Sisters Ada and Gracie Boesch [Photo: Kaila Jones]

Looking to start off 2020 on the right foot, roughly 670 runners and walkers gathered on a perfectly glorious New Year’s morning at Riverside Park, in front of the Vero Beach Museum of Art, to participate in the annual Resolution Run 5K, the fourth race in the 2019-2020 Run Vero Race Series.

With a nod to the previous night’s New Year’s Eve festivities, Jim Van Veen was easy to spot in his snazzy gold sequined jacket, as he kicked off the race. Participants and onlookers joined him in a countdown that ended with colorful confetti shot out of canisters over the heads of the eager runners, who took off in an enthusiastic flash.

The Resolution Run drew participants from around the nation and several from Canada, ranging in age from 7 to a spry 81, each sprinting their way into the New Year. Members of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Program, which was being given a portion of the proceeds, were on hand as volunteers, helping out along the route and at the finish line.

The overall winner was Brad Demarco, all the way from Cambridge, Mass., with a time of 16:33. Top female was another out-of-towner, Sydney Settle from Owensboro, Ky., with a time of 19:35.

The 2019-2020 Run Vero Race Series included September’s Twilight 2-Mile, October’s Frightening 4K and December’s Candy Cane 3K preceding the Christmas Parade on Ocean Drive. Still to come are the Feb. 8 Cupcake 2-Mile from AW Young Park, which contains a tasty cupcake stop at the 1-mile, and the March 31 Citrus Classic 5K from Pocahontas Park, a two-loop course through scenic Downtown Vero Beach neighborhoods.

For more information visit runnersdepotvb.com.