MOUNTAINEER PI RUN (Byron Center - 2021 - 5K)
Registration:
Mountaineer Pi Run used a registration website that was totally
new to me called RunReg.com. Their
church website ZionChristain.com had all the information for the run with a
link to RunReg.com. I loved the church’s
page layout. It flowed very well with
bolded headlines that separated the information. One of my favorite parts from registration
was the following:
“Come for
the race, stay for the dessert!
After
triumphantly crossing the finish line of this 5K race, reward yourself with a
delicious piece of pie (or another of our great post-race refreshments). All
pre-registered runners will receive a t-shirt. All proceeds benefit Zion
Christian School’s Mountaineer Athletic Boosters. Family and friends of
participants are also welcome to enjoy a piece of pie; however, we ask that
non-participants consider making a cash donation if they eat any of the pie or
other race refreshments.”
The race fee was $25 until race day. Late registration for this run was race
day. Late registration is usually a few
weeks from race day, sometimes a month.
That was a unique feature to help registrants save money. Shirts didn’t have a cut-off date unless you
registered the day of the race and even than the race tried to give all
participants shirts. That was really
amazing as well.
Zion Christian’s website also had links to all past race results
and past race photos up to 2017.
Course:
The course was a paved course.
We went out making an immediate right down 76th Street SW for almost a
mile before zigzagging through a neighborhood.
We exited the neighborhood onto 72nd Street SW for a brief moment
followed by a right turn onto Kent Trail, a trail system I had never been on
before. The Kent Trail portion was about
a half mile and my favorite part of the race.
Kent Trail has 15 miles of trail, a lot which are abandoned
railways. Kent Trail begins in John Ball
Park in Grand Rapids and ends in Byron Center.
We were covered in shade by big trees the whole distance on the
trail. I could almost see 76th street in
the distance when we first turned onto it.
I liked the Mountaineer Pi course a lot. Once I hit 72nd Street SW I knew I was on the
way back to the finish which motivated me even more. There were tons of enthusiastic volunteers on
the course and hilarious mile marker signs reminding participants of the pie at
the finish. It was a cloudless day with
a bright shining sun but it was not too hot.
76th Street SW had some hills including one right before the finish to
really challenge us at the end.
Thankfully 76th Street SW had extremely wide medians which made running
parallel to an active road safer than some courses I’ve been on where cars
drove by feet away from me.
Swag:
I got a really fun black Mountaineer Pi Run t-shirt with their pie
mascot man on it and “Pi” written out in long form. They gave participants really nice maps of
the course. I like the bubble letters on
the map and how easy they were to read.
Of all the course maps I’ve seen over the years I would make one like
Mountaineer Pi Run for a run of my own.
Food:
The church had a nice table set up with water bottles, Chewy
peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars and….
Chocolate Milk!!!!
In addition to the awesome post-run food table they had the table
of delicious pie! Pie flavors included,
cherry, blueberry and apple. They had so
many pre-cut pies in small to-go containers.
The apple pie was amazing and tasted great with the chocolate milk.
Awards:
Mountaineer Pi Run gave out overall male and female and overall
masters male and female awards. They
went three deep in age group awards in five-year increments with 14 total age
groups. I really like it when runs
separate “10 & under” as their own age group. I believe it is the fairest age group for
young kids, otherwise their competition can become cross country runners,
runners with more muscle mass etc.
City Notes:
We lived in Wyoming, MI for a year and in that time never traveled
to downtown Byron Center. I always
thought it was a unique city name with “Center” in it. For some reason I didn’t think it had a
downtown. There is a great little
downtown on 84th Street SW in Byron Center.
Jason got the kids breakfast at Phoenix Risings Bakery while I ran. Shops downtown included, Byron Center Meats,
Two Dutch Hens, Byron Family Restaurant and Houseman’s Ice Cream just to name a
few awesome ones. I really liked the
Byron Center Meats sign and building.
It’s great Byron Center has its own meat shop. Byron Center’s Fire Department had an awesome
sign. Byron Center has one of the
largest high schools I have seen in the state.
I was shocked by its size and amazing design. I read online the high school got a $68.5
million dollar grant in 2017.
Improvements included:
“Project
scope included a new main entrance and multi-purpose lobby area, 18 additional
classrooms, four new science rooms, a new weight room, an expanded cafeteria,
and renovations to adjacent locker and hallway spaces. In addition, the
building received a new roof and major site renovations, including parking lot
reconfigurations to better accommodate traffic flow.”
(https://www.owen-ames-kimball.com/projects/byron-center-high-school-expansion-and-transformation)
City Sign:
On the way to downtown Byron Center We found a wood city sign by
Judd’s that said, “Welcome to Byron Center.”
It was a more traditional city sign even though it was technically a
company’s welcome sign. We got a picture
of the Judd’s sign and then found another city sign in downtown Byron Center by
a plaza of stores. The second more
official city sign in downtown was really cool!
I could sit under it! I did have
to remove some trash before sitting down.
That was discouraging. The Byron
Center city sign fit the city name because it resembled a strip mall sign and
was very reminiscent of a “center.”
Other Awesomeness:
I absolutely loved the music played at this run. It is the reason I have so many videos. I wanted to remember all the great music they
played before and after the run.
I had not received an age group award since my birthday run in
Peninsula, Ohio on January 24th. It felt
awesome to get a first place medal after almost three months. I worked hard running at the Mountaineer Pi
Run. I gave it everything I had. The age group award medal was a match to
their awesome shirt. I love it. Ironically, the age group medal from my
birthday run had just come in the mail weeks before Mountaineer Pie Run. There was a big delay in shipment.
A woman came up to me after the awards ceremony and thanked me for
helping motivate her daughter on the course.
I had stayed near her daughter for miles. I honestly thought the same of her daughter. I felt like she had helped me stay at a good
pace. It told her the feeling was mutual
and her daughter was an all-star. It
made my day to have someone say that about me.
I really consider myself average when it comes to running.
We saw a what looked like a parade of motorcyclists as we left
after getting the city sign picture downtown.
We’ve seen half a dozen large groups of motorcyclists at runs. I always enjoy seeing them. I love when they ride in really large
groups!
Byron Center is so close to Grandville we decided to stop in
Cabela’s. We had a good time sight seeing
at Cabela’s. We had no idea when we left
Cabela’s we would randomly find a drive-thru carnival food line. We got in line, got a menu and ordered a
bunch of amazing food for lunch. The
chicken strips were awesome! The kids
loved the cotton candy. It was a one of
a kind find and made the day even better.
The pandemic has had it’s share of perks. You always have to remember the positives in
times that seem overwhelmingly negative.
It’s how we stay afloat in life.
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