Pink-cheeked and short of breath, they crossed the finish line in triumph last Friday morning. 171 Fort Dale Academy students, ages kindergarten through 6th grade, raced in the school's Fun Run, held April 20.

More than 20 area sponsors supported the event, which also collected fees from the entrants.

Approximately $3,000 was raised to put toward the school's &#8220Time For a Cool Change” gym air-conditioning fund.

The run started on the lower campus, went through the Woodvalley neighborhood and ended in front of the school, with police and monitors all along the way to keep things both fun and safe.

&#8220It was a success - and the kids had a blast. It really was so much fun,” said co-organizer Laurie Martin. Several parents and faculty members also joined in the mile-long run (a shortened version of the route was used for the kindergartners).

Once the children had cooled down with plenty of bottled water and a rest in the shade, a special ceremony was held in the school gym with trophies going to the top male and female runners in each age division.

Here are the results:

*Chip Taylor took top honors as overall winner with a time of 7:15; Jake Gillem was second with a time of 7:30 and Jacob Katzer was third with a time of 7:44.

Bailey Fox was the top female with a time of 8:03 with Theresa Scott hot on her heels at 8:04 and Christen McKeague coming in third at 8:17.

*The littlest runners did very well, with K-3 student Nate Richardson coming in first; Dalton Daniels, second and Samuel Shirling coming in third in their division.

*In K-4, Lance Smith won top honors; Clayton Skipper finished second and Spencer Jackson was third.

*For K-5, Jackson Edwards came in first for the boys; Sawyer Hennis was second and Dakota Tolbert was third.

For K-5 girls, Madison Edwards was first across the line with Mary Madison Crenshaw coming in second and Alex Little in third place.

*In first place for the first grade boys, Luke Taylor; second, Nelson Taylor and Ty Casey, third.

First place for the first grade girls was Sydney Pouncey; second was Amiah Brogden and Katlin Edgar came in third.

*In the second grade, top male runner was William Shirling, with Jacob Till coming in second and Lance Powell and Jun Kwon tying for third. Top girls were Grace McCann, Betsie Hamm and Madison Langford.

*For the third grade, Austin Vickery took first place male; Steven Hartley and Cody Ryan Parker took second and third places. Anne Joy Castleberry was first place girl; Marian Lightfoot and Mary Clare Carlton took second and third places, respectively.

*In the fourth grade male division, Ryan Burkett took first place; John Chambliss and Caleb Whigham rounded out the top three.

First place girl was Ashton Scott with Callie McCann and Shelby Overstreet coming in second and third.

*For the fifth graders, Deaton Owens was first place winner for the boys, with Cole Davis in second place and John Coleman Poole in third.

Mary Sanford Perdue was the first place girl; Nedra Toulmin Crosby came in second and Molly Boutwell was third.

*In the sixth grade class, Matthew Bender was first place for the boys, with Dow Gardner and Trip Nelson taking the second and third place spots.

Ann Matthews finished first for the girls; Brittney Gard was second and Laiken Burlison was third.

Second grade teacher Patricia Ballew was the Golden Shoe Award winner as first teacher across the finish line.

Mrs. Rouse's first grade class had the highest level of participation with 16 out of 17 students running.

Mrs. Parker's class came in second with 14 of 19 students participating.