4 On the Fourth (Eau Claire - 2021 - 5K)
87.1 Mile Drive
Registration:
The website used for registration for 4 On the Fourth was www.thedriven.net. I could not find registration on any other website including RunSignUp. All needed information such as race address, date, time and distance was on thedriven.net. In the past this run has fallen on July Fourth. This year the race was on Monday July Fifth. There was a funny portion of the event description that stated, “…but actually happening on the 5th…”
This year was the event’s fourth year which made it The Fourth Annual 4 on the Fourth. It was a pretty cool year to run this event. Proceeds benefited the Eau Claire Cross Country and Track teams. The event was put on by Susnet Coast Striders and Eau Claire Cross Country and Track. There were two distances offered, a 4K and 4 Mile run. The events had a difference of 1.6 miles. The repeated use of the number four for this event was awesome. The run was very reasonable for a 5K. Same day registration was still a low $30!
Course:
I choose to do the four-mile
course because I wanted more of a challenge and thought four miles was awesome
with the symbolism of the holiday. I did
not know Eau Claire was so hilly. I only
knew to expect summer heat. The hills
were a real challenge in addition to the slightly longer course. I found myself on beautiful country roads
with very little shade. I liked the Eau Claire
course scenery. The sun was bright and
beautiful. There were so many farms! I saw a lot of fruit trees and awesome farmhouses. Unfortunately, I saw two dead bunnies on the
road. I don’t often see dead rabbits.
The 4K course was not a shortened version of the four mile course, although both distances finished down Hipps Hollow Road. 4Kers turned almost immediately left and four milers right at Hochberger Road, only feet from the start line. Both courses were on main roads. Jason filmed the 4Kers by mistake and the kids remembered and corrected him, but it was too late. There were two aide stations on the four-mile course and one aide station on the 4K course with cups of water. Only a few hundred feet from our second aide station there was an awesome group of people near a golf cart clapping and smiling for participants. The course was 1.8 miles out, 1.8 miles back followed by a .37 mile finishing stretch back to the high school heading west. There were great mile marker signs on the course. There were not many volunteers needed on the four-mile course with its general shape few turns. Without running it, I would imagine the 4K course was very similar to the four-mile course in terms of scenery and ease of navigation for participants.
Swag:
I got a very patriotic and vibrant red t-shirt with the awesome “4 on the Fourth” logo. It had a giant American flag turned sideways with a group of runners running across the top of the flag. It was a really cool design! I give kuddos to the race staff that were in charge of this year’s shirt design. There were no finisher medals. I received an amazing age group award medal.
Food:
I loved the amazing post-race fruit table that was setup. I really liked how they had the bananas and watermelon cut up and placed on huge metal trays on top of the table. There were amazing drinks to match the awesome fruit. Drinks included chocolate milk boxes, full size water bottles and three flavors of Gatorade. They also had assorted granola bars. The kids really liked my post-race food from this race. I always try to donate what I can to them. There was so much watermelon that seconds and thirds were given to participants. I love races that branch out with fruits and do more than just bananas. Getting watermelon at a run is always a treat.
Awards:
Overall race winners received wooden quart boxes of cherries in addition to placing medals! It was such an awesome overall winner prize combo. Eau Claire has an annual Cherry Festival. Age group winners three deep in ten-year increments received medals with the Statue of Liberty over a waving American flag with the race name. I love the medal I received. It’s one of my favorite age group medals. 4 on the Fourth did a raffle after the awards ceremony that participants had to be present to win. Gift certificates to local golf courses and entertainment venues were given out during the random drawing.
City Notes:
Eau Claire is very
small town that doesn’t have a lot of shops but still has some neat ones including
Main Street Burgers, Pizza and Ice Cream, Video Den, Village Tavern and the Eau
Claire Fruit Exchange. The fruit exchange
is a general store. I had not heard of “Fruit
Exchange” as a name for a general store before.
I was really interested in the “Video Den” because almost all video
rental stores are now out of business.
It didn’t look open. I saw things
inside. Hopefully it’s not permanently
closed. They had a cool Sega Genesis and
Super Nintendo logo. The Video Den building
was a tad run down. Eau Claire’s Veteran’s Park was really nice to
walk through. I loved the little wooden
bridge over the tiny creek. The bridge
had awesome tall grass at both entrances.
There was a large covered pavilion for gatherings. The kids park near the Veteran’s Park needed
an update. The structures were older
with significant wear and new sand and wood chips hadn’t been laid down in some
time. I hope that little park gets a makeover
soon. If the kids park were redone it
would make the whole park an even nicer place to spend time with family and
friends.
We saw so many fruit farms in Eau Claire! Eau Claire is part of Michigan’s west coast fruit belt. I believe I saw cherry trees. I know I saw apple trees and grape vines. There were so many vineyards! One third generation fruit farm in Eau Claire is Tree-Mendus Fruit (I love the name!) Other Eau Claire fruit farms include Prillwitz Fruit Farms, Schilling Family Farms (1864) Frank Farms (specializing in frozen fruit) and Hardin’s Family Farm (fifth generation fruit farm) to name a few. Unfortunately, Tree-Mendus Farms closed its farm in 2019 due to a very sad health decline of an owner after he contracted the mosquito EEE virus.
(https://www.moodyonthemarket.com/end-of-an-era-as-tree-mendus-fruit-farm-closes-in-eau-claire/)
The Tree-Mendus Farm held the annual
International Cherry Pit and Spit competition.
(Michigan.org/Eau-Claire.com)
We saw a lot of cool things leaving Eau Claire that I believe were still in village limits. Jason had to turn around so many times when I would see something. I was always too late to take a picture this time. The smiley barn and huge polar bear statue were awesome!
City Sign:
We found two awesome city signs in Eau Claire. One had a front and back. I love city signs that welcome and say goodbye to visitors. There was an awesome American Flag and large picture of two cherries on one of the signs. The other sign said, “Home of the Beavers” and “Est. 1861.” They were tall well-constructed signs. I am glad they included the cherries on their sign. Cherry farming is very big in Eau Claire, Michigan. When people think of cherries and Michigan their minds often go to area like Traverse City and they sometimes don’t think about small villages like Eau Claire. The three city sign pictures made for a nice city sign collage.
Other Awesomeness:
I saw the race director from the
Hobbiton Beer Run with two of her friends at 4 on the Fourth during the awards
ceremony. They were dressed in amazing
red, white and blue outfits. I will
always remember her amazing Jawa ankle tattoo that I got a picture of after I
ran in Benton Harbor. It was really nice
to see them and get some recommendations for upcoming races. All three of them won age group awards and
one of the three won a raffle prize. It
was a great day for them.
The timing of this race was done old school with wooden popsicle
sticks that were handed to us as we crossed the finish line. I haven’t received official results, which I
am hoping I can still get for Athlinks. I like the popsicle stick timing because it
was unique and different. It’s a lot cheaper
for race staff and easier to do at smaller races. I only wish I could have kept the popsicle
sticker.
Eau Claire High School was a great venue for this event. There
was plenty of parking. The start and
finish were feet away from registration.
They had a nice shaded area for their awards ceremony. Race staff said that previous year’s races were
much hotter than the 82 degrees it was in Eau Claire. The inside of the school had awesome quotes and
décor and nice bathrooms for participants to use.
Before the run started they had a very informative speech given
by who I assumed was the race director.
He was very throughout, but also didn’t drag on. He even talked about the post-race food menu! That was a cool first. Jason accidently filmed the 4Kers instead of
the 4 milers when we took off. I think
it was a hilarious mistake that we now have on video in the album.
I’ve included some pictures from the Bay City firework show by Craig Sterken Photography (CraigSterken.com) They blew my mind! I told Jason we are going to Bay City in 2022. That is a firework show you have to see at least once in your life as a Michigander. I’ve seen Detroit’s show a few times live-in person and some shows on the west coast.
Course Rating: 4.7 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 4.7 Star
Swag Rating: 4.7 Stars
Awards Rating: 4.7 Stars
4 On the Fourth Quote:
“The trees that are slow to grow, bear the best fruit.” - Moliere
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