A beautiful day for Walter’s Run — even brings out Santa

More than 300 runners followed the mild December weather to the West Roxbury YMCA this past Sunday morning to participate in the Walter’s Run 5K road race.

The event, an annual fund-raiser organized by the Parkway Running Club, raises several thousand dollars each year for the Boston Globe Santa program, the West Roxbury YMCA and the Walter Burgess Scholarship fund. 

The Parkway Running Club, organized in 1993 and including more than 80 runners, has held a fund-raising event since 1998, but renamed it after Walter Burgess, a longtime member of the club who passed away in 2003.

“The running club has a lot of diversity, and when it comes to putting this thing together, we get a lot of energy from the whole group,” said Carol Hani, a member of the club since 1998 and the organizer of this year’s race. “I think a lot of that has to do with Walter himself. He was a total joiner, and could get the energy of the group going.”

Burgess died suddenly in 2003 of an unusual and then-unknown heart ailment shortly after completing his first Ironman Triathlon. Before his death, Burgess served as the secretary of the running club and editor of their newsletter. A committed endurance athlete, he worked tirelessly to share his passion for the sport and his love for friends, family and the running community.

“Walter was an incredible friend and inspiration,” according to the club’s Web site. “He was always there to run the slower members in to the finish line, to organize the marathon long runs or group ski trips, to cheer others on, or to give us a big smile after a training run or race no matter the length.”

“He used his energy to help others,” said Brian Burgess, Walter’s brother, who attended the race with his wife, Sandy, and presented the medals.

The race went off without a hitch at 11 a.m., immediately following the children’s 1K race, which began at 10:50.

Eric Greenspan, a 21-year-old UMass-Amherst student from Sharon, took the overall trophy with a time of 17:10. He was closely followed by Jesse Kropelnickz from West Roxbury, who ran a 17:18, and Brian Hughes from Jamaica Plain, who crossed the line in 17:24.

Taking the female trophy was Karen Ringheise from Carlisle, who completed the 5K in 20:03.

“It was a nice course,” said Ringheise after she crossed the finish line. “I just decided to come out, spur of the moment, and it was great.”

The 3.1-mile race made its way through the streets of West Roxbury after starting in front of the West Roxbury/Roslindale YMCA at 15 Bellevue St. For some of the runners, it was almost like a tour of West Roxbury’s neighborhoods after taking a right onto Larkhill Road and another right onto Lagrange Street. At mile two, the runners turned onto Addington Road and then onto Dwinell Street, followed by another right onto Corey Street, left onto Park Street, and right onto March Street, then back to Bellevue for the finish.

The race drew more than 300 runners from the greater Boston area and beyond. A.J. Ahmad, a 12-year-old runner and tri-athlete, drove with his father and sister from Hampton, N.H., for the race. He placed second in the under-19 division with a time of 22:09. 

The high turnout was likely due to the unseasonably warm December weather in West Roxbury on Sunday. It was mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 50s.

Barry Singer from Needham participated in the race along with his running buddy, Phil Hershberg, also from Needham. They have been running together for a number of years, mostly to stay in shape. Hershberg, however, couldn’t hide a bit of a competitive streak. At 70, he said, he was in a prime position to place in his age group. His time of 31:41 was good enough for third in the men’s 70-plus bracket.

“This [race] is a good diversion to get you up every morning and running,” said Singer. “It’s a good race. It goes to a good cause.”

After the race, when asked about his performance, a noticeably sweatier and out-of-breath Singer replied, “All right… I finished!”

The run raises several thousand dollars for three charities: Globe Santa, the YMCA and the Walter Burgess Memorial Scholarship, which sends a young runner to the Newport running camp each summer.

Burgess attended the running camp from 1994-2002, unable to attend in 2003 due to his triathlon training. The running club offers one scholarship each year to young runners to “follow in the footsteps” of Walter and his commitment to the sport.