Dickerson leads pack at HomeRun for Habitat 5K

October 22, 2023 Bob Bakken

Photo: Runners take off from the start of Sunday’s HomeRun for Habitat 5K at Silo Square. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)

Jackson Dickerson of Olive Branch was the overall winner of the 15th annual HomeRun for Habitat 5K race Sunday afternoon at Silo Square in Southaven.

Dickerson ran the five-kilometer course through the development in a time of 15:26.0, nearly a minute better than second-place Kole Kusak of Hernando, who finished in a time of 17:43.4.

Josh Taylor of Nesbit was third overall, Grady Booth of Nesbit finished fourth, and Brayden Edwards of Southaven was fifth.

Fourteen-year-old Kyleigh Carter of Hernando was the top female runner, finishing in a time of 20:06.8 with Rylee Blanchard of Olive Branch second at 20:49.2. Kaydi Blanchard of Olive Branch was third, Candace Kautzky of Olive Branch took fourth, followed by fifth-place finisher Meghan Briscoe of Southaven.

The annual event is held each October as a major fundraiser for the Hernando DeSoto affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, which we earlier highlighted on DeSoto County News.

The day includes a kids’ dash and Fall Fest, with a bounce house, balloon twister, a mechanical bull to ride, plus a petting zoo, climbing wall, and other activities.

Part of the day also included awarding of the Dave Bowden Memorial Trophy, a traveling award named for the former owner of local Zaxby’s restaurants and a friend of Habitat for Humanity. The award is presented to the school that raised the most money this year, which this year was Horn Lake, which raised $4,058.35 to the cause. Second place went to Lewisburg, which raised $2,111.29, followed by Hernando, with $1.045.41. All of the DeSoto County schools together raised $8,210.21 to Habitat for Humanity. It’s a significant amount when considered that a typical Habitat home costs about $115,000.

You can see the start of today’s HomeRun for Habitat run here. Photos from today’s event may be found at the DeSoto County News Facebook page.