Williamson A.M.
By BONNIE BURCH • Staff Writer • June 12, 2008

FRANKLIN — Saturday was a scorcher. But hundreds of people still turned out to pound the pavement, dine on cookout fare and listen to live music for the second year of the Life is good Festival & 5K.

About 700 adults and 300 children registered to take part in the foot races through the Westhaven subdivision while many more were there just to take part in other activities that included a tongue-in-cheek World's Greatest Backyard Athlete competition, event co-chairwoman Melonee McKinney Hurt said.

The annual event raises money for the Boys & Girls Club of Franklin and Williamson County and the Life is good Kids Foundation, an organization started by the Life is good apparel maker and retailer that distributes money to nonprofits that support children in need. Organizers are still counting exactly how much was raised.

"We were worried with the heat that they might choose to go to the lake or somewhere else instead. But then people just started showing up in record numbers and with the right attitude. We were absolutely thrilled," Bert Jacobs, co-founder of Life is good Inc., said.

Contact Bonnie Burch at 771-5421 or bburch@tennessean.com.