The race was helping to support the St. Pete Free Clinic, which provides free medical care and a food pantry for neighbors in need.<\/p>\n
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 St. Petersburg transformed into a 13-mile street party Sunday as more than 4,000 runners hit the pavement for the annual St. Pete Run Fest. The nationally recognized half-marathon isn\u2019t just about endurance \u2014 it\u2019s about impact.<\/p>\n
The course winds past the Dal\u00ed Museum, through the EDGE and Grand Central districts, and along the waterfront, giving runners a scenic tour of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But every stride served a bigger purpose: supporting the St. Pete Free Clinic, which provides free medical care and a food pantry for neighbors in need.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Free Clinic is just really in a point where they could really use our help,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cUnfortunately, if you get down to the food bank on any day now, the line is growing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers said the timing couldn\u2019t be more critical, with delays in SNAP benefits and the holidays approaching, every dollar raised helps keep families fed and healthy.<\/p>\n
The fun also went beyond the finish line with food vendors, live music and even a wedding proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After crossing the finish line, runner Ryan Stahurski dropped to one knee and asked Nicole Quigley to marry him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea,\u201d Quigley said. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about marriage, but I didn\u2019t think it would happen now.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Stahurski, the moment was about more than the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, after this race, was the first time I told her I loved her,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it\u2019s like our one-year anniversary of saying that we loved each other on this day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The race also brings a boost to local businesses. About 25% of participants traveled from outside the area, filling hotels and restaurants and showcasing what makes St. Pete shine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have over 25% of our audience this year from out of town,\u201d Jordan said. \u201cSo a lot of people are staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants, and getting a chance to see this incredible community.\u201d<\/p>\n
From sweat to smiles, St. Pete Run Fest proves every mile matters \u2014 for the runners, the community and the cause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The race was helping to support the St. Pete Free Clinic, which provides free medical care and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-48903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}