2026 Sunset Runway 5K Results & Recap: Parker Stokes Wins at Greater Binghamton Airport
Race Recap • September 10, 2026 • Greater Binghamton Airport
The 2026 Sunset Runway 5K brought hundreds of runners, walkers, kids, families, spectators, running-industry representatives and local food vendors back to Greater Binghamton Airport for one of the Southern Tier's most unusual nights of racing.
The setting is what gets people's attention: a real airport runway, a fast and flat 5K, and an evening start so the race unfolds while the sun drops over the hills. But the reason this event keeps getting better is the people who fill that runway. This year's field mixed professional-level talent with longtime Sunset Runway regulars, first-time 5K runners, families racing together and kids getting their own turn on the airport pavement.
2026 Men's Overall Podium
1. Parker Stokes  •  2. John Salva  •  3. Jakob Getchell
Official 2026 Sunset Runway 5K Results
The 2026 race was quick at the front. Parker Stokes finished first overall, John Salva was second, and Jakob Getchell was third. Falcon Race Timing handled timing for the event and has posted both the official overall results and age-group results.
Parker Stokes Comes Home and Wins
Having Parker Stokes at Sunset Runway gave this year's race a special local connection. Stokes is an Endicott-area runner and Maine-Endwell High School graduate who went on to compete for Georgetown University. His high-school career included being named the 2018-19 Gatorade New York Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, and his collegiate career became even more remarkable.
At Georgetown, Stokes developed into one of the nation's best steeplechasers. In 2024 he won the NCAA Division I men's 3,000-meter steeplechase championship at Hayward Field, becoming only the second Hoya to win the men's steeplechase national title. Georgetown later recognized him as a four-time All-American in the event and a nine-time BIG EAST champion.
Today, Stokes competes professionally with the Brooks Beasts Track Club. That made race night feel especially full-circle: a runner who grew up in the Southern Tier, developed at Maine-Endwell, became an NCAA champion at Georgetown, moved into professional running with Brooks, and then came home and won a local 5K on the runway.
Read Georgetown's story on Parker Stokes' NCAA steeplechase championship.
John Salva and Nearly a Decade of Sunset Runway History
If Parker's story connects Sunset Runway to the highest level of the sport, John Salva's story connects the race to its own history.
Salva won the inaugural Sunset Runway 5K in 2017 in 15:59. He returned in 2018 and won again, completing the certified course in 17:30. Years later, he was still at the front: Salva won the 2024 edition, defended that title in 2025 with a 16:29.97, and returned yet again in 2026 to finish second behind Stokes.
That is a remarkable span. From the first Sunset Runway in 2017 to the 2026 race, Salva has been part of this event's story for nearly a decade.
Revisit John Salva's 2018 Sunset Runway victory, read the 2024 Sunset Runway recap, or see the 2025 Sunset Runway results.
Jakob Getchell is building his own history here, too. Getchell finished third in 2024 and returned to the podium with another third-place finish in 2026. Seeing familiar names come back year after year is one of the clearest signs that a race is becoming a tradition.
Families, Friends and Shared Miles
The results tell one story. Watching people move down the runway together tells another.
The 2026 field was full of shared experiences: sister pairs, fathers and sons, families with multiple people scattered throughout the results, and friends who treated 3.1 miles as something to do together. Several family names appeared again and again on the result sheet, while on the course you could see people matching pace, waiting for one another, celebrating and finishing side by side.
Some participants were chasing a podium or a personal best. Others were chasing a family member. Some were simply taking advantage of a night when an airport runway became a place to run, walk, laugh and make a memory together.
The Kids Run Starts the Night
Before the 5K field took over the runway, the Kids Run gave younger runners their own race-night moment. For some, it was a chance to race hard. For others, the victory was simply getting to run at an airport, hear people cheering and cross the line smiling.
Those first race experiences matter. The kid who runs a short event today can become the high-school runner, lifelong recreational runner, parent running alongside a child, or even professional athlete who comes back years later. At Sunset Runway, the Kids Run isn't an afterthought; it is part of the story.
HOKA, Brooks, Mount to Coast and adidas on the Runway
This year also felt a little like a running expo tucked into an airport event.
Representatives from HOKA, Brooks, Mount to Coast and adidas Running joined us at Greater Binghamton Airport, giving participants a chance to interact directly with four major running brands. That is exactly the kind of environment we want around Confluence Running events: not simply a starting line and a timing mat, but a place where runners can talk footwear, learn about products, try something new and connect with the larger running industry.
Brooks' presence was especially fitting on a night when Brooks Beasts athlete Parker Stokes returned home and won. It connected the elite end of the sport with the community side of it in a way that felt completely natural.
Local Food Worth Staying After the Finish For
A race party is better when local businesses are part of it, and this year's food lineup gave people a good reason not to head straight to the parking lot after finishing.
The Kitchen Counter
The Kitchen Counter has become a local favorite by taking food-truck energy and turning it into seriously good made-to-order food. Their lineup is known for smash burgers, chicken sandwiches and wraps, subs, salads and other creative comfort-food options. They now also have a permanent home in Endicott while continuing their food-truck service. They were a great fit for Sunset Runway: local, fun and exactly the kind of food that tastes especially good after a 5K.
Bitez & Thingz
Bitez & Thingz brought a completely different flavor to the airport with Southern-style soul-food favorites and fried comfort food. Their menu includes items such as shrimp, catfish, red snapper, fresh-cut fries, fried okra, mac-and-cheese bites and fresh-squeezed lemonade. Having them at race night added another genuinely local option and helped make the event village feel like a community gathering rather than simply a place to pick up a bib and leave.
Here's the Twist
And then there was Here's the Twist. Ice cream and a summer-evening 5K are a pretty easy combination to admire. Here's the Twist is a familiar presence at Broome County community events, and having ice cream waiting while the sky changed color over the runway was about as appropriate as it gets.
Run hard, stick around, eat something good, get ice cream and talk about the race. We can get behind that post-race routine.
2026 Sunset Runway 5K Photos
Race night produced exactly the kind of photographs we hope for from Sunset Runway: kids racing early, runners smiling for the camera, friends moving together and silhouettes stretching across the runway as the last light dropped behind the hills.
Find yourself in the gallery, share your favorite photo and tag Confluence Running when you post it.
$1,000 for Broome County Veterans
In connection with this year's Sunset Runway 5K, Confluence Running is donating $1,000 to the Broome County Veterans Service Agency.
The agency helps local veterans and their families navigate and apply for federal, state and local veterans' benefits. For us, that donation is an important part of what a community race can do: bring people together for one evening, then let some of that impact continue long after the last runner leaves the runway.
Thank You to the Airport, Volunteers and Community
Sunset Runway only works because an operating airport and a long list of people are willing to make something unusual possible.
A huge thank you goes to Greater Binghamton Airport, the Broome County Department of Aviation, Peter LoPiccolo and the airport team, including airport operations, security and ARFF/fire personnel who help make it possible to safely bring a road race onto the airfield.
We also want to thank UHS for helping provide on-site emergency services support throughout the event. Having medical support available on race night is an important part of creating a safe environment for runners, walkers, volunteers and spectators, and we appreciate the UHS team for being there with us.
Thank you to Falcon Race Timing for timing the event and getting results posted quickly; to HOKA, Brooks, Mount to Coast and adidas Running for bringing running-industry energy to the event village; and to The Kitchen Counter, Bitez & Thingz and Here's the Twist for making race night taste considerably better.
Thank you to every Confluence Running staff member, race-day volunteer, setup and breakdown crew member, course marshal, registration helper, Kids Run volunteer, spectator, family member, runner and walker who helped make the night work.
And thank you to everyone who has come back to Sunset Runway year after year. The first race in 2017 drew 242 participants. Nearly a decade later, familiar names are still lining up while a new generation of runners gets its first chance to experience the runway.
That's how a race becomes a tradition.
We'll see you back on the runway.
More Sunset Runway links
Sunset Runway 5K race page  • 2026 Overall Results  • 2026 Age Group Results  • Broome County Veterans Service Agency  • More Confluence Running race reports
