GLOW RUN (Owosso - 2019 - 5K)
78 Mile Drive
The 2019 Glow 5K that kicked off Glow Owosso was out of this world awesome! The packet pick-up staff were upbeat and friendly at Hankerd Sportswear. It was very warm inside. They had the coolest goodie bags with the BEST caramel corn! I ate the entire small bag at the parade after offering it to everyone. How did Jason turn it down? I will never know. I also got a toothbrush, toothpaste and a mini candy cane! All the glowing participants made for a totally unique race start. I got pictures with a bunch of them! I saw a stringed light group. They were my personal favorite.
The course itself was the most troublesome part of the race for me and the only negative I give to this run. It was very dark and the streets had pot holes and breaks in the road that were hard to spot. It was a different kind of obstacle. I made it through the course without tripping or falling down and I didn’t see anyone else wipe out. The course was 1.55 miles out and 1.55 back to the finish along the same path. The turnaround point was at Owosso High School which had all kinds of blasting light, but there were no cones, concrete spray markings, signs or race volunteers to tell us where to turn around. The only volunteers were at the entrance to the high school on East North Street. It was frustrating and confusing. I ended up following the five runners in front of me because I didn’t want to cut the course short. I felt like runners could have easily turned at a variety of different points at the high school. My group definitely went too far. I looked at my app at our turn around and it read 1.76 miles. I finished the run a quarter mile over 3.10. That’s huge in running. It can be a two minute time difference for me. I am baffled as to why there were no markers. Something must have happened.
I was very surprised I got second place in my age group running over in mileage. I had doubts with a 3.38 mile time. It was awesome getting second place with a great story attached to it. The race staff asked me what my opinion was on an early morning start for 2020. I answered before I ran the course. I still think night time makes this run special. They can tweek their course and add lighting to help runners stay safe. Their biggest concern was our safety at night with local traffic, but my bigger concern ended up being the pot holes and uneven streets. I had no issues with traffic.
The Glow Parade following the run was so much fun! There were glow goats!! I knew about them before the parade. As I came up to the final turn near the finish I heard goat sounds. I thought I was going crazy but then I looked over and saw glow goats walking out of a truck!! It was awesome and a super unique running moment. We got lucky (not being from Owosso) to land a great street spot to watch the parade. I’ve never been to a parade so late at night. The creativity in the floats was amazing. I loved the Robotics Club robot float with all generations of robots including Rosie from The Jetson’s and a giant Bender from Futurama! They fully deserved first place. I met Christian from the Robotics Club when we met Santa. It sounds like Owosso Robotics does some pretty cool stuff! We loved the Remax air balloon fire which lit up the entire town when it went off. The picture of the air ballon being lit is one of my favorites from the parade. There was a very emotional float that depicted a man away at war separate from his family opening gifts on Christmas. The kids got a lot of candy canes thrown to them but the most special were the ones they got from Santa himself, straight from the North Pole!
After the glow parade ended we walked a few feet over to the tree lighting ceremony. The race director for the run a.k.a Glow Owosso event organizer (a new grandpa this year!) made some amazing corny Christmas jokes and then lit the tree! It was beautiful. We happened to be standing by the” behind the scenes woman” that actually put the plug in for the tree. It was hilarious. The countdown was like being in New York City on New Year’s Eve, with less people. ^_^
The line to see Santa after the tree lighting was so long. We waited awhile. After noticing there were only two families behind us we decided it didn’t make sense to keep standing in line in the cold. We walked across the street to a coffee shop to get hot chocolates and warm up. The coffee shop ended up being the coziest little coffee shop I have ever been in. A family got up from the warm couch with a Sherpa blanket right as our hot chocolates were done. We took the amazing seats by the window lined with lights. The barista (whom we took a picture with) made foam designs!!! I felt so fancy! I have never had a foam design made on a hot beverage. They were beautiful. After our cozy coffee warm-up we walked over to the horse and carriage ride. It was FREE!!! Ryan needed a bathroom stop. I felt bad that the carriage waited for Jason and Ryan to get back and held everyone else up. They were so nice to us. When they got back Ryan had a single purple rose for me. It was awesome. A wonderful florist let Ryan in to use the bathroom.
We met Denice and her sister on the carriage ride, two Owosso natives who told me all about the amazing theater, sweet shop and The Castle restaurant!!!! Denice works there. We did a drive by to see The Castle before we left for the night. It’s a super cool castle. Denice and her sister were so nice. I really enjoyed meeting them.
After we got off our amazing and festive carriage ride through downtown I met the race director in person and got a picture with him. We thought it was perfect timing to see if Santa’s line had gone down. It was still a good wait when we hopped back in line but the kids played with other kids and didn’t notice as we kept their place. We were the second to last family to see Santa for the night. Santa spent more time with the last few kids knowing they had waited so long in the cold. I told Ryan to tell Santa he wanted his two front teeth for Christmas. Santa thought that was hilarious as Ryan has both missing. Santa’s setup was beautiful. That was the best way to end the night in Glow Owosso.
Things I take from this run:
- One of the most relaxing and best holiday memories at the coffee house doing absolutely nothing, just sipping hot cocoa on a couch with a blanket.
- The horse and carriage ride. Owosso has a really old Joann Fabrics, a 5 and 10 cent shop and so many other unique stores in town.
- Glow Goats walking in a glow parade and the air balloon that felt like it lit the skies all the way to Lansing.
- The tree lighting and epic ten second countdown.
- The cleanest, warmest and just overall best race bathrooms (Yes…I totally took a picture) I loved this entire experience. Our family will be sure to remember this small energetic town loaded with holiday spirit forever. Thank you Owosso for filling our hearts with Christmas.
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