Almost 700 runners take part in 2023 Queen City Road Race

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Hundreds were at Liberty Park for the 2023 Queen City Road Race. (Clarksville Online)

Clarksville, TN – Brad Averitt and Ericka Randazzo had the best Men’s and Women’s times, respectively, in this year’s Queen City Road Race 10K, while Alex Haycraft and Jenny Tassinari crossed the line first in the Men’s and Women’s 5K.

Approximately 700 runners signed up for this year’s event at Liberty Park, which once again was hosted by the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department. There have been at least 43 runnings of the Queen City Road Race, which now features a 10K, a 5K, and a 1-Mile Fun Run.

Clarksville Parks and Recreation’s Maggie Houts oversaw the event for the second year in a row and was very pleased with this year’s attendance.

“This is my second year being in charge of the Queen City Road Race,” Houts, Event Planning Supervisor for Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department, said. “We’re very happy to have just under 700 runners signed up. I think at our peak, this event hosted about 1,000. We have just under 400 registered for this year’s 5K, and strong numbers for the 10K as well.”

Once again the course started in front of the Wilma Rudolph Event Center. Runners wound their way through Liberty Park, went down Cumberland Drive to Riverside Drive, made the turn at McGregor Park, and then returned to Liberty Park for the finish.

Houts said Queen City Road Race has been a Clarksville tradition for more than 43 years, and the folks at Clarksville Parks and Recreation love the opportunity to celebrate health and fitness in our community.

This year’s host of sponsors included Publix, as the main presenting partner. Official time-keeping duties were handled by A Matter of Timing.

APSU’s Brad Averitt was the 1^st Place in the 10K. He finished the race with a time of 35m04s, and praised the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department for their consistently great handling of the event.

Ericka Randazzo was the fastest woman at this year’s 10K, finishing with a time of 36m57s. Randazzo said she has been dealing with some injuries and some hip issues. She said she felt good about her time, but, “It’s definitely not where I want to be.”

Alex Haycraft had the best time in this year’s 5K with 17m33s. He is returning from a six-year hiatus and says he is starting to get his times back to where they used to be when he ran for West Creek High School, and then APSU.

Jenny Tassinari took 1^st Place for the women in this year’s 5K, with a time of 21m10s.