Firecracker Fast 5K set for Independence Day

If Independence Day is Wednesday, so is the annual Firecracker Fast 5K.

Beginning at 7:30 a.m., the 3.1-mile, point-to-point footrace plummets from Little Rock’s Heights at Kavanaugh Boulevard and North University Avenue to Monroe Street outside War Memorial Stadium. It is downhill most of the way.

There’s one weensy interruption, an unfriendly hill beside the Little Rock Zoo. But then the road slopes downhill to the finish.

Racers will be chip-timed, with mats at start and finish lines; and there are awards three deep for males and females in five-year age divisions, 10-and-younger to 75-and-older. Finishers younger than 12 will get medals.

As usual, race workers will hand 100 firecracker awards to the first 50 men and women across the finish line, regardless of age or chip time.

Online registration ($25) fizzles out at midnight today. Runners and walkers still can sign up in person for $30, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the presenting sponsor, Fleet Feet Sports/Easy Runner in the Pleasant Ridge Town Center, 11525 Cantrell Road.

Or get in line — typically a very long line — from 6 to 7:15 a.m. Wednesday in the lot of the Bank of America branch at Kavanaugh and North University. You can see the starting line from there.

Entry includes a T-shirt. Strollers are welcome but for everyone’s safety should assemble at the back of the crowd. Dogs are not welcome. No dogs.

Parking is congested and finding a space can take five or 10 minutes. After the race, a trolley will take footsore folks back to the Heights and their cars.

More information is at (901) 274-2202 and the website firecrackerfast5k.racesonline.com.

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