An example of the recliner that will be given away by Big Sandy Superstores.
ASHLAND, Ky. – The 5K race between heavyweights Scott Walter and Mark Maynard next month – dubbed The Big Boy Classic – has a sponsor and a new name.
It is now the Big Sandy Superstores Big Boy Classic!
The home furnishing giant has taken on sponsorship of the racing dual between the two Amy For Africa supporters. Big Sandy Superstores is offering anyone who donates at least $5 in voting the chance to win a $399 recliner. You will have a chance to win for every $5 donated.
For example, if you donate $100, you will have 20 chances to win the recliner.
“We want to do our part to support Mark, Scott, Amy (Compston) and the Amy For Africa mission by sponsoring this race,” said Rob VanHoose, CEO of Big Sandy Superstores. “We know they support a tremendous cause in Amy For Africa and we’re behind them.”
Most of the runners in the race won’t be behind Scott and Mark, at least not literally. They may have a hard time getting them out of the recliner.
Neither has much 5K “running” experience and they together weigh in at about 600 pounds.
Scott has one lifetime 5K race, back in 1986 when he ran between games of a Reds doubleheader in Cincinnati and took a lap with shortstop Dave Concepcion. Mark’s one and only 5K appearance came last week in the Midnight Madness 5K for Camp Robert Webb. He vows to do more before the showdown with his buddy.
The Big Boy Classic will be run in conjunction with the Carys Rainn Memorial Ready … Set… Glo 5K on June 27 at the Kyova Mall starting at 10 p.m.
The Carys Rainn Foundation works to offer comfort and hope to grieving families facing pregnancy and infant loss while promoting healthy pregnancies and marriage and family relationships through a faith-based approach.
A portion of what is raised through the Big Boy Classic will go to the Carys Rainn Foundation.
Fundraising for the 5K has been ongoing with $655 raised already. Anybody who has previously donated $5 or more will be entered into the drawing for the recliner as well.
“I may need to try out that recliner after ending Scott’s dream of winning this race,” Maynard said. “Or, if I can get Scott into it before the race, it will be over before it starts! He won’t want to leave the recliner. It’s like home to him.”
“Mark Maynard is going to need a recliner after I get through with him,” Walter said. “I’m going to leave him in the dust.”
Amy Compston, a co-founder of the AFA mission, said the recliner giveaway was “another blessing from God.”
“Almost daily we are seeing God work through this mission,” she said. “This is another example. Praise the Lord for businessmen like Rob VanHoose. They’ve been supporters of ours from the very beginning.”
The Amy For Africa mission is coming upon its one-year anniversary in support of missions in Moyo, Uganda. The mission has raised more than $55,000 and supplied the needs for children in four Penne Paris Schools, two medical clinics, a hospital in the Moyo area.
A child can go to school and get a meal each day for only $45 a year.
Anyone interested in donating to the race or to the AFA mission can go to amyforafrica.com, click the donate button and follow the instruction. Be sure to put the runner you’re supporting in the message area.
Go to tristateracer.com to register for the race to support the Carys Rainn Foundation.