By Clark Judge
(August 31, 2026) — In case you missed it, there were a couple of notable achievements at the Killingworth Road Race on August 29, 2026. The first you should know: Elizabeth Fengler became the first female in the history of the race to win it, producing a wave of applause as she crossed the finish line. But the second? Few are aware, and maybe fewer care.
So, let’s see.
A record 49 blueberry pies were donated as prizes, with Fengler – the first female winner as the first overall finisher the only contestant to walk away with two (photo above). Granted, there was applause as she posed for photos, but it was for her accomplishment and had nothing to do with the pies.
And that’s a shame. Because those 49 pies tell a story. They represented something deeper than awards, signifying a community ethos that runs through Killingworth and symbolizing all that makes the town unique … and, yes, I’m serious.
For the past two years, organizers of the annual Road Race turned to members of the Congregational Church – the organization that puts on the race – and urged its members to volunteer for work they might not have wanted. In short, they asked them to make … not buy … blueberry pies. And you know what? They did.
“Killingworth,” Sharon Butler Kuhn wrote on Facebook, “has the best volunteers in the state.” Amen.
For nearly 20 years, Robert’s Food Center donated more than 30 pies each August, along with water and bananas. But when Robert’s closed last spring, the Road Race committee wasn’t sure where to turn. So it looked inward and urged members of the Congregational Church to step in for Robert’s and bake the pies – preferably more than 30. Skeptics called it – pardon the expression – a “pie-in-the-sky” idea and said it wouldn’t work. But they underestimated the congregants.
Because it did. They made 43.
One year later, a similar plea was issued shortly before the 2026 race. An APB for pies was posted, and you know the rest. The response was overwhelming. Where organizers thought they might be caught short, they were overwhelmed when 49 homemade pies were counted.
Elizabeth Fengler didn’t know that, nor should she. Nor should any of the contestants who walked away with their awards. But you should. Because the pies represent more than prizes for successful competitors. They speak to a can-do spirit that characterizes Killingworth … and has for decades. When people are called … as they were the past two Augusts … they respond.
Case in point: A few days before the race, Derek Phelps caught a 1:00 a.m. flight out of Fairbanks, Alaska, to return from a business trip. He flew through Denver, arrived home in the afternoon and might have relaxed that evening were it not for a call asking if he could … as he did a year ago … make a couple of pies.
He never wavered. On the day before the race, he showed up with two (photo above). He wasn’t obligated. He could’ve forgotten. And he could’ve simply said, “No.” But he didn’t, and he explained why. “It’s a privilege to live here in Killingworth,” he said, “and be among people who, when the opportunity to help their neighbor emerges, step in and do what our community needs for us to do. That’s my state of mind.”
Phelps wasn’t alone. One woman showed up the day before the race with ten blueberry pies. Two others combined for sixteen. Another made six … and said she was happy to make more, if needed. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many places where that would’ve happened. But here? The response was so extraordinary that the Congregational Church’s visiting minister, Rev. Kristie Rubendunst, included pies in Sunday’s Prayer of Dedication — asking the God of Abundance to bless “our time, talents and blueberry pies.”
“The pies,” she said later, “are not significant because they are pies. They are significant because they became one of those ordinary moments through which something deeper was made visible: abundance where scarcity might have been expected, generosity inspired by Christ and a community strengthened by sharing its gifts. A simple invitation met with such a generous response reveals a community that finds joy in participating, sharing and caring for one another. The unexpected sheer abundance lets us glimpse what is possible. It also reveals something just as important: It is in the everyday places where God’s Spirit quietly inspires and forms a congregation.”
That may not speak to you. but it did to me. In those pies we found something sorely missing in today’s environment – unity. When called, individuals pulled together as one and responded — and that’s a rare gift that extends beyond a church and to a community.
“At the end of the day,” said Matt Albrecht, a member of the Congregational Church and part of a family with generational roots in Killingworth, “we’re talking about homemade pies being given away as prizes at a small-town road race. It’s simple, maybe even a little silly in the grand scheme of things, but I think that’s part of what makes it so Killingworth. People just step up.” And he added, “I guess there’s a little bit of a life lesson in the road race itself. Life is a marathon, and what makes a community like this special are the people along the way who quietly show up, lend a hand and give a little more than what was asked of them. Maybe 49 pies isn’t a big deal. But I think what they represent is.”
So do I.
Photos by Clark Judge
