Bridgman 5K/10K (Bridgman - 2021 - 5K)
97.4 Mile Drive
Registration:
There was information about registration for the Bridgman 5K on RunSignUp and RunMichigan.com. There were three distances available, a 5K, 10K and 1.1 Mile. The “.1” on the mile run was very unique. The mile run costs $1 to run without a shirt and $11 with a shirt. 2021 was Bridgman’s 26th year putting on the Bridgman 5K. The 1.1 mile run started the run at 8:00am followed by the 5K and 10K at 8:30am. I registered Luke for the 1.1 mile with a shirt and myself for the 10K. At 5:48am on the day of the run I emailed the race director and dropped down from the 10K to the 5K due to concerning hamstrings that were questionable of making the longer distance. I did not receive a response until after the race because of my late timing. Registration helped me make the switch easily. Registration information was to the point and not too lengthy with very good registration prices.
Course:
Luke ran the 1.1 mile
course that went east down Lake Street, turned into a subdivision on Tower
Street, did a short loop through Strawberry Row Street and came back to Lake
Street to the finish. All distances
started by heading east on Lake Street and turning south into the subdivision
next to Bridgman High School. It was a
steady but slow incline up Lake Street. After
leaving the subdivision the course took us on a tour around Bridgman High
School where we hit mile one and an aide station with water shortly after. We left high school grounds and went north on
Gast Street past Lake Street. I could
see the finish down Lake Street on the up hill even though it was almost a mile
away. We entered a second subdivision on
a street ironically called, “Michigan Avenue.”
It was a lot quieter than the Michigan Avenue I grew up near. When we made the loop around the second
subdivision we passed underneath the Bridgman water tower. I have only ran in a few races where city
water towers were close to participants on the course. I really like seeing city water towers up
close. I especially like the smiley
water towers of Michigan and hope to see them all someday.
Bridgman’s course had a nice start and finish incline but other than that was flat with pretty decent roads. There were a good amount of turns on the course. Signs and mile markers were done well. Bridgman had a great start and finish arch by Epic Timing. The start and finish being on a main road was pretty cool. It was a “T” shaped course with participants repeating two sections twice. I love finishes at the end of downhills. I felt like I was flying finishing at Bridgman. It helped my end of run exhaustion a great deal.
Swag:
Luke and I both got soft cotton t-shirts with the awesome Bridgman race wave design on them. Luke received a great finisher medal that was a hard acrylic square with a foot that said “Fun Run” in it. There were no finisher medals for 5K and 10K finishers. I really liked Luke’s medal and wish they had made medals like that for the other race participants. I was really hoping for a finisher medal in Bridgman.
Food:
Bridgman had amazing post-race food for everyone! The kids were given popsicles. Ryan and Will didn’t participate in an event and still got popsicles. There was a HUGE box of bananas, seven trays of huge cut watermelon slices, a ton of assorted granola bars and two boxes of chocolate glazed donut holes. They had a kiddie pool filled with full sized water bottles for participants. Corky and Bean got watermelon. Corky LOVES watermelon. If you gave him a slice of watermelon on a beach he would be set for life. The post-race food was the perfect summer snack food. We hung out in the grass and ate before the awards ceremony.
Awards:
There were official award ceremonies for the 5K and 10K races with awards given three deep in five-year increments. Overall race winners received a $50 gift card to Connected Soles in Saint Joseph in addition to a medal. Unlike the Mile Fun Run finisher medals, age group medals were made of metal, a lot heavier, and had the Bridgman Bee High School mascot on them. I thought the Bridgman bee was a hornet because he looks so fierce. Jason thought it was a moth. I died laughing and was glad it wasn’t just me. I think the bee mascot is awesome. I didn’t see the bee at first because I’ve grown up thinking of bees as cute and fuzzy. I loved the age group medals and was so glad I was going home with an unexpected medal from Bridgman.
City Notes:
Bridgman’s downtown
was right next to the race start and finish.
The kids got breakfast with Jason at Small Town Wedding while I ran. The Sandpiper shop looked really cool. We did not go inside and check it out. Bridgman had a very colorful and vibrant
downtown. The city did a great job with landscaping
and upkeep. Bridgman has a little garden sitting area between
buildings with bright blue lawn chairs and a patio table and chairs. There was a decorative flower made from ceramic
plates just like the one we have in our yard.
The garden décor was awesome in the courtyard. I loved the handful of nautical themes
present in downtown Bridgman. I loved the
painted trash cans in the city. Bright
and artistic trash cans are something I wish I saw more of during my city visits. I love cities that paint murals on buildings,
sidewalks etc. It makes walking around
and sight-seeing more fun and vibrant. It’s
an instant uplift for me.
Bridgman had a great police station and city hall. There was an amazing building painted completely as a mural that used to be ELH Detailing business. I am not sure what it is currently. I couldn’t find anything after researching online and trying to figure it out. It says, “LAKEBRIDG(e)” on the building and has an outdoor seating area outside. The “e” being small must be a play on Bridgman not having an “e” in it. It was one of the coolest buildings I have ever seen and a great landmark as you enter downtown Bridgman. As we left downtown Bridgman we found the Navajo Bar and Grill and drove by Greenwood Cemetery. It was very cool that Bridgman had a restaurant with a Navajo theme. I did a lot of research on the Navajo at Eastern.
City Sign:
I asked a few race staff where the Bridgman city sign was located and they did not know. We thought the little “Welcome Home to Bridgman on the Lake” brick built into one of the downtown landscaping pillars would be our city sign picture until we drove past the Bridgman Police Department and City Hall discovering an AMAZING Bridgman city sign. The sign was designed as ship’s steering wheel with metal handles and a colorful picture of Lake Michigan’s shoreline with a sailboat. We took a lot of pictures with the sign. It was fun to pose by. It’s one of my favorite city signs. It was not where I expected it to be near city line borders. It was tucked away a few blocks behind town.
Other Awesomeness:
After walking around admiring Bridgman’s downtown
and finding the Bridgman city sign we walked back to our car parked at the
Immanuel Lutheran School parking lot.
There was a free “Share Closet” event in the school’s gym that looked
like a huge garage sale. When we found
out everything was free we couldn’t believe it.
We took home a bunch of clothes for Jason and the kids with a few household
items. It was amazing. We were very grateful. The church had great bathrooms with funny signs inside for race participants.
We met mom and Sean in Saint Joseph after we left
Bridgman. They were going to the Krasl
Art Fair. The drive was only 22 minutes
from Bridgman. There was a $5.00 fee to get
into the small art fair. For all five of
us $25.00 was too much considering the kids would not be interested in the art. Had it just been Jason and I, we would have paid
$10 to walk through the art fair.
We ate at Schu’s because it was so amazing when we were in Saint Joseph for Alex’s Duck Duck Run. We went into The Toy Company and Jason bought some amazing prank items. Prank dog poop from the 90’s looks so fake. The new and improved 21st century fake dog poop looks incredibly realistic. We took the kids to the giant water shooting splash pad for a while. The jets were so amazing. Saint Joseph made a great community epicenter out of a large space by building the water area for families. It has an amazing view of Lake Michigan and downtown Saint Joseph up on the hill. I love the colored steps that take you from downtown Saint Joseph to Silver Beach Park.
Silver Beach Park was really packed so we decided to try and find a more secluded Lake Michigan Beach. We found a great much more private beach after taking a mile hike through Grand Mere State Park in Stevensville, MI. Grand Mere State Park has one mile of Lake Michigan Beach for people willing to make the scenic and hard trek through steep sand dunes. It’s very hard to walk through sand, especially when it’s deep and dry. I felt like we were never going to make it to the beach. The hike was definitely worth it. A lot of our favorite beaches on Lake Michigan have been washed away in the last few years due to erosion and rising lake waters. It was nice to find a beach that wasn’t wiped away yet. I love finding hidden gems. Corky loves sunbathing. It adds to his youthfulness.
Course Rating: 4.1 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 4.9 Stars
Swag Rating: 4.9 Stars
Awards Rating: 4.7 Stars
Bridgman 5K Quote:
“Helping one person may not change the world, but it could
change the world for one person.” - Unknown.
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