For some Gainesville residents, Independence Day was pink, white and green.
The 35th Annual Melon Run was held Thursday at Westside Park. Out of about 450 participants, a UF student and UF alumni swept the top three spots in both the male and female overall divisions in the 3-mile run.
Local physical therapist Mike Hensley, 27, finished first overall with a time of 14:57.69.His Melon Run rival, Michael Anderson, 24, finished the race second with a time of 15:10.84.
The two UF alumni stayed neck and neck throughout the race, but Hensley pulled ahead to break Anderson’s streak of four Melon Run first-place titles.
“I wasn’t going to let him beat me again,” said Hensley, who finished second to Anderson in 2012.
Mary Johnston, a 19-year-old UF accounting junior who finished third in the women’s division, said the race is a memorable part of her Fourth of July.
“Nobody really likes running, but the Melon Run is a really good tradition,” said Johnston, who coaches cross country at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School.
The winners received watermelons supplied and presented by the 2013 National Watermelon Queen, 21-year-old Amber Nolin. All race finishers received slices of Florida-grown watermelon.
“Nothing says Fourth of July like watermelons,” said Stephen Crawford, Florida Track Club president and race director.
The Melon Run began in 1978, hosted by the Florida Track Club to attract Olympic-caliber runners to Gainesville.
