Camptown Races 2026: Results, History, Trail & Community

2026 Camptown Races Results

The official Second Wind Race Timing results contain 148 result records: 86 5K finishers, 61 10K finishers and one relay team record. Put another way, 147 people completed the individual 5K or 10K, with a two-person team also completing the relay.

5K: Youth Set the Pace

The front of the 5K was strikingly young. Sweigart won while entered in the 13–19 division, Micah Bohn finished third overall while listed as 12 & under, and Seth Sweigart was fourth in the 13–19 division. Camryn Gesford of New Albany was the first female finisher, placing 10th overall in 28:22.

The 5K also showed how broad the event has become: 51 of the 86 finishers were women, and 18 finishers were entered in 12-and-under divisions. Historical sources document a 5K division at least as far back as the 2024 edition, so it is better understood as part of Camptown's recent format than as a brand-new 2026 event.

10K: Giannone Wins, Reese Leads the Women

Zoey Reese of Eagles Mere was the first woman across the line in the 10K, finishing 13th overall in 52:54. One place ahead of her was another standout youth result: Eli Howard of Wyalusing, entered in the 12-and-under division, finished 11th overall in 52:21.

Other notable 10K performances included Jason Girven winning the Masters men's division in 49:18, Sarah Lafrance taking the Athena division in 56:55, bib 1006 winning the female 20–29 group in 57:35, and bib 2999 earning the Masters women's title in 1:01:34.

The lone relay result was the female team of Madeline / Wanita Antonacci of Montoursville, finishing in 1:18:35.

Camptown remained deeply local even as runners came from across Pennsylvania, New York and beyond. The results list 31 individual finishers from Wyalusing — 19 in the 5K and 12 in the 10K — with additional runners from Towanda, Laceyville, Rome, New Albany, Sugar Run, Tunkhannock, Eagles Mere, Owego, Vestal and other surrounding communities.

Tom Carter: Six Decades of Running Meet at Camptown

Among all the 2026 results, Tom Carter's fifth-place 5K finish carries the most historical weight. Carter, listed from Johnson City, New York, ran 26:54, finished fifth overall and won the Masters division.

Carter's competitive career began at Seton Catholic in Binghamton in the fall of 1967, almost exactly the era in which the modern Camptown footrace was taking shape. A 2025 Times Leader profile recounts a career with more than 500 victories by Carter's own estimate, including the 1976 Run for the Diamonds and the 1979 Utica Boilermaker.

That makes his 2026 Camptown result more than a Masters award. A runner whose racing life reaches back almost to the beginning of the modern event was still near the front of the field at its 58th official running.

A 10K That Changes Character Halfway Through

The official race description warns runners about roughly 2.8 miles of technical trail with roots, loose rocks and a creek crossing. The opening portion is predominantly pavement with a smaller amount of grass. Then the course reaches the historic Camptown Races Trail and the race becomes something else entirely.

Road pacing gives way to footing, balance, line choice and the ability to adjust quickly. That split personality is also reflected in the relay: the first runner handles the mostly flat, mostly paved opening 5K, while the second runner covers the historic trail back toward Camptown. The 5K uses that trail-focused second half, with runners transported to the trailhead.

Descriptions from decades ago sound remarkably familiar. A 1977 UPI report described runners leaving the Camptown baseball diamond, crossing fields and meadows, reaching Merryall Bridge and doubling back along Wyalusing Creek. In 1982, UPI described the then-6.2-mile loop as running largely over rugged lumbering trails.

Weather can change that trail dramatically. Mountain Home Magazine described the rain-soaked 2024 race as a muddy “fun mess,” with nearly 100 runners still taking part. That makes year-to-year finishing-time comparisons less straightforward than they would be on a uniform road course.

The Modern Race Dates to the Mid-1960s — but the Counting Is Complicated

The cleanest historical description is that the modern Camptown running tradition was established in the mid-1960s, while 2026 was officially the 58th running of the 10K.

Archival sources do not line up perfectly. In a 1982 UPI story, longtime Camptown resident Jim Chadwick said he had helped organize the “new Camptown Races” 17 years earlier, pointing to about 1965. The same article called 1982 the 17th annual running. Yet a 1977 UPI story called that edition the 11th running of the revived race. More recently, 2025 organizers celebrated 60 years of the modern tradition, while 2026 is marketed as the 58th official 10K.

Rather than force those records into an artificial straight line, the history is more accurately understood as a roughly six-decade tradition with an official running count that reflects the editions actually recognized by the event.

The participation numbers also show how the race has expanded and contracted through different eras. The 1977 account reported 140 runners the year before and expected roughly 200 that year; the 1982 story expected around 250. The rain-soaked 2024 edition drew nearly 100 runners according to Mountain Home. In 2026, the official timing file recorded 147 individual 5K/10K finishers plus a relay team.

Stephen Foster, Camptown and a Much Older Story

Stephen Collins Foster wrote “De Camptown Races” in 1850. Foster had genuine Bradford County connections through schooling in Towanda and Athens, and Pennsylvania's historical tradition has long associated the song with the community of Camptown. Historical accounts are careful, however, not to present that connection as absolute proof: even the state marker has used qualifying language that the old races probably inspired the song.

The older local tradition describes horse racing between Camptown and Wyalusing along a rough rural route — a very different event from today's footrace, but one that helps explain why the town's name became tied to racing generations before the modern 10K.

There is also important cultural context. Foster's song emerged from the blackface minstrel tradition, a form of entertainment built around racist caricature. That history should not be hidden when explaining the name. The modern Camptown Races are a separate community running and fundraising tradition, but responsible historical storytelling includes both realities.

The Community Is Part of the Race

Camptown works because the race is not treated as a two-hour sporting event dropped into town and removed afterward. The Camptown Civic Club uses it as a fundraiser, and organizer Irene Melly told Mountain Home Magazine that proceeds help support efforts including the school backpack program, food pantry, library and museum.

2026 Race Sponsors and Supporters

The sponsor signs photographed around the race grounds represented a cross-section of local banks, contractors, farms, service businesses, insurers and organizations. Where a reliable public page could be verified, the names below link directly to that business or organization:

• Aliciene Tax & Financial Solutions
• C.C. Allis & Sons Inc.
• Century Farm
• Community Bank
• Confluence Running
• Farm & Home Plaza
• Guthrie / race-day medical support
• Johnson Quarries / Jerry Johnson & Son
• Northern Tier Hydro Wash
• PS Bank
• Rod Fry Trucking
• Second Wind Race Timing
• Sheldon Funeral Homes
• Stagecoach Crushing
• The Sipe Agency Inc. / Erie Insurance
• Thompson Pest Control Co.
• TL Powell Transport
• Tuscarora Wayne Insurance Company
• Williams

Prize and In-Kind Donors

The event also drew support through donated baskets, gift cards, flowers, food, books, lottery tickets and services. Verified local businesses and organizations included Foster Hall Antiques & General Store, Grovedale Winery & Vineyards, Robbie's Pizza & Subs, Wyalusing Family Chiropractic, Sarah L. Wilbur LMT, Donnelly's Property Services, Cold Creek Gardens, Beyond Bread Bakehouse, and Cargill's Wyalusing operation.

Additional donations recorded at the event included contributions from Irene Melly and local donors described as Town Bridge & Co., Pivots Grilling, Four on Nine, Buck & Bark, community book baskets and other donated items. Those names are retained as they were recorded at the race rather than forcing uncertain online matches.

These are normal editorial links: the businesses sponsored or donated to the race, not to this Confluence Running article.

2026 Camptown Races Photo Gallery

Browse the full race-day photo gallery from the 2026 Camptown Races, including the road sections, historic trail, finishers, volunteers and community scenes from race morning.

Why Camptown Still Matters

The race sits at the intersection of several histories: an old Bradford County racing tradition, a complicated 1850 song, a modern footrace revived in the mid-1960s, and a present-day community fundraiser.

But history alone would not keep people coming back. The photographs tell the rest of the story: teenagers racing near the front, Masters athletes still winning, pairs moving through the woods together, runners reacting to the technical trail, and participants who spend more than two hours completing the 10K.

The winners change. The course has evolved. Even the archival record does not perfectly agree on how every year should be counted. Yet for roughly six decades, runners have gathered in this little community, left the pavement, disappeared into the trees and eventually come back to Camptown.

The doo-dah days are still running.