Runners always hope for good conditions and push for fast times at the Teens With a Mission 5K in Salisbury. On Friday night, cool temperatures and the fastest course in Salisbury rewarded lots of runners with their personal bests over the 3.1-mile distance.

Josh Readling got the overall win with a time of 18 minutes and 46 seconds. He was followed by another fast effort by 10-year-olds Eli Julian in 19:47 and Tristan Rabon in 20:26 for second and third.

Queen of Rowan County racing Kelly Lowman easily paced the women in 19 minutes and 48 seconds. Elizabeth Taylor was a strong second in 20:54 while 13-year-old Leah Cressler took third in 22:23.

The most interesting battle of the night was between 6-year-old Hope Julian and 7-year-old Brook Busby. Busby posted 24:23 while Julian clocked 24:35, both eclipsing the previous state record for age 7 and under. Busby set the new pending North Carolina state record with verification expected within two weeks through the US Association of Track and Field.

Benjy Anderson grabbed the fun run win with a time of 3 minutes and 47 seconds.

Race Director Delaine Fowler was ecstatic about the exciting night. She said, “We could not have asked for a better night for the TWAM 5K. Teens With a Mission appreciated all the runners and supporters who came out. I cannot thank our youth, parents, sponsors and volunteers along with the Salisbury PD for their efforts. We had a mix of all ages and abilities of runners who took advantage of fastest course in Salisbury. I loved watching all the little superheroes race the fun run. Everybody made this a fun, fast and enjoyable 5K.”

Primary sponsors included Gordon and Carolyn Hurley, Gerry Hurley, Allen and Michelle Cook, Duke University Murdock Study and Missy and Greg Alcorn.

Complete results are available at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org