magnolia                   60        F

4. Selma McDaniel         Texarkana                  60        F

5. Rob McGill                 Mayflower                 54        M

6. Sue Cowart                Prescott                     72        F

7. Loyd McDaniel          Texarkana                   72        M

8. Denise Swint             De Kalb, Texas           62        F

9. Bill Schneider            Camden                      69        M

10. Dara Smith                Murfreesboro             17        F

In team play, the boys’ DeQueen Team was the overall winner.  Among girls, the Lakeside Team placed first.

Other information, about rankings within age groups can be found here.

After the race, runners and walkers inspeced the results as they were posted and stood in line to collect the watermelon that was theirs for participating.