By JENNIFER STULTZ

Staff writer

The rays of a warm sun cast shadows on nearly 20 runners on Sunday at the starting line of the Hillsboro Frostbite Run. It was a much better day than the originally scheduled Jan. 1 date for the areas first run of the year.

“It was a perfect day,” Kodi Panzer of Marion said the day after the race. “I ran 16 miles before heading to the start of the Frostbite Run, and 20 miles the day before.”

Panzer, a dedicated distance runner and chiropractor, is training for a 50-mile race at end of March. Still she appreciates the opportunity to run with her friends at the Hillsboro Frostbite Run each year.

“I just like to support the community and it’s such a fun, non-competitive race,” she said.

Panzer also said she really liked the neck-warmer swag given to all participants this year.

“I know we had to postpone the race because of bad weather on Jan. 1,” Panzer said. “But putting it today before the Super Bowl was a good idea too. This is a good calorie burn.”

Donna Spoonmore of rural Hillsboro also said she enjoyed the exercise and fun aspects of the Frostbite Run.

“I didn’t prepare for this as much as I should have this year. January has been so busy,” she said. “But it’s great to get out and get going with that first run of the year. I think that is why we all like it to be on Jan. 1. It feels good to get that first one under your belt.”

Because race officials bill it as a fun run, no results are kept for Frostbite participants. However, almost all the runners at the starting line set their stopwatches as they took off in order to keep track of their own times.

“My time was slower than I wanted,” Spoonmore said. “But I knew that it would be that way going in. I still enjoy getting out here and running.”