HEARTS IN MOTION 5K (Zeeland - 2021 - 5K)
101 Mile Drive
Registration:
Compassionate Heart
Ministries had a Hearts in Motion 5K Run/Walk and a Flamingo Fun Run which were
offered in-person and in a virtual format.
Both races received race bibs but only the 5K was timed. Their RunSignUp page was very well laid out
with tons of information for the in-person and virtual events. RunSignUp mentioned they would be using the
“Ignite” timing company. It was a timing
company I had never heard of. They also
mentioned on their registration page that they had a new course route. I learned from registration that
Compassionate Heart Ministries is a place for 14-35 years olds with mild to
moderate disabilities to come and meet people and get to know Christ. It was awesome that the run gave a disclaimer
that shirts ran small. I like extra space
in shirts so I went a size up when I registered.
Course:
The Hearts in Motion
course was a very unique loop course.
The first loop was 1.7 miles and the second loop was 1.4 miles. I had not run on two loops of different
distances in a race. We ran past a cool pond
in Huizenga Park, around the Zeeland Little League Softball Complex, along a
cornfield, past an awesome 20 foot windmill and past a very enthusiastic
balcony of people cheering for all the participants. We came past the start/finish area on the first
loop. We ran past lots of cheering
people waiting at the finish line before we set out on the second shorter
course loop. The second loop didn’t go
past the corn fields, it took a shortcut through the athletic complex back into
the condominium complex. We passed the
cheering balcony a second time! The
course was filled with tons of volunteers, many had awesome inspiring
signs. It was a flat paved course that made
the time go by fast. There were constantly
things to look at and keep participants engaged and motivated.
Swag:
Luke was registered for
the 5K late just hours before the race.
They had extra t-shirts from the Flamingo Fun Run even through he did
the 5K. I loved Luke’s Flamingo Fun Run
shirt. My 5K shirt was very minimal with
small writing near the top. I did like
the little hearts but I definitely would have preferred the Flamingo Fun Run shirt
over mine. It was a lot more fun and
colorful. My shirt was extra soft and
very comfortable, I liked that aspect of it a lot. There were no finisher medals for this run. Luke and I got mini white frisbees with “Compassionate
Heart” on them which we had fun with after the run. Jason tried multiple times to land a frisbee
on Corky’s head without success.
Food:
There were two long
tables in front of a “Joy Bus” with water bottles and five different kinds of
fruit bars, apple cinnamon, blueberry, strawberry, fruit and grain and….
Gluten Free Apple
Carmel baked chewy bars!!!
I was so happy that Luke
had a gluten free post-run snack. He often can’t have the real fun treats after
runs. We often try to find him something
in town after we leave runs to make up for it.
Awards:
Awards were done in
a different way. The Fun Run gave awards
three deep and the 5K only went two deep in the same age group categories (5
year increments) It was surprising to me
that the 5K had fewer awards than the shorter Fun Run. I once again had a thought that I should have
done the Fun Run instead. They had
overall finisher awards for the 5K. I
don’t believe they gave overall awards to Fun Run participants. It was unclear in registration. They said “one” finisher award to overall
male and female which made me think it was only for the 5K.
City Notes:
Zeeland’s Hearts in
Motion was an evening run with an hour drive home so it was hard to stay around
and see the city of Zeeland this time.
We stayed at the run for awhile after it ended playing with frisbees and
at the play structure in Huizenga Park.
Huizenga Park was really awesome!
It had a lot of cool playscape equipment, including a glider! We saw the Zeeland water tower. The Holland Hospital Lab Services building was
really cool. Zeeland Farm Services has a
huge plant by 196. Its silos looked
really pretty at night. I plan on going
back to Zeeland during the day to see more awesome things and add to the town
portion of the photos in the city album.
City Sign:
The Zeeland city
sign was amazing! We have driven by many
times in the past. Before I was taking city
sign pictures I thought it was awesome. Zeeland’s city sign is on 1-196 right as you
get off the expressway. It’s a HUGE brick
city sign. It’s a slight challenge to
get to being at the intersection of main roads and it takes a walk up a hill to
get to the sign. We climbed up on it
from the back so we could stand on it for the picture. Zeeland is my favorite city sign picture. I loved the sun setting in the background and
how epic the picture turned out.
We stopped at Billy
Bones Best Wings Ever on 44th Street in Grandville on the way back
home from Zeeland. It was a really
interesting restaurant setup. You placed
your order on a tablet when you walked in, got your own fountain drinks from a
pop machine and got your order when it popped up at the kitchen window. The food came out in to-go containers and we threw
our trash away. All a waitress had to do
was wipe down the table when we left.
The food was good. The cornbread,
roasted chicken and fries were the best.
I didn’t like the wings, I think it was just the sauce. I usually love wings. I was surprised that the wings didn’t live up
to the “Best Wings Ever” sign but everything else did. We had a good time at dinner before traveling
home.
Luke won first place
in his “10 and under” age group! He got
to go up to the awards table by himself and get his medal. He smoked me by 40 seconds this time. I was very tried on this run. I almost always do worse on evening runs. I still love them.
The Compassionate
Hearts building was really nice inside. It
was extremely spacious, had fantastic bathrooms and cool décor. It was a great venue for packet pick-up.
While I was running the first loop of the course I saw a young girl screaming and crying as she was running. It looked like her mom was running just ahead of her. She was so upset and kept saying how she didn’t like running. I felt really bad for her. I’ve never seen a child so frantic and upset on a course before. I wish I had more information on what was going on, without that all I would be doing is making assumptions. There were so many young kids at this event.
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