After the races were finished and door prizes handed out, 2025 Gladbrook Corn Carnival 5K participants posed with their medals and watermelons for a group photo. PHOTO COURTESY OF JONATHAN MEYER

GLADBROOK – For nearly 20 years, Gladbrook’s Corn Carnival 5K has provided festival goers and athletes alike the opportunity to test their endurance. This year’s edition saw nearly 70 participants run, walk, and jog the long-standing event.

Event organizer Crystal Peterson, who serves as Nutrition and Wellness Manager at Grundy County Memorial Hospital, is no stranger to 5K races.

“I do other races in Grundy County, for the hospital, and for Dollars for Scholars. So I kind of had a formula for doing them, but it guided the kids through.”

The kids Peterson refers to are a group of 4Hers who brought the race back as a leadership project in 2006 under her guiding eye.

Winning this year’s race was James Johnson, a Marshalltown resident who just completed his first year at Simpson College. Johnson is listed on both the cross country and track and field rosters for the Storm.

Off the line, a group of three emerged, with Johnson staying hot on the pace. The only point of contention for the runner came shortly after the second mile. Being so entranced in the vicious pace he was running, he had missed the left-hand turn.

“I wasn’t paying attention to the lines, so I thought I had to go up, and Barrett let me know that I missed the turn. I had to turn around, but ended up winning still.”

Coming in second place was Barrett Jesina, a multiple-time state-qualifying distance runner from South Tama, who is entering his senior year.

Peterson would like to thank the sponsors of the race who ensure its viability year after year.

Run, walk, jog, or anything in between, the Corn Carnival 5K will knock your socks off and send you home with something you didn’t have before, a statement that continues to ring true with Peterson.

“My tagline always is, and you don’t have to be the fastest to win a prize at this race!”