Ten years of running and remembrance

Last Saturday morn­ing, 170 run­ners, walk­ers, and sup­port­ers gath­ered at Winchester First Church of God for the 10^th Annual Alexis Thompson Memorial 5K/10K. 

For many, it was a race. For oth­ers, it was a chance to remem­ber Alexis and sup­port a cause that has con­tin­ued to make a dif­fer­ence in the com­mu­ni­ty for the past decade. 

Alexis Thompson was just 19 years old when she passed away in 2016. A stu­dent at Morehead State University, she was pur­su­ing a future in phar­ma­cy and was known for her gen­eros­i­ty and will­ing­ness to help oth­ers. In the years since, her fam­i­ly and sup­port­ers have turned tragedy into some­thing that con­tin­ues to ben­e­fit local chil­dren and fam­i­lies. Through the Alexis Thompson Foundation, pro­ceeds from the annu­al race help pro­vide schol­ar­ships, assis­tance with camps and clubs, cloth­ing dri­ves, food sup­port, and oth­er needs through­out the community. 

This year’s event also includ­ed the pre­sen­ta­tion of the 2026 Alexis Thompson Foundation Scholarship to Landon Harney. The schol­ar­ship will help Harney con­tin­ue his edu­ca­tion as he pur­sues his future goals. 

Harney was­n’t just rec­og­nized dur­ing the awards cer­e­mo­ny. He also fin­ished sec­ond over­all in the 5K with a time of 21:07. 

Leading the 5K field was Winchester’s Aiden Tabor, who crossed the fin­ish line in 17:59. Calvin Roach fin­ished third over­all in 21:32. 

The 10K race was won by Liam Parido of Winchester in a time of 36:19. Rob Hill fin­ished sec­ond in 39:59, fol­lowed by Wesley Curtis in 44:01. Julia Graves was the first female fin­ish­er in the 10K with a time of 55:56. 

While there were plen­ty of impres­sive per­for­mances on the course, the morn­ing was nev­er real­ly about who crossed the fin­ish line first. The crowd includ­ed seri­ous run­ners chas­ing per­son­al records, fam­i­lies push­ing strollers, friends walk­ing togeth­er, and vol­un­teers help­ing to make the event possible. 

Ten years after the first race was held, the turnout showed that Alexis’ mem­o­ry con­tin­ues to impact this com­mu­ni­ty. What began as a way to hon­or a young woman whose life end­ed far too soon has grown into an annu­al tra­di­tion that con­tin­ues to invest in local young people.