Jamie Joiner (left), Bailey Carter (center) and Amber Griffin take a selfie with their finish cards to post on social media after the three finished the 35th annual Rose City 5K Walk Saturday morning in front of the Thomasville Center for the Arts in Thomasville. 

THOMASVILLE — As the more than 500 runners filtered down the long receiving line bordered by orange cones on Washington Street, they began to congregate with friends, coworkers and families they’d lost on the trail. 

A rainy morning cleared enough by 8:30 a.m. to give the participants in the 35th annual Rose City 5K Walk a comfortable, cloud-covered race that featured a back-and-forth battle by previous winners Gene Opheim of Tallahassee and Joel Carter of Thomasville, who took the crown. Or rather, another first-place bowl trophy. 

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For nearly all of the participants, including the two top performers, the day was about having fun and supporting the community. And there were, of course, bragging rights between confidants. 

Bailey Carter won the rights with her Anytime Fitness crew, finishing 17th in her third year competing. It’s nine spots better than her previous best.

Autumn Griffin, manager at Anytime Fitness, had bragging rights within the race after her 25th-place finish. Hailing from the mountains of North Carolina, she had a foot up on the competition at parts such as Heartbreak Hill, which causes the most struggles for walkers at the tail end of the race. 

“I knew I got these hills on you guys,” she told friends Jamie Joiner and Carter, who raced with Archbold Medical Center, as they mingled afterward.

Joiner, who raced as part of Senior Life, finished 41st — a good finish, but one away from the top 40 he wanted. 

The 5K walk, run by co-directors Dr. Jim Story and his wife, Carolyn, since its inception, is a competitive walking race. One foot must appear in contact with the ground at all times. Officials bike with the top walkers and others position throughout the race to make sure people adhere to the rules.

“I’m a runner,” Griffin said, “and this is so much harder. I’m just ready to get going and run.”

The three said they went in with the mindset of taking long strides and “everybody will die out.”

“Getting started, getting that pace, was going to be the hardest part,” said Carter, who won’t run next week in the Rose City 10K Run but will watch her daughter compete in the one-mile Fun Run. 

Opheim, who set the race record 25 years ago at 22:28, provided the early pace. The 69-year-old decided competing in the race again would be a nice goal to work toward and dedicated training for it on Aug. 1, 2015.

“I wanted to win it one more time,” he said. “We had a good race today, but Joel was a little bit better.” 

Both men gave it all they had and swapped places throughout the Thomasville city streets en route to sub-30 minute finishes. Carter edged him out in the end, winning in 29:32 and taking both the overall first and Thomas County first-place trophies. Opheim finished six seconds behind at 29:38. 

“The only difference between me and Gene is he has a few years on me,” said the 52-year-old Carter. 

Helen Huddlestone, 79, and Grady W. Phelps, 84, have a few years on both and took the award for oldest female and male competitor, respectively. Huddlestone finished 93rd. 

Thomas County Central head coach Bill Shaver rounded out the men’s medal stand, finishing in third at 33:16. 

Sheila Roberts of Cairo finished fifth overall and first on the women’s side at 33:45. 

Roberts said its a lifestyle that helps participants get to the top of the medal stand. This year she added a new aspect to her routine, which includes elliptical work. 

“I started doing Insanity the last three months to work up to this because I knew it’d have hills,” she said. 

The INSANITY workout is an at-home DVD that brings a high-intensity workout in 3-to-5 minute blocks with very brief rest periods. 

The 5,000-meter Thomasville race includes various knolls, with a water station, DJ and motivation on “Heartbreak Hill” at the end. Spectators at the one-mile marker played motivational music for the walkers as well and neighbors stood on porches to watch the annual event. 

Those watching from the finish line in front of the Thomasville Center for the Arts watched as Pam White of Tallahassee finished a strong sixth at 33:49, and second overall on the women’s side. Pam Howell rounded out the women’s medal stand, taking seventh overall at 34:07.