Food & Wine appetizer: 5K charity run Friday

Food, wine and … running?

Yummy.

The 2015 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen will serve its traditional appetizer to kick off festivities Friday morning.

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The fourth annual Food & Wine Classic 5K Charity Run will take off from Rio Grande Park at 7 a.m. with a scenic and historic route through Aspen’s West End.

Entry fee for the 3-mile benefit run is $40. On-site registration is available Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 425 Rio Grande Place. Registration also will be open from 6 to 7 a.m. Friday right before the race start.

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Last year, 485 runners — including an array of famous chefs — participated in the Food & Wine 5K.

The 5K run is a benefit again this year for Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit established to help make fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables available to families everywhere.

The race course, subject to change, will start at Mill and Rio Grande Place. Runners will go across Mill Street and turn west on Bleeker Street.

They then run north on Monarch and continue west on West Hallam. The course turns north on Garmisch, then west onto West Francis and then north onto Lake Avenue.

Racers again will turn west on Gillespie toward the Aspen Meadows Resort.

At Aspen Meadows, the trail will turn to dirt for a half-mile to the Rio Grande Trail.

From there, the runners will turn east and run about 1 mile on the Rio Grande Trail to the finish at Rio Grande Park.

The Friday morning 5K will be hosted by Richard Blais, Marcus Samuelsson, Stephanie Izard and Tim Love.

Last year, teenager Jack Stovitz from Los Angeles won the men’s 5K at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.

Aspen’s Christine Benedetti won the women’s race after finishing second the previous year.

dstrode@aspentimes.com