POLY ANN TRAIL 4 MILER (Dryden - 2021 - 4 Mile)
Registration:
The Poly Ann Trail 4 Miler was on RacePlace.com and RunSignUp. Both websites had the same information. The information online was very brief. The description was a small paragraph. The course started and finished at Dryden Memorial Park, went south down the Poly Ann Trail to a turnaround that was not the two-mile halfway point. We would go off the trail into General Squier Park, circle around the parking lot and come back to the Poly Ann Trail. The race start and finish time was listed online with the address. There was nothing online about awards, packet pick-up, shirt, finisher medals etc. I could not find a social media page for the Poly Ann Trail 4 Mile Run/Walk. It was a run that kept a lot a mystery. I loved the idea of running in a town like Dryden that only has one run a year (that I have found so far). I also love running on the 34.2 mile Poly Ann Trail. I’ve run a handful of runs on the Poly Ann Trail. My standing 5K PR from 2019 was on the Poly Ann Trail.
Packet pick-up was under the gazebo at Dryden Memorial Park. They had a great set up. The parking lot had a sidewalk that went straight up to the gazebo. They had a pile of walking sticks for purchase that caught Jason’s eye. The Village of Dryden city offices building was next to packet pick-up and had great bathrooms for participants. It’s always nice to get an upgrade from Port-A-Johns.
Course:
I loved the finish and start area for the Poly Ann Trail 4 Mile event. It was a grass start that had been sprayed painted
with a white line. There was a timing
clock, and two signs facing north and south with “Start” and “Finish”
respectively. The course started out on grass
and quickly transitioned to a combination of dirt and grass that looked like it
had been driven on many times with distinct tire lines.
In the first quarter mile we encountered a snapping turtle laying
in the middle of the course!!! All the
runners looked at the turtle as they passed it.
I think we were disrupting its sun lounging as we passed it. The course snapping turtle was a first for
me. I loved it!!
Elevation was flat on the Poly Ann Trail. We got more turns and small hills when we
went into the woods to General Squier Park.
At the big parking lot loop I saw two water slides that went into a
pool. One was a twisting tunnel slide and
one was a really tall regular slide. It
was a unique and scenic turn around.
I love trail runs. I’ve had great experiences on the Poly Ann Trail. There were refreshing shade breaks on the course. We went over three wooden bridges with small creeks underneath them. The highest bridge over water did not have a guard rail on it. I like that this run did something different from the traditional 1.55 miles out and back 5K Poly Ann Trail courses I have run. By adding the westward loop it eliminated the course crossing roads.
Swag:
Luke and I had no idea what to expect and we ended up getting awesome bright yellow Poly Ann Trail 4 Mile Run/ Walk t-shirts at packet pick-up. All finishers received beautiful Poly Ann Trail medals with blue ribbons. I was really happy about the finisher medals when Luke didn’t have his best run. It made him feel a lot better. It’s a great example of why I believe in finisher medals in addition to age group awards.
Food:
There were assorted Cliff bars and full-sized water bottles that were in a cooler on a bench in the memorial park. Luke was excited when he found a gluten free Cliff bar. We went and got breakfast in Dryden as soon as we left the race. We noticed a lot of participants from the race at Main Street Coney and we knew it had to be a good place.
Awards:
One of the most surprising things from the Poly Ann Trail 4 Miler were the age group awards!!! I loved the awards. They had fourteen plaques in ten-year increments for first place finishers! The plaques were beautiful with vibrant colors (blue letters for men and pink for woman). The picture behind the words was great. I really wanted an age group award, but I knew with the larger ten-year gap and first deep requirement my chances were incredibly slim.
City Notes:
We had a great time in the village of Dryden. We went to Main Street Coney, just a short
walk from the run start in Dryden Memorial Park. Main Street Coney was established the same year
we got married. They had amazing food
that everyone loved. The strawberry french
toast was the biggest hit.
I went into Veda’s Uniques and More and called Jason from inside
to tell him he had to come in. It was a
candy, shake and snack store that turned into amazing handcrafted art as you journeyed
to the second floor. Over 40 Michigan vendors
have products at Vedas. The store front
was decked out on the outside and inside.
It was an old house with themed rooms.
I loved the creativity in the flipped over pots painted as mushrooms
outside. I loved the chimpanzee bathroom
sign, donut bath bombs and so many of their signs. We bought a mini animal cracker bag, a tea bag
holder, four watermelon slushes for me and the kids, a chocolate shake for
Jason and old school juice bottle candy for everyone. We also got a hilarious dish washing sign for
our kitchen. I loved the store and the
employees (possibly owners) that we met.
It was such a gem to find in a small town. It was the kind of store I would take a long
drive to come to. Veda’s is a great business
to bring people to Dryden.
Everything was so nice and well-kept in Dryden. The Farmer’s Insurance Castle was by far our
favorite building. We called it that
because of its awesome tower and older stone work. Parts of the castle were rental units. Tenants entered through a medieval looking wood
door with an actual ball and chain! It
was amazing! I’ve never seen anything
like that in a town. The Dryden Depot
and Historical Museum were awesome. The
Dryden library was in an old home and looked really cozy.
Dryden was very proud of its students and had a banner across downtown that said, “Home of the Dryden Cardinals.” We didn’t have to wait long to run out into a clear road and get a picture under it. If Dryden’s other schools are anything like Dryden High School then the Dryden school system is very impressive. We pulled into Dryden High School to get a quick sign picture and that turned into finding a second qualifying city sign, amazing athletic field and a dozen awesome senior parking space chalk murals. The kids loved the pictures drawn by the seniors. We made an epic slow motion bird flying video on the Dryden rock before leaving the high school. I love cardinals as a mascot. They are my favorite bird.
City Sign:
We found two official Dryden city signs and one high school fence sign that definitely qualified as a city sign. I loved the Dryden city signs. They were quant and nice just like Dryden and they both were red with cardinals on them! One said, “Come Visit the Village of Dryden 1 Mile East” and the other, “Welcome to Dryden Where Friendliness is Served Country Style.” I loved that the one sign had the distance to town on it. I think the motto for Dryden is fantastic. Dryden in BIG letters on the high school fence was amazing. Standing on either side of it made for an epic shot.
Other Awesomeness:
I WON ONE OF THE AMAZING AGE GROUP PLAQUES!!! It was a huge day
for me. My time was only a minute and
seventeen seconds faster than the second-place woman and all three ladies in
our age group came in within three minutes of each other. I was at a loss for words when race staff
handed me the 30-39 Age Group Winner Plaque as a finished. I thanked the award table ladies over and
over again and told them how amazing the plaque was. I don’t have words for how it happened. The Poly Ann Trail 4 Mile Run/Walk plaque is
one of my most cherished age group wins of all time.
Luke got really upset and tired on the course and decided to walk the remaining three miles after mile one. I got worried about him when he didn’t finish in his usual time and extremely worried when he didn’t come in at his slowest time. Due to the nature of the flat trail you could see down the course quite a bit from the finish line. We didn’t see Luke in the distance. When I was on the course, I lost Luke just before hitting mile one. It didn’t concern me as I expected to see him when I turned around and headed back north. I also thought I would see him in the woods after the parking lot loop. I didn’t see Luke at any of the areas I was expecting to. I stopped and asked the man giving us directions into the woods if he had seen a young boy go into the General Squier Park area. He seemed to think so. The issue was, there were two other young boys running. After telling race staff about Luke Jason and I went with Ryan and Will back down the course to search for him. Jason found him about a quarter mile from the finish upset that he was doing so poorly. We all ran with him to the finish to make him feel better. Luke has done a four-mile race before. I thought it would be okay for him. I wish he wouldn’t have given up because he had to walk a little. He got self-defeated and never recovered. Luke was capable of coming in first place in his age group. I felt really sad about that.
I love that the bibs for the race had Mizuno on them!! Mizuno is my running shoe. Mizuno wave inspires give me the best support
with my scoliosis and uneven gait. They
have helped me so much throughout the years.
As of right now I have no intention of buying any other make or
brand. It was awesome to have a Mizuno
bib for the first time at a race!
I met an amazing man out on the course. His name was Nick. We must have been close to one another the
entire course. We didn’t start talking
to one another until we turned into the woods to General Squier Park. Nick was right behind me when I tripped and
fell right into the ground. I’ve been
lucky on all my past trail runs (minus Ode to Snow when I lost a YakTrak) to trip
and catch myself before wiping out. My left
wrist and right lower leg got scratched pretty good from rocks and sticks on
the ground. I tried to get up as quick as
possible and continue running which Nick commented was amazing. It made me laugh. He even told Jason after the race that I fell
but recovered from it so quick it surprised him. I think his exact words were, “She was down…and
then she was up!” I liked the small battle
wounds from the trail. It wasn’t a
serious injury and it made me feel a little tougher. Jason had to pull dirt out of my hand after breakfast
because it got imbedded much further than I noticed originally. He had fun being a medic. All the cuts disappeared within 10 days.
Nick told me all about his many hiking adventures and how he had
just got into running because his wife was a runner but had to stop running
temporarily due to cancer treatments. It
was a sad but very heart-warming story. We
went back and forth in front and behind one another on the course and even
stopped to walk a few times. Nick was a
huge motivation for me. I was very
tired in the last mile. He gave me an energy
pack at one point. It was so nice. When the finish line was in sight we grabbed
eachother’s hand for an epic finish line memory. I was so glad Jason got a video of it. It’s going to go down as one of the most
special finishes of all time for me.
Nick met my family, was really great with the kids and told Jason I was
a great motivation for him out on the course.
Nick was trying to improve his time and finish around 10 minutes per
mile at this race. He has only run a few
races. I think his time was amazing. The feeling of motivation is mutual. Having someone to talk to was a great change
for me. Nick had commented that he didn’t
want to take away my focus by talking while we were running. He knew some runners liked to be in the “zone,”
which talking could interfere with.
Nick met the right runner.
I have no “zone” yet and I am welcome to almost anything while
running on a course (minus the alcohol I was offered running Crim). I’ve kept in touch with Nick since the Poly
Ann Trail 4 Miler to see how his wife is doing and hear what hiking adventures
he has been up to. Hiking is not for the
faint of heart. I truly admire
Nick.
After we had our fun in Dryden I told Jason about the Lavender Festival
going on in Imlay City. Dryden was only
11 minutes from Imlay City and it was on our way home. We bought some amazing body products. We learned of a natural Neosporin and found
some great star bath bombs at Jody’s All Natural Products. We got to see Alpacas. The couple from Marshmallow Catapults was
super nerdy and liked Jason’s, “Dungeon Master” shirt. They let the kids test out their awesome mini
catapults for awhile. I have plans to
purchase some catapults from them in the future. Other highlights for the kids included, standing
in front of a giant fan and seeing all the amazing Lavender Festival Lego
displays. There were so many Lego
carrots! We got amazing Mexican corn at the
festival. Before we left we got lavender
cupcakes, cookies and lemonade to go. It
was all awesome. There was an amazing Volkswagon
truck full with buckets of flowers that needs to be on the official Lavender Festival
banner for 2022. It was so pretty.
Our last stop of the day was Hawk Island County Park in Lansing. The kids wanted to go to a splash pad. I always have their bathing suits and towels
in the back of the van during the summer incase we drive by one. The splash pad at Hawk Island was large and
very popular. I was saddened by the
amount of litter in the parking lot. I
will never understand why people throw their trash on the ground. We stopped in Dimondale to get pizza…but what
I think we actually got from Main Street Pizza in Dimondale was pepperoni
bread. All of us were shocked at how
many pepperonis were on the pizza. I’m
pretty sure someone got fired and they had to go out and buy pepperonis after our
pizza was made….
I loved the Poly Ann Trail 4 Mile Run and the village of
Dryden. It was an amazing town. Dryden is an example of how great small rural
towns are. Meeting my friend Nick and
taking home an amazing plaque were the highlights of the run for me. I owe it to Nick for making me run so strong.
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