Irishpalooza 2015 Wrap-up

The 28th Annual Irishpalooza St. Patrick’s festivities in Martin City kicked off Sunday, March 15th following the 3rd annual Whiskey Run 5k race, and a host of other “green” themed activities. This was the first year in a long time that the weather was on our side. It was gorgeous all day long!

Whiskey Run 5K

The day began with the Whiskey Run 5K race in front of KC Running Company at 8:30 a.m, with runners warming up as early as 7:15am. There were over 450 people registered to run!

Top Male/ Female Runners

TOP OVERALL MALE: Samuel Stepp (18:18:3)
TOP OVERALL FEMALE: Rachel Hoger (20:51:6)

Honorable Mention

We love that Edward Burnham participated in the race so we wanted to make sure to mention him! Ed is 95 years young and easily swept the top spot for his age category. He completed the Whiskey Run 5k in one hour and 22 minutes. Congrats Ed!

Kids Fun Run

The 5K race was followed by a fun run of 50-200 yards for kids ages 8 and under.

All the race participants received a free post-race brunch at RC’s Restaurant so with all the spectators that came out to support them, you can image what a packed house it was at RC’s! Chicken and waffles, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage… AND athletes. Definitely a breakfast for champions.

A BIG Thank you to our race sponsors for making the 5K Whiskey Run possible!

RACE SPONSORS:
City of Kansas City Neighborhood & Tourism Development Funds
Martin City Community Improvement District
RC’s Restaurant
Intermark Management Services
Martin City Brewing Company
KC Running Company
Jameson Irish Whiskey
Sidelines Custom Floral Inc.
Volleyball Beach

CLICK HERE to view all the photos from the 2015 Whiskey Run 5K race.

CLICK HERE to view race results.

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Best Dressed Dog Contest

The Martin City Animal Hospital coordinated the Best Dressed Dog Contest with their own Dr. Libby as the emcee. The contest began at 11:30 a.m. in the event tent, where this year, the Martin City Sports complex provided us with awesome green turf for our furry friends! Because the weather was so nice, more dogs than ever came out to strut their costumes so it was a tough decision for the judges!

TOP DOGS

Prince & Princess Contest

Once again, the Prince and Princess contest brought out the cutest of the cutest, all with the hopes of being crowned as the new Irishpalooza Prince or Princess. Sponsored by The Gerber Insurance Group, Commerce Bank and Martin City School K-8, this is one of the most popular highlights of the day!

Congratulations to the NEW 2015 Irishpalooza Prince and Princess!

St. Patrick’s Parade

The 2015 Parade was full of energy and we were excited to welcome several celebrities to join in the fun this year. The Grand Marshal was Frank White, a five-time All Star, eight-time winner of the Golden Glove Award, and former 2nd baseman for the Royals.

The slate of parade judges included John Holt, Co-Anchor for Fox 4 News, country music artist and a winner of The X Factor, Tate Stevens, Jeff Morgan from Morgan Miller Plumbing, Rick Lavelock with Honeywell NNSA, Linda Smith from St. Joseph Medical Center, and Kathleen Cussin from Hangers Cleaners.

The parade began at 2:00 p.m. and it was such a nice day outside that people came out early to have lunch in Martin City and claim a spot to watch the parade. A BIG Thank you goes out to the KCMO Police Department for doing such a fantastic job regulating the huge crowd we had this year!

We had over 45 entries – a great mix of floats, individual family entries, drill teams, auto clubs, dignitary cars, kid’s clubs, and animal groups.

CLICK HERE to view more parade photos.

Parade Winners

Overall best parade entry = Irish Crystal Company ($600 Prize)

Overall best 2nd place parade entry = Sidelines Custom Floral ($300 Prize)

Overall best 3rd place parade entry = River Ridge ($100 Prize)

RC’s Best in Show = Sidelines Custom Floral

Don Harman Most Humorous Entry = Coffee News

For more information about parade day events, visit the Irishpalooza parade website. If you have questions about the race or the parade, please contact Martin City’s Executive Director at 816-308-1023.