HERO RUN (Niles - 2021 - 10K)
Registration:
The Hero Run was $20 and shirts
were an additional $5.00 if participants wanted one. I always like to have shirts from runs. The information on RunSignUp was shorter than
the last couple of runs I have registered for but still had good
information. I read that they had a
super hero contest but for some reason I did not make a costume. Hero Run was the first run with a costume
contest I did not make a costume for. RunSignUp
mentioned they would have doorprizes from local businesses. There was a separate website at lifeplan.org
that gave a few more details such as: Jimmy Johns and The Salvation Army would
be providing the post-race food and the award ceremony would take place at the
amphitheater. I really liked how the
lifeplan.org website listed the age group awards next to each other and had
links to course maps. It was a well-done
website.
Course:
I registered myself for the 10K and Luke for the
5K. It had been a month since I had done
a 10K. The run had an amazing start at
Riverfront Park. We went through town,
under a really cool older stone tunnel and out to Plym Park Golf Course where
we turned around. It was on the way back
going down N. 2nd Street I saw all the 5Kers coming towards us. I got to high five Luke. He looked amazing running in his superhero cape
and mask. I told him he could take it
off if it got too hot. He was heading
down to the golf course.
After seeing the 5K participants we went through
downtown Niles. I was able to get a few
great city pictures including one of the Niles Post Office! We went down a segment of the Indiana-Michigan
River Valley Trail. There was an aide
station with cups of water on the trail overlooking the Saint Joseph River right
before a large downhill. At the bottom
of the hill it was the 5K/10K split. We took a short paved trail separate from the
Indiana-Michigan trail over to 3rd street. Third Street took us all the way down to the
Brandywine Creek Nature Reserve. We ran
into the nature reserve and back out. It
was a short part of the course but one of the best parts. The sidewalk in the nature reserve was really
wide. We went over a big wooden bridge
before coming to the 10K turn around point.
I had to stop and walk in the nature reserve. I felt very tired. After leaving the nature reserve it was back
on the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail to the finish. I saw beautiful views running along the Saint
Joseph River. The last quarter mile was
so scenic.
Swag:
Luke and I both received light yellow Hero Run shirts with our
bibs in bags at packet pick-up. There were
no finisher medals for any of the run distances or sponsor freebies.
Food:
There was a wonderful well organized
table with clementine oranges in a basket and bananas in a box. There were strawberry, blueberry and apple
granola bars and Nature Valley Peanut Butter bars. On a separate table they had three boxes of
mini Jimmy Johns sandwiches in turkey, ham and veggie. The post-race food was amazing! This is the second time I’ve gotten a Jimmy
Johns sandwich after a run. I love Jimmy
John’s turkey tom sandwiches.
Awards:
Gift certificates to Fleet Feet
were given to the overall male and female in both the 5K and 10K. Age group awards were given three deep in age
group categories with five-year increments.
My only complaint with age group awards was that they printed the last
10K time sheet as I finished. I finished
at 1:01:56. I saw a man walking a sheet
to the amphitheater. The results they
had at the ceremony only had one 10K finisher in the 30-34 age group. My name was not called to come up to the
stage. I found out later I came in
second place. It was frustrating not to
get to come up and get a picture on their awesome placing stands. I waited until the ceremonies had concluded
and then asked. I got confirmation and
an apology with my medal. I was surprised
the awards ceremony happened so early.
They were into the 10K awards by an hour and five minutes. Considering the 5K started at 9:10 having an
award ceremony minutes before 10:00am is early for 5K participants as well.
City Notes:
We found a great bakery in Niles
called Gabrizio. It had the most
relaxing beautiful décor with comfy couches to sit on and a bar stool area
under hanging vines and flowers. Their
selection of baked goods was amazing. Jason
got a strawberry vanilla croissant and after tasting it I wished I had gotten
it. The best part was their selection of
gluten free items! We got Luke a huge
oreo cake which he loved and had plenty of calories to eat after running a 5K.
There were a lot of cool homes
in Niles including the historical center.
Niles had a unique library design with big glass windows. I was glad we got to get a picture of the
LifePlan house since they put on the Hero Run. Niles had a really nice and quite large YMCA,
cool painted benches and an awesome railway going over the Saint Joseph River
leaving town. Niles has Saint Joseph River
views almost everywhere you go in town and an abundance of purple flowering
Eastern Redbud Trees. I’ve never seen so
many on our drive home leaving town.
They were awesome.
City Sign:
We found an awesome mural on the
side of Iron Side Distillery that we thought made for a great city sign. It said, “Discover the Spirit of Niles, Michigan.” Luke came up with the idea of pretending to sit
on the painted barrels for a picture. It
was a good idea. It looked real! I found
out on Google later that Niles has another awesome more “official” city sign in
the triangle made my Main Street, 11th
Street and 12th Street. The
next time I run out in
Western Michigan I plan to get a picture with
that sign too.
I was worried about rain looking
out into the forecast for the Hero Run.
The best-case scenario ended up happening. We got a mist of a rain out on the course. It was the kind of extremely refreshing rain
to run in and felt great. It was not the
miserable rain I have run in a few times before.
The random hawk that perched in
a tree for a great photography moment and the boat that was hanging from a construction
crane on a road just out of Niles.
Luke won a super hero costume
award and got a $20.00 gift card to DQ!
I felt bad that I hadn’t made a costume so as we were walking out the
door I grabbed a cape and mask we had gotten from a Renaissance Fair in Marshall
last year and told Luke he should wear it.
It wasn’t a homemade costume by me like 95% of my running costumes
throughout the years, but Luke looked amazing in it and it got him
excited. He ran the entire 5K in the
cape and mask. I got one of the best
pictures of Luke jumping up in the air with his gift card after the run. Jason’s parents made an 8x10 of the picture
that I framed and hung on my running wall.
The MC at the awards ceremony
was very engaging and hilarious. He made
a comment about the three age group winning men in the 60-65 group because they
all had reflective colors on. The MC said
that it must be good performance colors since they all placed. The award ceremony was so engaging ducks even
came over at one point to join the crowd!
So many of the age group award recipients
were ticked to death to get awards. I
love to see that. I’ve seen plenty of
participants that act like they don’t care.
It’s refreshing to see people so excited. Batman even won first place in his age group!
There was a man in a light
yellow shirt that I came up to in the nature reserve and passed for a
moment. He stayed real close to me until
the last quarter mile stretch along the river.
He pushed me to stay ahead of him as he was passing me but I didn’t have
what it took this time. He came up to me
at the finish and thanked me for helping him keep a good pace. It made my day because I’ve never thought of
myself as a good pacer. I’ve called
myself a “negative splitter” because I frequently get slower by a few seconds
each mile. I felt the same way about the
man. He motivated me a lot out on the
course. He ended up placing in his age
group which was awesome.
They had great cones and flags
by the start and finish that made for a cool finish line. There were awesome directional signs and mile
markers. Not too many volunteers were needed. I saw what seemed to be similar ducks from
the awards ceremony near mile three. Maybe
they walked the 5K and came back for medals.
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