By Chris Huntington

MILLVILLE -- Small towns like Millville are easy to poke fun at. Millville residents have, for the most part, learned to accept the teasing that they endure at the hands of their big-city neighbors in Logan.

Perhaps you have heard some of the more famous lines, which never lose their humor as far as Loganites are concerned. Lines such as, "Don't blink or you'll miss it," or "Millville is too small to have a town drunk, so they all take turns," and of course, "Millville is so small, it isn't on the way to anywhere."

Well, the citizens of Millville have the last laugh on those Loganites who see fit to poke fun. It just so happens that Millville is on the way to someplace: it is directly on the way to Merlin Olsen Park.

At least that was the case for participants in the Top of Utah Marathon, who passed through Millville recently on their way to the finish line near Merlin Olsen Park in Logan. Millville residents turned out to give the runners a drink and a vote of confidence as they passed through.

The runners reached the 19-mile point of the 26-mile race, which started in Blacksmith Fork Canyon, on Main Street in Millville. The city was asked by the marathon's coordinators to set up a checkpoint where runners could get a drink of water or Power-ade and first aid if necessary. Jeff Kirby was the City Council member in charge of organizing the checkpoint and recruiting volunteers to help.

"It went well," said Kirby. "We had all the volunteer help we needed. We had anywhere from 10 to 30 people helping at different times through the morning." Volunteers started seeing wheelchair participants first at around 8 a.m. Other runners followed, reaching a peak between 9 and 10:30 a.m., said Kirby.

"Some runners stopped for a Band-aid or some Vaseline" said Kirby. "Most just grabbed a drink as they ran by." Kirby said the volunteer help was great.

"We had a lot of kids come help, and they really had a lot of fun."

The runners got moral support from some of Millville's residents as well. Several people set up chairs in front of Don's Auto Body Shop to cheer the participants as they ran past, said Kirby.

"There where even some people that came out and cheered from their houses," said Kirby.

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