The USA Track and Field Association selected Huntington as the site for the June 6 race.

The United Way of the River Cities will benefit from the proceeds of the event.

Organizers say they started planning the championship race after a report was release that called Huntington the "unhealthiest" city in the country.

Race Director Pat Riley says he wanted to turn a negative into a positive.

"Hearing all these church groups and everybody doing a "Biggest Loser" [competition], and we're starting to see a running boom, why not bring everything together and let's have a big 5K road race. Let's really show off what Huntington has to offer," Riley said at a press conference Wednesday.

The goal is to register 1,000 runners for the event from around West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

The WV 5K Championship is a USATF Certified 5K race.

Organizers say the race will start between 8th & 9th Street on Veteran's Memorial Blvd. The race will head west and turn left at First St. After that, it will go two blocks and turn left onto 5th Ave. The runners will travel down 5th Ave. turning left again onto Hal Greer Blvd. Participants will take another left onto 3rd Ave. and veer to the right to the finish line on Veteran's Memorial Blvd.

The course is listed as USATF Course #WV09002MS

Participants can pre-register by May 31 for $15. Race day registration is $25.

To register or to learn more on sponsorship, log onto the Tri-State Racer website listed below.

For more information on other local races and local health blogs, click on the Healthy Huntington link.