A Conard High School junior created the winning design for the 2015 Celebrate West Hartford Road Race shirt.

Conard High School junior Andrew Hollerbach shows off his winning design for the 2015 Celebrate West Hartford Road Race t-shirt. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

For the first time ever, the Celebrate West Hartford Road Race Steering Committee held a contest other than a race – and provided the opportunity for graphic designers from throughout the community to design this year’s race t-shirt, and Conard junior Andrew Hollerbach’s winning design now appears on all 800 shirts that are being distributed to race registrants.

Celebrate West Hartford coordinator Linda Geisler said that there were nearly 40 entries in the contest, but that Hollerbach’s “stands out for its creativity and capturing all the major elements of the race.”

Hollerbach said he came up with the idea for the design after studying typography in a graphic design class at Conard.

“In typography you take an image and make it with words. I figured since it was a road race I used a picture of a guy running,” Hollerbach said. “I didn’t think I had a chance, but my teacher Mr. Genovese thought the typography was a really good idea for a t-shirt design.”

Marisa Jones, who has won the women’s divisin of the Celebrate West Hartford Road Race a dozen times, poses with t-shirt design contest winner Andrew Hollerbach. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Hollerbach saw his design imprinted on the shirt for the first time Friday afternoon, when he picked up his own shirt – and his prize of a $250 gift certificate to Jerry’s Artarama – at Fleet Feet Sports in West Hartford.

“It’s definitely awesome,” Hollerbach said about the idea of everyone wearing his design on the heathered orange shirts.

Hollerbach posed with another likely winner – Marisa Jones of Avon. Jones, whose husband is a native of West Hartford, has run the Celebrate West Hartford 5K every year since 2002 except for 2012 and 2014, when she was pregnant with sons Beckett and Ryder. Jones has won the women’s division every year since that she has run.

Jones said she is feeling pretty good about this year’s race. She said that she pushes both boys in a jog stroller on “99 percent of my runs.”

“I probably push more than I weigh,” said the petite Jones, who ran at Springfield College.

Marisa Jones has run, and won the women’s division in the Celebrate West Hartford 5K every year except when she was pregnant with Beckett (left, almost 3) and Ryder (8 months). Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Hollerbach, who runs cross country and has been chosen as one of the captains for next year’s Conard lacrosse team, said he would have run the race except that he will be at a college lacrosse recruiting event on Sunday morning.

The Celebrate West Hartford 5K will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 7, on Raymond Road right in front of Whole Foods. Registration is still open and is $30 (cash or check only), and will be available at Fleet Feet Sports through 6 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday. Registrations will also be accepted beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday in the tent in the Whole Foods parking lot.

There is also a Kids Fun Run, for children 10 and under, which begins at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. The cost is $5 per child.

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