This is the Taste of Town Center 5k’s 16th year in Virginia Beach, which has grown as Kiwanis Club of Town Center’s signature race from an idea to hold a memorial in honor of Town Center Kiwanian John Wecht, Jr. and to support the charities he loved. Originally held at Mt. Trashmore with a hundred or so runners, the event moved to other venues such as the Sportsplex and Virginia Wesleyan College. Finally, when the Kiwanis Club found its new home at the Hilton Garden Inn for its meetings, the opportunity came for the Taste of Town Center 5K to move to the new and growing Town Center business district.

Many of the charities—Special Olympics, Seton Youth, and CHKD–you support by participating in the race this year have received the benefits of this event since its beginning. In addition to over 20 Kiwanis charities today, in 2010, we formed a partnership with the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society to make this truly a Veteran’s Day celebration.

We could not produce this event without the support of the many well-known restaurants in Town Center and the surrounding area who bring their signature menu items to the Taste as well as the businesses and other organizations who are our sponsors. The Sandler Theatre has been the venue for our Taste and awards ceremony for several years, yet with over 1000 runners now, we will be expanding into the open field in Town Center.

We listen to your suggestions. A few years ago we discovered that our runners were receiving so many trophies and metals that they were interested in other awards. We became the Kiwanis Club that Could, using our contacts to secure restaurant and entertainment venue tickets to give away to our runners. Additionally, our race route is always influenced by your needs. Last year a new bridge opened in Town Center, and that gave us a change but this year is going to be the best ever! We will be showing it to you soon.