Photo by Eric Harrold/Fall River County Herald-Star 

Over halfway there! Participants in the 3rd Annual Cody Barker Memorial 5K reach Edgemont City Park in their quest to complete the course around town last Saturday. 

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By Eric Harrold

Staff Writer

EDGEMONT – A toasty Saturday morning, June 18, greeted those who walked or ran in the 3rd Annual Cody Barker Memorial 5K. Many participants were ready and off well in advance of the official 10 a.m. scheduled start time due to the anticipated high temperature of 100 degrees for the day. 

Cody Barker, the son of Gaylene Richards and Kerry Barker, lost his life in a trucking accident on June 21, 2017.  The information that Richards shared indicates that more people decided to contribute in one way or another to an event dedicated to the memory of a young community member that cared deeply about Edgemont, and particularly Mogul athletics. 

“We actually had about 55 people come do the walk starting at the track,” said Richards. “We are super excited as that is up from the last two years. Our virtual participants stayed about the same as last year, but we are super happy to see people use the track and do the walk around town.”

Volunteers for the event included family members and friends who either helped register participants or hand out water about halfway through the route laid out that included Edgemont City Park. 

Richards indicated that there was a generous offer of donations, including prizes for those who participated. “We also had a few people who just wanted to donate for the event, which we also appreciated,” said Richards. “We had several businesses donate prizes, again, greatly appreciated! We will continue to accept donations if anyone would like to donate and we do have some shirts left for this year. We are now working on mailing/delivering more shirts to some of the people who chose to do the run virtually. We had people register for the virtual run from South Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, and even Alaska!

Richards added that totals for contributions have yet to be determined for this year’s event. “We do not have a total for our donation yet,” said Richards. “We have to cover some expenses and I am hoping as we share pictures on Facebook, that we may get a few more donations so we have not closed things out yet.”

“We would like to make sure to thank everyone who participated and helped us remember and honor Cody by supporting the Cody Barker Memorial 5K,” said Richards. All proceeds will go to the school for maintenance and upkeep of the football field and track, which is named in memory of Cody Barker.