Belding Labor Day 2019 Photos 129 Mile Drive We woke up very early and drove out to Belding, MI for their 2019 Labor Day 5K.  The start of the run was right by the Belding water tower.  The course was beautiful with Flat River views and incredibly friendly runners.  Running past the Belding museum and Belding library was very cool.  The historical architecture of Belding was awesome to look at.  It was a hilly course that went in and out of neighborhoods.  The enthusiasm of the announcer, "Duck Man" was out of this world.  I was so excited he let me take his picture.  They announced the last runners coming up and everyone gathered to applaud them. The last woman even landed herself an age group award!  All runners stayed for the entire age group ceremony.  People didn't leave after getting their awards.  I liked that the crowd stayed for the older awards.  For me they are the most amazing and inspiring awards.  They put our medals around our necks just like the Olympic

  Romeo Peach Run 2019 Photos 57 Mile Drive The 2019 Peach Run was very hilly and it rained on us for about eight minutes.  I hadn't officially done a 10K since Chelsea in May.  I ran the 10K and Luke ran the 5K.  I liked that Luke came in before me.  We saw awesome dogs and ran through the best finish line of all time!!!  THEY HAD A GIANT BULLDOG MOUTH WITH TEETH!  The finish of the race was at a different location than the start.  Hanson's race staff had to move quick after the run started.  They were an extremely efficient crew. Trash on the course was not good.  I don't remember seeing a trash can but I saw cups everywhere.  It was the worst I’ve seen in aide station trash.   The kids played at a park right behind the finish line while I ran.  They liked the giant sandbox and hill.  The cotton peach T-shirts were nice.  I saw Mike at a distance before he sped off ahead of me and caught him again at the finish to say, “Hi.”  The only finish line item for participants was

   Torch 180 Rock N' Roll 2019 Photos 48 Mile Drive The 2019 Fowlerville Rock N' Roll 5K was the best run for overall family fun!  They had games along the course which I have never seen before.  There were games at the finish.  The kids won a lot of tickets and got a lot of cool prizes.  It was a surprise color run!  I got hit in the eye with green powder on the last quarter mile by a young boy.  He felt awful.  I gave him a thumbs up and laughed.  He had one heck of an arm.  I was called the Joker by Harley Quinn because of my green face.  Volunteers sprayed us with squirt guns on the course!  We met Spiderman, Harley Quinn and one of my favorite superheros….Star Lord!!!  I just about died seeing Star Lord 200 yards from the finish.  Star Lord had Groot with him!   The "roll" part of this race was so unique.  I loved seeing motorcycles and roller blades for the first time out on a course!  The course was flat and looped around the school.  We started and finished do

CRIM Festival of Races 2019 Photos 65 Mile Drive Crim was a run I never intended to do.  I had other plans for the City of Flint.  My good friend Kristin broke her toe a week before the race and asked me if I would run it for her.  Ten miles scared me with the Saugatuck Mount Baldhead 12 mile run just two weeks following.  I couldn't say, "No" when Kristin asked.  I was truly honored and felt awful for her.  I made shirts with her name and picture of her Corgi Chewie.  I made sure the customized bib had her last name.  I was surprised at how much fun I had.  The Detroit Turkey Trot is the only other run I've done with thousands of participants.   I almost didn't make it to the start due to bathroom lines.  Registration was in a huge building downtown.  The corral line up was huge.  I tried to stand in the middle to back.  They started runners in waves about every 15 seconds just like Detroit.  There were a lot of people with signs on the other side of the corral g

   The Great Bacon Run 2019 Photos 10 Mile Drive Garden City is right down the road and only has one run a year that I could find.  It was a great local run with a hilarious theme!  From the medal rack presentation at the finish line, to the extra long finish line and T-shirt design, The 2019 Great Bacon run is an iconic event for the city of Garden City.  They had the most unique age group awards.  I wanted one so bad when I found out they were cute piggy banks!!!  I ended up somehow landing first in my age group. My Piggy Bank says, "1st place" on it. I love it.  I have it on the Yale Bolonga Run colored wood piece Jason got me.  It's the perfect spot!  Corky enjoyed the bacon I was given at the finish. We saw Andrea, Jake and their kids at the Garden City Soccer Club table and grabbed some Tim Bits.  The race had an awesome back drop race banner to take pictures by.  I loved watching the kids run before the 5K and 10K.  The course was a flat course through neighborhood

   Sweet Corn Days 5K 2019 Photos 81 Mile Drive We drove out to Litchfield and back for an evening run.  It was a long drive, but worth every minute.  The 2019 Litchfield Corn Days 5K falls into the top three most beautiful running courses list.  We took a scenic walk to the start from the park on a very wide mowed grass path and started right before the woods entrance.  I had no idea the whole course was on trails.  There were a lot of grass field areas. You could see for miles over flat land.  We ran through corn fields right at sunset with perfect temperatures.  It was heavenly.  Kernel Corn, the race mascot, totally made my night.  Kernel was waiting at the finish for runners and joined us again at the awards ceremony.  Luke got third in his age group!  It was his first age group win.  I got first and took Corky up on the stand with me. This was my first time standing on a medal podium.  It was awesome!  The post-race cheese and chocolate milk from local Heritage Ridge Farm were de

   Run Thru Hell 2019 Photos 33 Mile Drive Hell Michigan!!!  What a dream to Run Thru Hell!  We parked in a dirt lot across from the Hell Creek Ranch.  I choose to run the weiner run and I loved the hotdog man representing it on the bright yellow race shirt.  There were a lot of runners and a lot of bathrooms for us.  It was mainly a gravel road course.  It had some good hills.  The devil awaited us at the split of the 10 mile from the 4.8 course!  He saw me, smiled, and we high fived.  He called me his sister!  It was awesome!!  Luke wanted to run 4.8 miles so we practiced at Maybury and then he ran it like a champ.  He was the youngest runner and got a lot of cheers when he was approaching the finish.  It was his longest distance to date.   Hell Page

   The Legend 2019 Photos 92 Mile Drive 2019 Legend was the completion of RF Events Serious Trail Series at Sleepy Hollow State Park in Laingsburg.  Waivers were signed at the registration tent for safety reasons.  That’s standard for RF trail runs.  They had a very scenic start and finish line.  The finish was up a short steep grass hill.  Sleepy Hollow is a cool name.  The park is huge surrounding Lake Ovid.  It reminded me of Pinckney State Recreation area.  I liked the five mile distance that kept me in nature longer.  I don't use headphones on trail runs anymore.  There are too many nature sounds to enjoy.  The course had some very narrow trail areas and some very enthusiastic volunteers that you could hear cheering a distance away in the woods.  I love the wood medals!  I now have three wood medals to hang up.  I came in second in my age group and got an awesome camping mug.  I especially love the green and black coloring on the mug.  It goes with the creepiness of Sleepy Hol