By John Howell Sr.
This year’s Batesville Springfest 5K Racing4Paws has been certified by USA Track and Field, Candy Hopper told city officials last week.

Hopper visited the January 17 meeting of the city’s mayor and aldermen as a representative of the Panola County Humane Society which sponsors the event as a fund-raiser. She requested and received city authorization for the race to be held on Springfest Saturday, May 19. The race will the same route as last year, starting and finishing at the downtown Square and following a level course along residential streets.

The USATF certification assures participants that the five kilometer (approximately 3.1 miles) is accurately measured.

“For any road running performance to be accepted as a record or be nationally-ranked, it must be run on a USATF-certified course,” according to the USATF web site (usatf.org). “The certification program is very important to the average road racer, as well as those of exceptional speed. Most runners like to compare performances run on different courses, and such comparisons are difficult if course distances are not reliable. No one can truly establish a personal best if the course distance is not accurate.”

Rob Hunter of Memphis came to Batesville and, accompanied by Hopper, measured the course for certification, Hopper said. The level, tree-line course also includes a number of turns that makes it attractive to runners, she said.

Race logistics are handled by racesonline.com whose web site also features a map of the course.