LIGHT UP THE REZ (Fulton - 2021 - 5K)
27 Mile Drive
Registration:
I couldn’t find a current RunSignUp page for Light Up the Rez. I did find a 2016 RunSignUp page with an accurate race description:
“Come experience a different kind of race at the Pine Creek
Reservation! Glow your way through on and off road trails while you
explore the Pine Creek Indian Reservation at dusk. Bring your friends and
family together to experience a unique 5K glow run or a 1 mile Turtle
Trot. Registration will include a t-shirt, glow gear, awards and lots of
fun!”
(https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/Fulton/LightUptheRez5KReservationRun)
The 2021 Light Up the Rez had two events, the one-mile turtle
trot and the 5K. All start times were
listed on the “It’s Your Race” website. Award
information was not clear as it had been in previous years. I thought the new registration website was very
busy. It didn’t flow well and the odd
bolding didn’t help. They had a great
course route drawing attached to the registration website. In the past tribal elders and youth received
a $10 race discount. This year race
registration for tribal elders and youth was free. Previous year’s RunSignUp registration pages had
more information than the 2021 “’It’s Your Race” registration page with a much
better format.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (NHBP) website was
another resource for run times and location.
Packet pick-up was across the street from Mishkowen Park in a very large field. There were multiple large canopy tents set up. They were very organized with neatly folded shirt piles laid out by size, food presentation etc. Everything radiated positive energy, including the weather with bright sun rays. Event volunteers were very kind and generous.
Course:
The course was absolutely beautiful. The Pine Creek Reservation is so lucky to
have such a wonderful outdoor trail on their property. Running
the 5K was the equivalent to getting a mini tour of the reservation. We ran through a huge grass field into trails
along a peaceful stream. We passed a
kids playscape and went back into trails until we came to the Pow-Wow Grounds area. There were four sets of covered seating in a
circle formation around a covered octagon gazebo-like structure. It was a beautiful clearing in the woods for
ceremonies and events. We went over a very
wide wooden bridge and back into the woods where there were multiple directions
to go. There were ropes across trees so that
we wouldn’t go off course.
We came to a parking lot with nine flag poles and a beautiful
large white statue of what looked like a turtle beneath an eagle with a man and
woman on either side. The turtle was
holding something in its mouth. I could
not see what the turtle was holding. My course
pictures did not help me in clarification.
After the statue it was more trail, every minute it got darker and the
torches beamed brighter. We went past a
walkway out to a viewing platform. It
looked like it went out into a large area of wetlands. It was very pretty with the sun setting.
We went around the NHBP cemetery. I learned from macpra.org that the cemetery is
six acres and is named “Hummingbird Spirit Land” because a lot of Michigan
Native Americans have a spiritual connection with hummingbirds. I have always had a connection with
hummingbirds. I put feeders out for them
at our home every Spring and Summer and plant flowers they enjoy. They bring me peace whenever I see one.
(http://www.macpra.org/files/6814/0623/1016/NHBP-Repatriation-Event-Press-Release-final.pdf)
When we left the cemetery, we went past a pavilion and gazebo
along Nottawa Creek near the wetlands, were blasted by awesome music at a turn (I
got a video!) and then proceeded to past through what I have nicknamed, “The Motivation
Sidewalk.” There were awesome chalk drawings
and words everywhere…and a giant face!
The last mile of the course opened up into amazing fields. We went past a greenhouse, the only police
officer on the course and around a court that had more awesome writing on the
street and people sitting outside their homes showing support. By the time I crossed the finish the sun was
almost set. The disco and strobe lighting
at the finish was amazing to run through.
I loved the torches along the trail that lit the path. As the sun set towards the end of the course
they got brighter. There was so much
motivation on the course. Homemade signs
had been made on bright poster board and put on trees for us. The signs were hilarious. Inspiration on this course was always around
a corner. I love that the NHBP and
volunteers took the time to make the course so engaging for their participants.
Light the Rez had a finish line that I saw in the distance two
times. Courses that have finish lines
you can see from a distance are extra motivating for me. My good friend Don directors a race in Huron
Meadows Metropark that has an area where you can look across Maltby Lake and
see the finish.
Light Up the Rez was one of my favorite trail courses. It circled nearly the entire reservation, it showcased the beauty of nature and it was fun and engaging. It had every aspect of an amazing 5K course.
Swag:
Luke ran the turtle run and I ran the 5K. We both got teal blue shirts with the run’s
awesome foot logo. The bibs from Light
Up the Rez were amazing! They are one of
my top five favorite bibs of all time. I
keep all my running bibs. I think it’s
great when an event takes the time to make creative bibs. Light Up the Rez had rainbow neon bubble text
on a black bib.
They had tons of glow sticks for participants. They gave all five of us glow sticks. Luke and I got goodie bags from Fire Keepers
Casino that included:
A color changing USA made plastic cup
Mini bottle of sunscreen
Stress ball
Hand sanitizer
Fidget Spinner
Retractable Ear Buds
Lip Balm
Temporary tattoos
Antibacterial Wipes
All the freebie gifts had the NHBP logo on them. My favorites were the color changing cup and
antibacterial wipes. I liked the small
size to-go pack of the wipes.
At the post-race food table they handed out free sticker sheets to kids. All three boys got to pick out themed sticker sheets.
We got a lot of awesome things from Light Up the Rez!
Food:
There was a wonderful snack/water table station that had bananas, Cutie oranges, Nature Valley crunchy granola bars, Chewy chocolate chip granola bars and the really good Life Saver wint-o-green mints. They also had water and large chocolate milk bottles in coolers. The chocolate milk was awesome!
Awards:
I noticed in 2016 the age group award categories for Light Up the Rez were very odd nine-year increments (17-25, 26-35, 36-45 etc.) This year they had ten-year increments I am used to seeing (30-39, 40-49 etc) starting at “14 and under” and ending with “70 and over.” I never got to see the age group awards at the event and they were not posted online. There were definitely awards. They were either mailed or held for pick-up for participants. I don’t know how far deep they went. I did not receive contact back from the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi or the Facebook event page when I sent questions. One interesting thing to note is that almost 25% of race participants were in my 30-39 age group. 25 of 106 finishers!
City Notes:
We never made it to Fulton, MI that the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi have their reservation in. It was a very late run. When we left it was dark. The reservation is large. It is very much its own city with a worship center, clinic, cemetery, police force etc. They had a general store called the “Bkedé O Mshiké” which means, “The Hungry Turtle”. (https://nhbp-nsn.gov/bkede-o-mshike/) The Pine Creek Reservation makes up a big part of Fulton, so in a sense, I feel like I did see a good amount of Fulton. I will return for more city pictures at a later date.
City Sign:
I was not able to get the city sign for Fulton before or after this event. It was very dark when we left. Fulton is 5.5 miles west of the Pine Creek Reservation. The next time I am in the area for a run I will look for Fulton’s city sign. I am worried there may not be one as I couldn’t find anything on Google and when I called one of the only shops in town the guy that picked up acted like I was crazy for asking. Yikes!
Other Awesomeness:
When we got to the reservation there was plenty of parking. An extremely enthusiastic and friendly man
pulled over in a golf cart trolly and told us to hop on. He took us to the race start. We all loved the ride to the start! The wind felt great.
Luke finished one mile in just seconds under seven minutes as
the overall finisher of the mile turtle trot!
He blew our minds! He has never
run a mile as fast as he did at Light Up the Rez. The MC was great as Luke finished. He commented that Luke could have a future in
Cross County. There wasn’t anyone close
to Luke. He was a rocket.
I forgot bug spray and a nice family sitting on a blanket by the
playscape loaned me their spray. I never
know how intense mosquitos will be. There
are a lot of factors involved, with the greatest being, stagnate water. I would think moving quickly makes it more challenging
for them to bite, but I didn’t want to take the risk with all the exposed skin. The kids enjoyed meeting a lot of other kids at
the playscape.
The blow-ups were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
The music and DJ were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!
I took a lot of videos of the blow-ups dancing to music throughout
the night. I reached out to event staff
after the race to ask who their DJ was, but I did not receive a response. I loved how bright and energized the finish
area was. It was one of a kind and one
that I will remember.
After the race I saw a boy that had made a huge flower with glow
sticks. He was twirling it around. It was so pretty. I told him how awesome it was and to my shock
he told me to keep it. At first, I told
him I couldn’t, because it had taken him time to make it and was too awesome. He insisted and held it out to me. I felt bad taking a kid’s work of art, but I
absolutely love it. It was a beacon of
beauty in the car on the way home. I still
have it on my run wall to this day even though its glowing is no more. It was so generous of the boy.
We asked a Huron Potawatomi Police Officer if we could take a picture
with him before we left. There were no
golf carts to take us back to our van after the run. The walk back was not long and quite scenic
and peaceful. Luke got a frisbee stuck
in a tree and Jason had to life him up to grab it. Luke and Jason looked like they were
performing a high school cheerleading move.
I tried to take additional reservation pictures as we walked back to the
car. Even though it was dark I got some
good pictures of their health center, a worship building, general store and
what I believe was an indoor community center.
We got awesome rainbow popsicles at a gas station on the way
home that matched the glow stick flower!
I absolutely loved running on a reservation. It will be added to the great landmarks list
with things like, the Mackinac Bridge, South Rockwood Quarry, airport runways etc. I made a huge Navajo lesson plan as my final Curriculum
304 project at Eastern. I learned so
many amazing things about Navajo Native Americans while creating my lesson
plan. I have always been drawn to Native
American culture, especially their love and respect for the Earth and knowledge
on natural medicines. I didn’t know
anything about the Nottawaseppi and had never been on any reservation
before. The reservation was incredibly well-kept
and beautiful. It was very modern with so
many amenities. It was a self-sufficient
community founded on seven grandfather teachings:
Love
Respect
Bravery
Truth
Honesty
Humility
Wisdom
I was humbled by the beauty, kindness and grace at Light Up the Rez.
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