HALLOWEEN HUSTLE (Sterling Heights - 2020 - 5K)
38 Mile Drive
The week before Halloween I decided it was time to test the healing of my toe out on a run. I had been eyeing Halloween Hustle emails from Hanson’s for weeks. I loved their skeleton finisher medal. My original goal was to be at Ludington in-person on Halloween but being cooped up and more stagnate then usual was getting to me. I had walked a lot to test my foot out and had no issues. I am a big believer in trusting your gut. A doctor may give you a set time to heal but that doesn’t mean it’s that back and white. Healing times can be shorter or longer. I told Jason I would stop if I felt any pain. I was still worried something may happen out on the course.
When we pulled into Freedom Hill we saw the set-up for the drive-in movie in the field across from the parking lot. I had debated paying for it during my registration. I decided not to incase bad Fall weather cancelled it. Movie tickets were non-refundable. I figured we could buy tickets the day of the run. I’m glad I didn’t get them in advance. We ended up going home and not staying for Hotel Transylvania 3. We love Hotel Transylvania, but the screen was much smaller than our hometown drive-in and we would have been in the back where it was harder to see. I think it was a really cool idea to have the movie after the run. It made the event even more family friendly.
The run’s course looped around Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights. I had never seen the Freedom Hill Amphitheater before. We have been to the DTE Music Theater in Clarkston a few times. It was a fantastic venue. It had HUGE open grass areas, a gazebo, a playground, a huge pavilion with picnic tables and a great stage. The Macomb County Vietnam Memorial was awesome. The kids loved the helicopter and tank. I’ve never seen a helicopter held up on a pole in simulated flight.
Check-in was fast and easy. They had a great Halloween set-up for pictures. I didn’t go all out for my costume but even with a lot less effort I was able to pull off a well put together costume of Steve Irwin. I can’t explain the last-minute inspiration to be him. I used to love watching his shows. I found a wig that was perfect at Spirit Halloween. Jason went out to look for it with a coupon. The Michigan Avenue store in Canton had only one and we got it. Kohls ended up having the perfect men’s clearance tan shorts and button up shirt with pockets. The chest pockets were a must! My mom had given me $20 in Kohls cash she wasn’t going to use. We paid almost nothing for the outfit. Jason surprised me with a huge rubber cobra from Spirit Halloween that I wore around my neck. I safety pinned other exotic creatures from home to my shorts and shirt and was set to go!
They had a costume contest for each wave group. The staff complimented my costume during check-in. We waited for the winner announcement which took place right before the run started. I won a cup of delicious gourmet mini Halloween cookies from a local bakery. There was one cookie for everyone. It worked out perfectly. Luke was on a gluten diet due to an up-coming re-test for Celiac’s and could eat one with us. I saw a great Back to the Future couple that I thought for sure would win. I was very surprised to win. It was awesome to win a costume contest at my first run back from my third fracture.
The course start was by an awesome blue and tie-dye blow-up arch with a huge blown-up Halloween pumpkin man. Eastside Racing got creative with their cones and put plastic pumpkins on top of them. We ate the costume prize cookies before I hopped in line. I saw a man wearing nothing but a kilt and it made me cold just looking at him. Two women pushing strollers were very festive. Stroller running takes a lot of strength. The Back to the Future couple was also in my starting group.
The course was two 1.55 mile loops around the Freedom Hill theater. I’m starting to like 5K loops more. We were on pavement, rocks and dirt. We ran along Red Run Creek. There was even a very short stretch of woods on the course. It wasn’t dense, but still a nice change of scenery. We went up some pretty decent elevation inclines. My favorite part of the course was running by the playground the kids were playing at. The costume judge had asked me if I planned to run with my snake on my neck. I told her I would try. I got about a half mile and its constant banging up against my head was too much. I couldn’t get it stabilized. I took it off and carried it until I got to the playground. Once there Luke ran out and took it from me before I started the second 1.55 loop. That was another benefit of the course.
At the top of the largest hill on the course they had more Halloween blow-ups. I loved it! That hill had a turn-around area that was an easy place to cut off distance if you didn’t go all the way to the blow-ups and follow the cones. I saw one runner do that twice but since we were all part of the non-competitive wave I didn’t say anything. Our group of participants was the last group of the day. I complimented a woman on her duck cane and picked up a dropped holiday headband from the moms with strollers. I found them at the finish and returned it.
They played great Halloween music all day from the stage by the pavilion. Post-race food included cider and donuts. They gave Jason and the kids donuts and cider. They had a lot of food left over and we were the last wave. It worked out great and was very nice of them. There were dog water bowls in multiple places. We stayed for a while eating and goofing around.
Things I take from The Halloween Hustle are:
1. They had medals! I was very excited to get a finisher medal after missing three weeks of running. It was a high-quality medal with three skeletons running on a caldron. One looked very upset that he was behind. It was a hilarious expression. The medal was purple too!
2. The effort this run made to keep an in-person event going by implementing six waves to allow more runners. It was an all-day event. They had competitive waves early in the morning. At one point they sent out an email letting participants know they were going to expand waves. The idea apparently got backlash and they ended up keeping the waves to 100. I think any race team putting on a run right now is amazing. Running is inherently safe.
3. I expected my toe to hurt during or after the run. I didn’t however expect to be so out of shape that running in general would be the problem. It was really hard to finish this 5K from a stamina and endurance standpoint. My toe was totally fine!
4. Finding the Sterling Heights sign proved to be very difficult. It ended up being at a major intersection across from both the Utica and Shelby Township city signs. It was also right by the Petco we got Corky at six years ago. It was a cool sign to pose as Steve Irwin by! ^_^
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