Food Lion celebrates 60th anniversary with 6K race
Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 15, 2017
- Josh Bergeron / Salisbury Post - A crowd of runners takes off from the starting line of Food Lion's 6k race on Saturday. The race was held to celebrate the company's 60th anniversary.
By Josh Bergeron
josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Food Lion celebrated its 60th anniversary holding a 6K race on Saturday that attracted hundreds of participants.
Starting at Food Lion store No. 1 — on Mahaley Avenue — the race drew about 320 participants. All proceeds from the race will be donated to Rowan Helping Ministries and Second Harvest Food Bank, said Food Lion President Meg Ham.
Founded on Dec. 12, 1957, Food Lion briefly considered hosting a 60K to celebrate 60 years of operation. Because 60 kilometers is more than 37 miles, the company opted for a more manageable 6 kilometers, Ham said.
Just before the race started, Ham announced that Food Lion had raised enough money to donate 250,000 meals to Rowan Helping Ministries and Second Harvest. She said Food Lion believes people shouldn’t be faced with choices about whether to purchase food or pay rent.
Meanwhile, participants in the race started running shortly after 8 a.m. The course took participants east on Mahaley Avenue, past Knox Middle and Overton Elementary schools and down parts of the Salisbury Greenway.
Among the 6K participants were Susan Glover, Jan Owens and Teressa Turner. The trio said their strategy for the 6K was to alternate between walking and running.
The top three overall finishers on Saturday were as follows: Oscar Bautista of Woodleaf with a time of 22:19, Steven Stamper of Salisbury with a time of 22:50 and Boyce Seals with a time of 24:24. Bautista, Stamper and Seals were also the top male finishers.
The top three female finishers were as follows: Meredith Abramson of Salisbury with a time of 27:10, Kristen Hale of Huntersville with a time of 29:47 and Kristin Dechene of Charlotte with a time of 30:28.
Ham said Saturday’s 6K will not be the only event held to celebrate Food Lion’s 60th anniversary. In December, the company also plans to bury a time capsule at its headquarters.
Headquartered in Salisbury, the company was also founded locally under the name Food Town. Founders of Food Lion were Wilson Smith, Ralph Ketner and Brown Ketner. Now, the company has more than 1,000 stores across the country. It employs more than 63,000 people.
Contact Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246
