HUNTINGTON — Businesses, religious organizations and others have an opportunity to get in shape and show off their competitive spirit during the West Virginia 5K Championship on Saturday, June 19, in downtown Huntington.

The West Virginia 5K Championship's Cup competition promotes fitness in the Tri-State by encouraging different organizations to take part in the race. The fastest group that fields a uniformed team during the 5K will be recognized.

Race director Pat Riley said the competition can help motivate people to get fit.

"We hope that the cup competition will make the race a little more fun by motivating people to compete as a team," he said. "It would be great to look at the crowd and see several groups wearing the same shirt and supporting their organization and/or team.”

There are three cup competitions this year. They are Corporate Cup, the Prayer Cup and the Uniform Cup. The Corporate Cup is open to any business or organization in the region. The Prayer Cup is open to any church or religious organization, and the Uniform Cup is open to any group of uniformed officers. Examples are police, firefighters and military personnel.

Teams can enter as many people as they wish. The top 5 from a team will be scored for the Corporate Cup. Scoring will be based on the top 5 members of the team's finishing place in the race. Runners must acknowledge which team they are competing for when they register for the race.

No race day team entries will be accepted. Only individual registration will be accepted on race day.

The West Virginia 5K Championship is presented by the Herald-Dispatch in partnership with the United Way. Pre-registration is $25. Race day registration is $30.  Registration includes a race T-shirt, reusable track bag, dinner at Frankie D's, and more. Participants must register by June 11 to be guaranteed a race T-shirt.

Proceeds from the race benefit United Way of the River Cities. Go to www.TriStateRacer.com/WV5K for complete information.

National Video