It's A Wonderful Run 5K: Results & History, 2009–2025
From the first December race in 2009 to a winter tradition drawing thousands to Seneca Falls, here's the recorded history, official finish times and returning runners worth following. The 2020 edition was virtual.
Official race archive ↗ 2026 registration ↗Every year, one place
The race grew quickly in its earliest years. A contemporary 2011 participant account estimates over 400 runners in 2009 and around 800 in 2010. An organizer notice on December 5, 2011 reported over 1,600 registrations ahead of the third edition. These figures describe reported participants or registrations, not verified official finisher totals. Read the 2011 announcement ↗.
Annual race entries below link directly to their original timing source or organizer's preserved archive. “Not verified” means we have not verified a finisher count, not that the race had zero participants. Dates are event dates, not search-page metadata dates.
| Year | Event date | Listed finishers | Race highlight | Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Dec 12, 2009 | Not verified | Inaugural edition | Results / media ↗ |
| 2010 | Dec 11, 2010 | Not verified | Second edition | Results / media ↗ |
| 2011 | Dec 10, 2011* | Not verified | Legacy timing files | Results / media ↗ |
| 2012 | Dec 8, 2012 | Not verified | Eric Rupe 15:12.1; Cole Crosby 15:28.34 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2013 | Dec 14, 2013 | 2816 | C. Fred Joslyn 17:05 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2014 | Dec 13, 2014 | 3172 | Patrick Tyler 15:53 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2015 | Dec 12, 2015 | 3819 | Seventh annual race | Results / media ↗ |
| 2016 | Dec 10, 2016 | 4058 | Omar Boulama 15:02 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2017 | Dec 9, 2017 | 4569 | Omar Boulama 14:56 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2018 | Dec 8, 2018 | 4932 | Paul Suflita 15:23; tenth anniversary | Results / media ↗ |
| 2019 | Dec 14, 2019 | 3923 | Chip Ohara 15:59; Laurel Leone 17:38 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2020 | Virtual | Not verified | Virtual edition, not a live-field comparison | Results / media ↗ |
| 2021 | Dec 11, 2021 | 3170 | Sam Morse 14:58 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2022 | Dec 10, 2022 | 3737 | Paul Suflita 14:57 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2023 | Dec 9, 2023 | 4624 | Paul Suflita 15:25 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2024 | Dec 14, 2024 | 4812 | Scott Loforte 14:52 | Results / media ↗ |
| 2025 | Dec 13, 2025** | 4408 | Scott Loforte 14:53; Stephanie Ryan 17:05 | Results / media ↗ |
* The current organizer's archive incorrectly says December 4. A contemporary December 5, 2011 organizer notice confirms Saturday, December 10 as the race date. ** The organizer and Leone's original 2025 net-results file state December 13, although the timing site's searchable-result page header says December 9.
The runners behind the numbers
Hunter Brignall ↗
Seneca Falls athlete. Third overall at age 17 in 2018 (16:47 net), fifth in 2019 (17:04), second in 2024 (15:18) and second again in 2025 (14:59). His 2025 time was 19 seconds faster than 2024. The courses and conditions are not controlled.
Paul Suflita ↗
A leading recurring competitor: fifth in 2017; overall winner in 2018, 2022 and 2023. Third in 2024 and 2025, running 15:21 and 15:08.
Scott Loforte
Back-to-back overall victories: 14:52 in 2024 and 14:53 in 2025, according to Leone Timing net results.
Early standouts
Cole Crosby of Cortland was second in 2012 with a 15:28.34 chip time. Omar Boulama followed a 15:02 victory in 2016 with a 14:56 victory in 2017.
How deep was the 2025 field?
Leone Timing lists 4,408 finishers in 2025. Its first 50 overall results give useful benchmarks: winner 14:53, 10th overall 16:27, 25th overall 17:20, and 50th overall 19:04. Stephanie Ryan led the women's field at 17:05 (19th overall). These are results-list thresholds, not age-adjusted standards.
What the early archives do and don't establish
The organizer preserves annual material for every edition back to 2009. For 2009–2011, the listed PCR Timing overall-result links did not load during this review. We retained the original official-archive reference but have not imported invented finishers or totals. Gopher Running's complete-looking 2012 text results remain readable; its timing note reports a start-mat power interruption, so some runners have incomplete chip data. The organizer identifies 2020 as virtual, which we exclude from live-field comparisons. Full individual-finisher rows for 2013–2025 remain on Leone Timing until imported and quality-checked inside Confluence.
Official year-by-year result links, images and race videos ↗
Next race: December 12, 2026
The next edition takes place Saturday, December 12, 2026 at 4:40 PM in Seneca Falls. Visit the organizer for registration, the current course and parking details. The official race is held with the town's It's a Wonderful Life celebrations.
