Gorgeous weather and good spirits accompanied flocks of runners Saturday morning for the 2nd Annual Reindeer Romp, benefiting Living in Hope and the Selma Christian Outreach Alliance Food Pantry.

Bill Potter, race director, said the race wouldn’t have been a success without support from community members and specifically the Wallace Community College student activities committee.

“We were able to raise quite a bit more money than we did last year,” Potter said. “For that, I thank the departments at Wallace and several runners who gave generous donations.”

After adding all the donations, Potter said the race raised more than $1,000 for the two worthy causes.

Felecia Pettway, student activities chairperson for Wallace Community College, said she was pleased with how much money was raised.

“It was a great day,” Pettway said of the race. “It was great that these organizations were able to receive more funds.”

In all, 69 runners showed up for the Reindeer Romp, which is around the same number that showed up for last year’s race, Potter said.

Eric Jordan, who ran in the male division ages 20 to 29, won best overall with a time of 20 minutes and 13 seconds. For a 3-mile race, Potter said this was outstanding time.

“We had a lot of new runners that came out for the race,” Potter said. “We were very pleased with that.”

Janie Mothershed, age 49, won best overall female runner with a time of 23 minutes and 20 seconds.

Since the race was a success for its second year, Tammy Helms, race co-director and Wallace faculty member, said she anticipates it coming back next year.

“We are planning to do this again so it can remain a yearly event,” Helms said. “We exceeded the amount [of money] we thought we were going to raise, so that was really good.”

From a runner’s perspective, Potter said the day really couldn’t have gone better.

“It was fun and I think everyone had a good time,” he said. “We’re thankful for everyone who showed up,  and we’re looking forward to seeing them again next year.