Todd, DeBerardinis gains most miles in Run With The Knights 24-Hour Ultra

LAURINBURG — While the rain threatened to put a damper on things, it did not stop more than 100 people from going out and showing their support this weekend for Habitat For Humanity’s Run With The Knights 24-Hour Ultra event.

“The event was a huge success and achieved everything I hoped it would,” exclaimed Habitat For Humanity of Scotland County Executive Director Chris Carpenter. “It brought recognition to our local Habitat for Humanity and St. Andrews University.”

The marathon event allows participants to complete however many laps they wish on a 1.2-mile course in 24 hours. Recognition is given to individuals able to complete the most miles in the time frame. The overall male winner on Saturday was Jay Todd of Laurinburg, who ran 103.97 miles, which was an event record. Erin DeBerardinis of Monroe was the overall female runner and she ran a total of 101.58 miles with the 24-hour period.

Due to all the participation, Carpenter said Habitat for Humanity of Scotland County was able to raise money to use for their work within the county. The total amount raised is still being calculated.

“We were able to involve the (St. Andrews University) students in many aspects of the event allowing them to use skills they are learning in their different programs,” Carpenter added. “We had 137 participants register for last years event and we almost had two and a half times that this year.”

Among those participating were 329 people that spanned 17 different states.

“Out of those runners, 155 ran or walked at least a half marathon to receive a medal,” Carpenter said. “The ages of those ranged from 16 years old all the way up to 86 years old.”

Carpenter said he believes the event is well on its way to seeing 500 participants in the future.

“When I started the event last year I said I felt we could reach that goal of 500 participants by year five and this year’s totals really solidified that for me,” Carpenter said.

While Carpenter was the brainchild of the Run With The Knights event, he said there is no way he could have pulled it off without the support he has been shown by so many.

“I am again overwhelmed with the amount of participation from the runners and walkers and the support I received pulling off this event,” Carpenter said. “I am amazed at the success we had in only our second year.

Carpenter thanked his staff for their “hard work.”

“I am a runner and I somewhat understand what it takes to pull off this type of event. My staff are newbies to this over the past two years, but they are amazing and work tremendously hard to pull it off for everyone to enjoy,” he said. “They love the participants and celebrate your accomplishments with you.”