5K kilt run a nod to Scottish ancestors
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 17, 2017 1:45 AM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
William Gibson plays the bagpipes during the 5k Kilt Run/Walk that is part of First Presbyterian Church's Scottish Heritage Days. Gibson, originally from Goldsboro, traveled from his home in Pennsylvania to play at the event.
The flurry of kilt-clad people running around city streets Saturday morning was nothing to be alarmed over.
It was only a celebration of Scottish heritage.
The First Presbyterian Church on East Ash Street hosted its first-ever 5K Kilt Run/Walk as a way of paying homage to the Scots who started the Presbyterian church.
A kilt run was the perfect way to accomplish this, as the clothing was usually worn by men of northern Scotland in the 16th Century.
Scott Gibson, and elder at the First Presbyterian Church on East Ash Street, said 37 people participated in the event.
It began at 8 a.m., and the day was capped off by Celtic dancing once everyone had finished the race.
"A lot of Scots who were Presbyterians came over here to avoid the same thing the Irish did, to avoid hardships and economic issues, and even some religious persecution," said Bill Royall, another church elder. "They came over here and settled in Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia to start with, and a lot of them worked their way down here to North Carolina."
Gibson said the church normally celebrates its Scottish heritage with a church service, but wanted to expand the event into something more this year.
During this service the church will usually do what's called a Kirking of the Tartans, where you can observe the various cloth patterns -- called Tartans -- of various families.
Kilts also bear this tartan design, so Gibson said it made since to expand the event with a kilt run.
"On Sunday we'll have a procession coming in, we'll have a bagpiper playing some Scottish music and we're just celebrating our Scottish heritage," Gibson said. "We thought it would be nice to expand that this year to the community to share our heritage by having a 5K Kilt Run."