Country music singer Alex Miller with Miss Danville Clair Yates, Miss Danville Teen Mallory Jones and Miss Pride of the Commonwealth Tayler Plunkett after Saturday’s 5K. (Reuben Harness Photo)
Country music singer Alex Miller readily admits he is the “5K runner type” but there he was Saturday at the Fitness for Fun Run 5K in Danville organized by Miss Danville Claire Yates as a fundraiser for the American Heart Association.
Miller, a former American Idol contestant, mainly came to support his aunt, Misty Bivins.
“She had to have somebody to beat,” he laughed and said after finishing the 3.1-mile run. “But she’s had me running about three or four 5K’s, especially when they are close to here. She is trying to run one in every county in Kentucky, so when she runs locally she invites me.
“I’ve run in Casey County at the chicken gizzard race down there and a random one called ‘I’m a damn runner.’ It’s one of the dams in Kentucky. It’s good for the physical aspect.”
So isn’t cold air like Saturday sometimes bad for a singer who is touring full-time like he is?
“Well, truthfully it is, but it’s all right today,” he said. “Every now and then I’ll run when we are on the road. It just kind of depends. I usually take a pair of shoes and shorts and when we’re out because there’s nothing like being stuck on a bus and wanting to go run or go do something.”
Miller had a chance to interact with Yates along with Miss Danville Teen Mallory Jones and Miss Pride of the Commonwealth Tayler Plunkett. Both Jones and Plunkett are also singers.
“That had nothing to do with me being here. I didn’t know about that. I didn’t know I swear but I didn’t mind that at all,” he joked.
He will be playing in Richmond Saturday at the “Picking’ On the Vines” at 6 p.m. It’s a songwriters roundtable with Nic Cassetta featuring Miller.
“I’ll be doing an acoustic show by myself. It’s a free show,” Miller, 20, said.
He will be on the road again after that in South Pittsburgh on April 28 and Decatur, Ill., on July 12.
Miller said his music continues to do “really well” and continues to amaze him. “Puttin’ Up Hay” has been No. 1 on an independent chart the last two weeks.
“My family and the people around here in Kentucky have really been supporting me and there’s no greater thing than that,” Miller said.
Miller may be back running — and singing — at the Jingle Bell Jog Dec. 8 in Stanford which is only 10 miles from his hometown in Lancaster.
“If I can make it work in my schedule, I will be there,” he said.
He did run Saturday in his blue UK hoodie and still wonders what happens to his Cats in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’ll always be a fan but that loss (to Oakland) hurt. I am still not quite over that,” Miller said.
