RUN TO SAVE OUR YOUTH (Livonia - 2021 - 5K)
88 Mile Drive
Luke was invited to a friend’s birthday party that was in Farmington Hills. It is an hour and a half drive to Farmington Hills from our new home. We really wanted Luke to attend his friend’s party. I had no runs on Sunday when we received the invite. I got an email a few days later about a run in Livonia the same Sunday as the birthday party. It was perfect! Luke’s party was in the afternoon and the run was in the morning. The two events were 20 minutes apart. I registered for Run to Save Our Youth and Luke RVSPed to his friend’s birthday party.
I hadn’t been back to Metro Detroit for months. Jason still commutes to Romulus for work. Run to Save Our Youth took place at Livonia’s City Center Plaza on the corner of Five Mile and Farmington Road. As we drove down Farmington Road we saw runners running north on the sidewalk. I haven’t run next to a main road as busy as Farmington in a long time. It was cool! The main parking lot was plenty big for the race, but the complex had multiple parking lots available. It was a really nice venue. The start and finish line were on Civic Center Drive very close to the Livonia Police Department making it easy for police to help with course intersections. It was an open start between 8:00-8:30am. I started at 8:21am. In the first quarter mile of the course I ran by Livonia City Hall, Livonia Civic Center, Livonia’s Library and 16th District Court. Later on I ran past the Livonia Rec Center and Bentley Field. I did not know Livonia had a skate park. It was a very cool area.
The course was an extremely flat all street path. They had a water station set up on a loop at Jackson Early Childhood Center. The last half mile was down Farmington Road back to Civic Center Drive. They had enthusiastic race volunteers at the finish. One man remembered I had started late and commented that I came in fast. It was nice to hear that. Some of the walkers that had started at 9:00am came in shortly after I finished.
I got a bag with my medal, a banana, water bottle and cool green and white hacky sack ball crossing the finish line. I was also given a white tech t-shirt at registration. They had a walk-up award tent with a past Miss. USA handing out medals. There was no formal age group ceremony. I didn’t run as fast at Run to Save Our Youth after running a 5K at Light Up the Rez just 12 hours before. My only goal was to come in under 30 minutes and I managed to do just that. Getting a first place age group medal was very surprising and awesome! The finisher and age group medals were the same design in different colors. They were very cool 3D medals.
After the run I stretched by Livonia’s golden tower city hall building. It was private and nice. They had a fountain with water that the kids and Corky liked. There was a lot of grass to run around on. I couldn’t figure out what was across the field. It was concrete and had steps leading down to what looked like a mini stage with a few seating areas. We left to take Luke to Target to pick out a birthday gift for his friend. We were the last to leave the run. We drove by race staff packing up their race supplies.
After we dropped Luke off we had to find a charging port for our car. I was surprised 12 Oaks Mall did not have any. The closest electric chargers were located at Schoolcraft College back in Livonia. We parked there and walked over to the Barnes and Noble Plaza. It was a good walk in the heat. We ate at a very disgusting Noodles and Company. The food was good considering how run-down the inside of the store was. We didn’t notice how bad it was until we had ordered and were waiting for our food. After Pad Thai, macaroni and broccoli we went over to Menchie’s next door. We hadn’t been to Menchie’s in a long time. I had $5 in rewards. The discount made up for Ryan filling his entire bowl up by mistake.
It was a good day for everyone. Everything worked out really well. Luke had a lot of fun seeing his old school friends and I got to run in Livonia after missing out on it at Supernatural Brewing this past Fall when I fractured my toe. I like random pop-up events!
Things I take from Run to Save Our Youth:
1. I thought I saw Jason’s grandma walking the course! The woman looked just like her. Jason’s grandma has done 5K walking events near her home in Westland. I saw the woman after she finished and it was not Jason’s grandma. She was definitely someone special as people took a lot of pictures with her. I think it’s special just to be out doing 5Ks at that age.
2. Getting a slightly more authentic Livonia run with it starting at the epicenter of Livonia by all their city buildings. Supernatural Brewing 5K was through Livonia neighborhoods on the border of Livonia and Westland at the very southern end of the city. I felt like Run to Save Our Youth showcased more of the city of Livonia.
3. Stopping at Bate’s Burgers on Five Mile after the run! It was another favorite we hadn’t been to in years. I saw my mom’s old hair dresser Tom celebrating his birthday by getting a Bate’s burger for lunch. The burgers were great. Bate’s is staple of Livonia.
4. The Run to Save Our Youth Coalition gives proceeds from the run to help Livonia youth who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. It was started in 2006 by parents of Brian Montes who lost his life from a heroin overdose. Runs help me personally and they help strangers in need.
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