WINGS OF MERCY RUNWAY 5K (Linden - 2020 - 5K)
50 Mile Drive
The 2020 Wings of Mercy 5K was rescheduled to late August from its original date in June. The race staff was very concerned the run would still have to be cancelled after the decision to postpone it. My advice to them was to wait as long as possible before they cancelled. Their final decision was to hold the run with a lot of different safety measures put in place. I started receiving emails about the changes a week before the run. The biggest change was their decision to split the race into two start times of 6pm and 7pm with 100 runners in each race. They asked us to email them with our preference of start time. At the time I had booked a 5K in Free Soil on Saturday and a 10K in Freeland on Sunday. I already had a very full weekend of running. I knew we would be driving back from Free Soil late. The latest possible start was the best option for me Saturday night. I was glad when I got the 7pm spot.
We were originally going to go visit Manistee after running in Free Soil. We spent so much time at the farm by the time we left it was mid-afternoon. We spent four hours at Stakenas Farm! ^_^ We stopped at a really cool rustic furniture store called The Wolf’s Den looked around and talked with the store’s awesome owners. We got lunch and Jason said we should head back to make Wings of Mercy. We saw a llama farm on the way to Linden. We drove through Cadillac and saw the Taco House we got lunch at The Greatest Fourth in the North. It was a great ride home.
It’s exhausting running two 5K’s in a day. I’ve done it a few times now. I’m not sure if more time between two races in the same day makes it easier. At least with Wings of Mercy I knew the course. It’s exactly the same each year. It’s hard to make changes when your course is on an airport runway. I knew I could take a nice easy late night run and it didn’t matter how exhausted I was. Wings of Mercy is officially the longest consecutive race I have done unless Belle Isle stays in-person this year. They say they will be live as of now, but races change daily. With the Mackinac Bridge and Zombie Dash cancelling for 2020 my list of consecutive “favorite” runs continues to drop.
I really like the Wings of Mercy race director. He helped me out a lot last year. In 2019 Luke and dad ran with me while Jason was in Georgia. I love the houses on the airport. One man always opens his garage the night of the run so that we can admire his plane and plane décor as we run by. I got a picture of that garage this year. Many times I’ve seen people outside on their balconies watching runners. It would be awesome to live on an airport and have a garage that fits a small plane. Another trademark of this run is their airplane landing sounds they put out on the course by the first turn. The first year I got genuinely freaked out. They blast them really loud. ^_^
In addition to the two start times runners lined up in rows of cones based on pace and were let off in even smaller groups. I got there so late I had to jump in the last pace group taking off. It wasn’t an issue as there were not a lot of walkers to pass and runways make for great passing opportunities without coming near other runners. Runways are a runner’s dream being so wide! I liked how they started people. It does cause a delay in starting, but it keeps congestion down. I wasn’t a huge fan of congested areas in race starts before the pandemic.
I loved my post-race goodie bag with a mug, medal, giant cookie, water bottle and free ice cream coupon. We came back the next day and used the ice cream coupon on our way back from Freeland. The medal this year is a Fidget Spinner. It’s so cool! It’s just like an airplane propeller!
Before we went home we went and found the Linden city sign. It was a huge sign with a wooden wagon and flowers. It was in a clearing with picnic tables near a few homes. It was easy to find down the street from the airport. I had never taken a picture with the Linden sign, it was one of my missing city signs.
Things I take from Wings of Mercy 2020: 1. A familiar course with familiar faces, at night, along a runway, as the sun was setting. Running on a runway is a truly unique and fun experience being. It’s flat with great views. 2. My chat with the race director after the run. He asked me what color he should do for shirts next year. He is debating orange. He’s done every color on the spectrum except orange. We talked about age group awards. I found out that he used to make airplane age group awards. I offered to make an age group award prototype by the end of September. I’m really excited to have this opportunity for a run I enjoy so much.
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