More than 2,000 runners took their marks on Mill Avenue Sunday morning to compete in one of Arizona's longest racing traditions.
Phoenix New Times partnered with local charity Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Arizona for the 32nd annual race. Proceeds from the race will go to the charity.
The 10K followed a day of activities, including a Kids' Dash, Stroller Stroll and a 5K, said Whitney Fitzpatrick, marketing director for the Phoenix New Times.
"We continue to pool our resources to put on the event year after year because it's our way of continuing one of the few traditions we have in the Valley," Fitzpatrick said in an e-mail. "We continue to produce the event with pride."
This year's participants ranged in experience, but the majority of runners were novices or involved in local or state training teams, she said.
The 6.2-mile course started on Mill Avenue and Fourth Street and continued clockwise east until it wrapped around and ended at Fifth Street and Mill Avenue.
ASU computer engineering sophomore Chris Volpe said he entered the race because he missed last year's race and wanted to see if he could run the race in less than 50 minutes.
"I'm not used to running the six miles, so I really started feeling it towards the end," he said. "But when you are running and see people passing you, it just makes you want it more.
"That really encouraged me to keep going, and I'm really glad I did because I finished with a time I wanted."
Volpe's final time was 48 minutes and 39 seconds.
Anthony Gallo, 28, of Flagstaff, was the first place winner of the 10K with a time of 29 minutes and 49 seconds.
Gallo was a four-time Division 3 All-American runner while in college at State University of New York Genesco.
Gallo said he recently moved to Flagstaff from New York in order to take advantage of training in higher altitudes.
For the past two months, he has been training with a cross-country team called Run Flagstaff in preparation for the race, he said.
"This was such a good time and just a fun run in general," Gallo said. "It felt great to cross first and break my (personal record). It's just an incomparable feeling."
Jared Scott, 25, took second place for the second year in a row with a time of 30 minutes and 21 seconds.
Scott is Gallo's running partner and said he has been training with his cross-country team since the end of April by running more than 20 miles a week.
Although Scott and Gallo have been training together for only a little while, he said that Gallo has been a motivation that has made him push himself harder during training and the race.
"I was trying to catch him the whole time," Scott said jokingly. "But with a mile to go I knew he had it and I couldn't catch up.
"It was fine though, I just kept telling myself to keep going."
Reach the reporter at: kendall.wright@asu.edu.
