Last weekend’s Gaspee Days 5k foot race was a homecoming for Warwick native Elly McGuire, who returned to the course 46 years after her first appearance in the event.

Back in 1978, McGuire was on the rise and looking for a break in the radio business. When she discovered that WPRO sales manager Bill Campbell would be running the race and that the company was hiring for its FM station, she jumped, or ran, to participate and catch his eye. She even put up signs saying, “Bill C. Hire Me!” along the raceway, and 13.1 grueling miles later, the rest was history.

A lot has changed in the race since her first go-around. In 1978, it was a half marathon instead of the current 5k format. There were only 25 runners – five of which were women – but this year’s event hosted nearly 2,000 runners from all ovAer the state.

Since her first race, McGuire has traveled and lived all over the country and has recently been splitting time between her childhood home in Warwick and her “cozy apartment” in New York City. She has been busy with her new podcast called, “Shaking the Bushes,” which she has been recording in Warwick Public Library, a place she has visited since 1965 as a youth.

Her “Shaking the Bushes” podcast reflects on the many similarities she experienced between living in the largest city in the country and the smallest state in the Union.

“It’s a new chapter in my life. Just because you get older, doesn’t mean you have to stop moving. Movement is medicine, that’s my big thing,” said McGuire of her latest work and motivations.

McGuire will also soon be publishing a memoir about her time in the big city. For more information regarding her work, including the “Shaking the Bushes” podcast, check out her website at ellymcguire.com.

McGuire had a blast getting back out there and enjoyed returning to one of her favorite local traditions.

“It’s not easy to start over, but now I have a podcast and a fore-coming memoir. I never thought about giving up. I am no longer a 20-something year old. I was happy that it was a 5k race and not a half marathon,” McGuire joked. “But, it was a beautiful day and it was a great race.”