Visitor travels long distance to win July 4th 5K

Richard Backstrom, visiting all the way from Molnlycke, Sweden, paced the field to win the 2025 Blanding Fourth of July Firecracker 5K on Friday, July 4.
Backstrom completed the course in 16:39, which was nearly two minutes faster than the winning time in last year’s race. He won the men’s 40-49 division, crossing the finish line four seconds ahead of Moab’s Jacob Francis, who won the men’s 20-29 division.
Gerasimos Kavvadas of Blanding was third with a run of 16:46.9. Kenneth Merrell of Mapleton, UT took fourth with a 17:39.7.
Rounding out the top five was Maddy Francis of Moab with a very impressive 17:50.8. She won the overall women’s division and the women’s 20-29 division with her speedy performance, crossing the line nearly five minutes quicker than the 2024 female champion.
Five familiar names populated the remainder of the top ten as San Juan High School runners Platte Lyman (18:02), Rosendo Martine (18:05.3), 2024 champion Abram Lyman (18:16.7), Austin Pincock (18:18.9), and Jack Kartchner (18:50.3) finished sixth through tenth overall and first through fifth in the men’s 15-19 division.
Fellow Bronco Jeraden Hurst took 14th overall in 20:30.5, winning the men’s 2-14 division in the process. Sincere Nez, who recently finished her sophomore year at San Juan High School, took 21st overall and won the women’s 15-19 division with a solid 22:01.9.
Marcus Bastian of Snohomish, WA won the men’s 30-39 division, finishing 31st overall in 23:40.5. Valerie Howe of Blanding was just 19 seconds behind in 33rd overall, winning the women’s 30-39 division.
The fastest woman in the 40-49 division was Lissa Diaz of Orem, UT. She crossed the line in 24:35, earning 38th place overall.
Young Mary Lyman of Blanding won the women’s 2-14 division with her run of 25:05.9 in 43rd place. And Blanding’s Cody Nielson was fastest among men aged 50-99 with his 51st-place run in 25:59.3.