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By Christopher Harris
You never know what you ' re going to get with the Shamrock Shuffle— other than a good time, of course. One might say it ' s the luck of the draw.
" This is a total mixed-bag," said Bobby Clue, executive director of the Somerset- Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce, which annually holds the 5K walk-run event. " We ' ve had sunny days where you could wear shorts, we ' ve had snow, last year we had lightning and thunder to where we had to reschedule the event, and torrential downpours.... We ' re always cautiously
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optimistic for good weather."
However, with snow and ice hitting so hard early in 2026, Clue thinks that people are ready to get out and get moving, and the Shamrock Shuffle is the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Now in its 14th year, its fourth in downtown Somerset after moving from Burnside, the Shamrock Shuffle always offers the balance of a highly competitive, professionally chip-timed road race with plenty of fun and frivolity for those who want to just come out, dress in something green and crazy, and have a good time with
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friends.
This year ' s edition will be held Saturday, March 14 at 10 a. m. and as of the beginning of February, Clue was already starting to see a lot of registrants.
"( There ' s) a lot of energy around the race," he said. " Last year,( we had) one of the largest crowds we ' ve had in many years. We had over 700 participants.... We take it incredibly seriously, but at the same time, we want to make sure we have fun with this."
Clue said there are " a lot of unique things " that help the Shamrock Shuffle stand out, from the annual costume contest, rewarding
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the most eye-catching ensembles— virtually all of them in some shade of green— from bringing in a professional bagpiper to add a distinctly across-the-pond feel to the race. For many of these people, the goal of participating isn ' t the time they cross the finish line with, it ' s the journey itself.
" Sure, we ' ve got 100-plus hard-core dedicated runners that are going to come out to this and they ' re going to compete for medals and they ' re going to compete for bragging rights to be in the top 10 people in this race," said Clue, " but there are hundreds of people( for whom) this will be their only
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