Bringing TV fandom to life with ‘The Office’ 5K

Read the full article here: https://www.abc27.com/news/bringing-tv-fandom-to-life-with-the-office-5k/

SCRANTON, Pa. (WBRE/WYOU) by: Brian Orbin — Lace up your sneakers, and maybe your best Dwight costume: Hundreds of fans flooded downtown Scranton on Saturday for The Office 5K, running past iconic show locations with a special appearance from Actor Bobby Ray Shafer, who played Bob Vance of Vance Refrigeration in The Office.

“If you’d ask me 21 years ago when I started the show that 13 years after it went off the air, I’d be out watching a spectacle like this I wouldn’t have believed you, but it’s amazing,” Shafer explained.

“I think that every member of the cast would be blown away if they were here today. I feel fortunate to see all the creativity, spontaneity, the love for the show the love for the characters, the Zanes is going on. It’s really something else,” Shafer continued.

“Dwight has been one of my favorite characters since I started watching The Office back in college, so I felt it was only fitting to dress as Dwight,” Danville resident Hailee Weader stated.

“Well, last year I was Prison Mike, and you know, I’m just trying to be all the Mikes, all the variations of Michael Scott. He’s just kind of a clown, and I’m also kind of a clown, so it’s just a lot of fun,” Megan Shaffer from Danville explained.

“The Office, it wasn’t recorded here, but they mentioned Farley’s, and places that are Scranton places you can connect to. That’s the thing I liked about The Office, because everybody loves it, and you want to be a part of it still. They should bring it back!” Simoncek added.

The overall winner of this year’s race was Colby Walsh, who completed the 5K in 17 minutes and 19 seconds.

The event benefits the local nonprofit, Valley in Motion.