This opens the Kanawha Valley winter 5K series, held on New Year's Day at Saint Albans High School. The prediction format is the hook: you guess your finish time before the race, run without a watch, and the closest guess wins. No course details were shared, but a high school campus typically means flat pavement and easy navigation.
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Going by the 2026 results, this is a small, friendly field, with a competitive front end and a big recreational middle.
Top 3: Jude Stevens (16:57) · Asher Stevens (16:57) · Levi Wilson (17:32)
The Race into the New Year 5K has been held every year since at least 2022. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.
Enter a finish time to see where it lands against the most recent 5K results.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Nov 12, 2026.
Set a goal and get a pace band: every mile split on a card sized for your phone lock screen, so race morning needs no math.
Not sure what to aim for? The 5K pace chart lists the pace for every finish time.
Traveling for this race? The map shows hotels and rentals in and around Saint Albans — pan or zoom to compare what's nearby.
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Almost certainly not. Half the 5K field finished slower than 30:36, and the last recorded finisher came in around 58:43, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
It is a small race (135 finishers), which is friendlier and less intimidating than a big-city event, though the field thins out. There is no qualifying time, and the finish-time spread above shows how varied the field really is. If it is your first 5K, that spread matters more than the winner's time.
The 5K winner ran 16:57 while the median finisher took 30:36. That spread points to a mixed field, with a competitive front and a big recreational middle.
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