From staff reports

The seventh annual competition between guns and hoses drew more than 500 runners and raised $2,680 for Cherokee County Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Held Saturday at Hobgood Park in Woodstock, members of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office represented the guns team while members of Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services ran for the hoses team in the Guns and Hoses 5K with all proceeds going to CASA, a nonprofit organization that trains community volunteers to advocate for comprehensive services for abused and neglected children in Cherokee County.

“As a community partner in the child welfare system, a CASA volunteer increases a child’s access to services, promotes safety, and advocates for timely permanence for foster youth involved in juvenile court child protection proceedings,” fire department spokesman Tim Cavender said.

While the guns team had the most runners, the hoses team posted the best running times during the race sponsored by Cherokee County Recreation and Parks Agency.

Neely Motiejunas with CCRPA said 243 runners signed up for the fire department’s team and 271 ran for the sheriff’s office.

The overall winner of the 5K was 16-year-old Sam Harp, a member of the hoses team, who finished the race in 18 minutes and 13 seconds —beating his last year’s time by 12 seconds. Harp’s father, Lyle Harp, is a local firefighter.

The overall female runner was 11-year-old Sydney Runyan, also a member of the hoses team, who crossed the finish line at 20 minutes and 56 seconds to beat last year’s winner by one second.

Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office solicit registrations from runners to raise money for charity.

The event was open to the public and runners were asked to pick the team they wanted to run for, guns or hoses, and $5 of their registration fee was donated to Cherokee CASA.