News : Flaughless 5K organizers say thanks, plan 2014 event for Homecoming Week

Georgia Sysouchanh releases a balloon as she and Lisa Horak honor Dan Flaugh before the annual 5K.

Georgia Sysouchanh and Lisa Horak are wrapping up the 2013 Flaughless 5K event, sending out thank yous and tallying the final race results as well as event donations and expenditures, even as they begin to think about what do to for the third annual Flaugless 5K in 2014.

"As you can imagine, Lisa and I were completely exhausted (emotionally, physically, everything) after wrapping up everything on Saturday," said Georgia. "We're grateful beyond words for all the support we had all around us."

The day began with a good problem to have: So many people showed up that the start of the race was delayed more than an hour to allow for everyone to register.

Yet, despite the delays, nobody complained.

"Even when some things weren't going according to plan, not one single person complained to us, which was awesome," said Georgia. "Our event was not about getting a t-shirt (that's just a bonus), it was about honoring Dan and supporting all of our veterans. And everyone there knew that wholeheartedly."

Organizer, she said, still have to finish up some things - finalizing the race results, organizing all of the supplies to store for next year, and sorting through all of the extra race shirts and other merchandise to figure out what we have that we can sell.

"As of now, our plan is to have the 3rd Annual Flaughless 5K the weekend of Homecoming again (I'm not even sure what that date is). It'll be the V-S Class of 2004's 10-year reunion that weekend as well, so Lisa and I have talked to Heather Geissinger about coordinating with her and Emily (Pohlmann) Grimm to have our events the same weekend. Nothing is finalized as far as I know, but that's the tentative plan. We've had lots of great support from our class already, so it will be nice to have the 5K and the reunion go hand-in-hand next year" says Georgia. "We just want to say thank you again to the community of Vinton for stepping in and helping us out again without expecting anything in return. Vinton is truly an amazing community and it can be easy to forget that sometimes, but for those of us who have moved away, we really appreciate it when we come home."

Lisa also expressed her thanks to everyone involved.

"The results of this year's Flaughless 5k have once again left me speechless," she said. "Although not everything went according to plan, the fact that we were able to raise $15,000 for the benefit of a great cause, says we must have done something right."

And, she says, organizes could not have done this "something right" without the help and support from such a generous community.

"It truly is a beautiful thing to see so many people come together, donate their time, money, and hearts, in effort to achieve a common goal. The Flaughless 5k is a creation brought together by many, with the heart of one," she adds. "Thank you, thank you, thank you again to all who lent a hand, with your support we'll be able to continue and grow a Flaughless 5k. #LiveLifeFlaughless!"