The Woodstock 5K, a local road race in Calhoun County, Alabama, hosted its 44th annual event in the historic
neighborhoods along Woodstock Avenue in Anniston on August 2. This year’s 5K was designated the National
5K Championship by the Road Runners Club of America, an honor that has brought tourism and athletic
engagement to the east Alabama community.
Hosted since 1981, the Woodstock 5K is held annually at Anniston High School along Woodstock Avenue. The
race has been the host of 18 RRCA championship races, including seven national championships, five regional
championships, and six state championships. The race is organized by the Anniston Runners Club, a local non-
profit organization, and all proceeds go towards benefiting the communities of northeast Alabama.
This year’s event marks the highest-ever dollar amount raised by the race, at over $31,000. Local school athletic
programs and other organizations (primarily the Arc of Calhoun & Cleburne Counties, benefiting persons with
disabilities) all receive profits of the Woodstock 5K, as the Anniston Runners Club continues to support
hometown athletics and an ever-growing running community in Anniston, which was designated a Runner-
Friendly Community by the RRCA in 2022.
1,090 participants registered for the Woodstock 5K this year. The race had a closely-contested finish, with Jack
Lowe of Pell City, AL, placing first overall in 15:26.5, just 0.9 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Dakota
Frank of Munford, AL. The top 3 was rounded out by Jay Day of Huntsville, AL. In the female field, the women’s
competition was won by Laney Barnes of Cypress, TX, followed by runner-up Carmen Hussar of Homewood, AL.
Macie Pfeuffer of Birmingham, AL, finished third in the women’s overall results.
The 2025 edition of the Woodstock 5K marked the final event headed by race director Hayley Long, who retired
from the position after directing Woodstock since 2022. Earlier this year, the Anniston Runners Club announced
that Landon Delozier, a coach and teacher at Oxford High School, had joined the race coordinators’ team as co-
director. The Woodstock 5K was also supported by a new major corporate sponsorship from Publix, who
provided monetary assistance to the event and was on-site to hand out catered food to the runners, courtesy of
Publix’s Oxford, AL, location and catering team.
For more information on the race, follow Woodstock5k on Facebook and visit the Anniston Runners Club
website at http://www.annistonrunners.com/. The Anniston Runners Club plans to open registration for the
2026 edition of the race starting on August 4, with a special opening price of $30, limited to one week. This
price is only available from August 4-11, before the race closes and does not open registrations for 2026 again
until December.
