White Cloud Trail Trot (White Cloud - 2021 - 5K)
151 Mile Drive
Registration:
White Cloud’s online registration had very limited information. It was one of the shortest descriptions I have read on RunSignUp. I knew the 5K was the White Cloud High School’s Cross Country course in the woods surrounding White Cloud Elementary School. RunSignUp had a link that claimed to have more information about the run. It was the White Cloud Public Schools link. The only additional information given was a course map picture and previous year results. I kept searching and found a PDF of a registration flyer for the race. The registration PDF had a little more information but it also left me with more questions. The flyer had a start time listed of 7:00pm for the 5K walk and run. There was an “Awards” section that listed:
Overall Awards
First 50 Finishers
Walkers will not have separate age categories
I wondered what the
awards were to the first 50 finishers. I’ve
participated in races with cut-offs for shirts and finisher medals, but not awards. I started thinking the awards for the first
50 must be finisher medals. I didn’t
know what to expect. The last bit of
information on the White Cloud Trail Trot flyer was a spunky phrase,
“Show us what you
got….Come to the trot!”
I don’t know why RunSignUp didn’t have the award info, race start and personalized message. I am glad I found it.
Packet pick-up wasn’t much of a packet pick-up being that there was no bib for this run. Timing for the race was done the oldest of old school with a gun start and name written on clip board finish. I was very surprised when I didn’t receive a bib. White Could will go down in history as the only run I have not gotten a bib from. I keep all my running bibs in a book. It feels odd having an empty space for White Cloud. I will probably end up making one as I’ve done for all my non-timed runs.
It was weird checking in at the large registration table with one box and three volunteers. They marked my name off on a sheet and pointed to where the race start was behind the school. I asked about a bib being so empty-handed. It was unnatural for me to check-in and get nothing, no shirt or bib.
Course:
The White Cloud 5K Trail
Trot course took place in Strider’s Grove.
Strider’s Grove is a 5K trail in the woods of White Cloud that is used
for training by the White Cloud Cross Country teams and as an 18-hole disc golf
course. The map I read online looked
like a bunch of squiggles back and forth.
The actual course was exactly that, three one-mile loops parallel to one
another through the woods.
We started at the
northwest corner behind the elementary school, ran straight across the field
and into the woods. The woods were a good
mix of flat areas and hills just as registration had stated. Hills on the White Cloud course were never
anything incredibly steep or exhausting.
We came back out onto school grounds during our transition from the
first to second mile. I looked for the
kids at the playground but did not see them.
Seeing the school appear in the woods was a cool sight.
There was a big
break in the woods with a lot of ferns that I could see a great distance
down. I ran past that area sixth times due
to course loops. I ran pass other
clearings that looked similar another six times. There was a lot of familiarity with this
trail course. That was unique to White
Cloud. Most trail events I have run
haven’t had loops or course paths so close to one another.
The trees were
beautiful on the course. They were very
straight and bunched close together which made for great scenic pictures. The ground changed from moss to grass to dirt
randomly and frequently. I did not
notice tree roots or rocks on the White Cloud course. It was a very smooth trail with few
obstacles. Maybe that’s because the
cross-country team runs on it so frequently.
Their feet could be keeping the trail maintained.
The finish line was near the parking lot in front of the school. It was a very wide grass area with a line of small flags to signify the end of the 5K course. The course was very well shaded, which helped with the heat and high humidity that night. There was a creepy shed that was falling apart, tucked just off the path by the halfway point of the course. Had it been at night it would have freaked me out a lot more, but with sunlight present, it was a cool course picture.
Swag:
I was one of the first 50 participants to cross the finish line (24th to be exact) and received a finisher medal. I feel bad for the two participants that did not get finisher medals. Hopefully they had extra with total participants at 52. It was only two over the 50 finisher mark. Finisher medals had a stopwatch picture, orange and white lanyard, “5K” in large print, stick man runner and a broken finish line banner. I do not have a finisher medal with a stopwatch picture. I also got a white cotton race shirt after the run. I thought I wasn’t getting a shirt when I left registration without receiving it. I then forgot I had gotten one and wrote the race director months later. The White Cloud Trail Trot race shirt was made of a heavier cotton and only had “Trail Trot 2021” on it. It did not have “White Cloud” on the front. White Cloud Lions and Rotary sponsors were listed on the back of the shirt. It was the only way to know what race the shirt was from unless you memorized the logo on the front. The race shirt reminded me of the short registration page description that left out some needed race details. I liked the picture but wish it would have said White Cloud on the front. I don’t know how often I will wear it leisurely being white and heavier than other cotton race shirts I have. I really like the stickman on the shirt. The shirt and finisher medals complimented one another in colors and design.
Food:
There was a red truck parked by the finish line with three coolers on its pulled-out bed. Two coolers had full sized water bottles and the third cooler had assorted 20oz Gatorade bottles. There was no post-race food at the White Cloud Trail Trot. I loved the larger Gatorade bottles. I really needed the larger drinks and electrolytes after this particular race. I took two waters and a Gatorade bottle.
Awards:
Overall male and female awards were given. There were no age group awards. I did not see what the awards were for overall course winners.
City Notes:
I was able to get a
bunch of pictures of White Cloud businesses and parks after the run and before
the sun went down. White Cloud
Elementary School impressed me from the start.
It looked like a newly built school.
The White Cloud school bus lot is at the elementary school. I took too many pictures of their school buses. They were well positioned and looked freshly
washed. I saw it as a bus photoshoot
opportunity.
There is a small
airfield in White Cloud and a vintage gas station with upgraded pumps and its
original simple “GAS” sign. White Cloud
has a well landscaped and nice-looking town library. Newaygo county offices are located in
downtown White Cloud with their official “Newaygo County Michigan” vans parked
outside. There was a very cool yellow
house, “Patt’s Pet Parlor,” with the most interesting 90-degree roof just over
the front of the building. I would love
to hear the story behind that building.
Some of my favorite
things in White Cloud were the “History of White Cloud” sign in town, veteran’s
memorial, community garden and White River Park. The veteran’s memorial was very well designed
with flags in an arch, a memorial rock, sign with listed fallen soldiers from
the community and a helmet on a stand with flood lights. I am sure the veteran’s memorial is even more
beautiful at night.
White River Park was
amazing! It had a slide next to a large
dock, a playground, pavilion, picnic tables and the White Cloud water tower
feet away. Lake White Cloud can be
accessed through the park at the small sandy beach. The White Cloud Dam is also near the park. The dam has failed twice due to floods twice
since it was built in 1872. It is currently rated as a “high hazard” dam and
passed with a fair rating during its 2019 inspection. I really hope the White Cloud dam doesn’t fail
again. I worry thinking of the tragic
events from the Edenville dam break. It
seems like many Michigan dams are in dangerous states should great rainfall
events occur.
I got some amazing sunset pictures at White River Park before we left for home. It was the final image White Cloud left in my memory.
City Sign:
I loved the White Cloud city sign. It was huge, built strongly with stone columns on either side and had a beautiful carved sign in the middle. “Welcome” was separated from “to the City of White Cloud” by a picture of deer near the White River. White Could was in the largest letters. The sign also read, “Where the North begins and pure waters flow.” I read the same statement on https://www.cityofwhitecloud.org/. White Cloud is considered “Where the North Begins.” It was an amazing sign for a small northern Michigan town. It goes to show that expectations (i.e a small town having a mediocre city sign) are like Lincoln Log towers; easily broken and rebuilt in a different way. Don’t ever think that because a town is small, they can’t put up a great welcome sign and have amazing businesses and fun things to do. White Cloud did a fantastic job on their city sign. There was a lot of heart put into it. It’s high on my favorites list.
Other Awesomeness:
I came the closest I’ve ever come to passing out
from heat stroke at the White Cloud Trail Trot.
I thought the evening start would help with the July heat. It was 82 degrees in White Cloud when the
race started with 70% humidity. It felt hotter
than it actually was. I think the high
pre-storm humidity was what made things worse for me. There was plenty of shade on the trails. We were in some form of shade at least 80% of
the time. It was denser at times in the
thick of the woods. I didn’t feel physically
hot. I got thirsty in the last mile of
the course. The course had no aide
stations. There was a great spot just feet
outside of the woods on school grounds an aide station could have been set
up. I was very thankful for the water and
Gatorade at the finish line. I grabbed
two waters, one Gatorade and walked to our van to sit down. I drank through two of the three very fast. I felt lightheaded with feelings of
vertigo. It took ten minutes of sitting
in air conditioning with drinks before I felt good enough to go back out to get
my last pictures.
I was not expecting the White Cloud July race to be
a heat stroke concern. It really
surprised me. I would have pinned heat
stoke on other July races before I thought of White Cloud. It was a learning experience for me. I have to be more thoughtful of humidity and
not only temperature for future races.
Shade helps ease heat, but it is not a blocking force against heat
stroke. I was lucky to only get lightheaded
and recover quickly.
I have a confession to make…
I was afraid of meeting a bear on the White Cloud course.
I looked into buying bear spray.
Jason convinced me I didn’t need it. I had watched a video of a bear sighting
at a White Cloud camp ground from 2019.
I know bears are in that part of the north. The unknown trail in a small town surrounded
by forests made me uneasy.
I think bears are awesome.
I don’t want to encounter one on a trail without protection. I think of that terrifying video from 2020 of
Kyle Burgess being chasing by an angry Cougar mom in Utah for six minutes. Jason’s right, encounters with animals like
that are rare and most bears are like giant raccoons, very skittish unless a
cub is involved.
I still had to admit to
my irrational fear. The truth is, that
particular course at Strider’s Grove is used so frequently, White Cloud bears
probably know to stay away from it.
The 2021 White Cloud Trail Trot did not have bibs. We had to tell finish line volunteers our names as we crossed. They wrote our information on a clip board which was taken to a more official table for tallying. I’ve been to runs that have handed out popsicle sticks with numbers at the finish but those runs still had bibs. This was the first run that I did not receive a bib. There was no identifying number for finish line volunteers to reference. The issue I see with this method is the ability of participants to say a friend’s name instead of their own. Luckily, being a small town run with the majority of people local from White Cloud, most people knew one another. It would be hard to pretend to be someone else in a city like White Cloud. At a larger race this timing method would have been much harder to do.
We made it home just in time for the wicked thunderstorms of the night to roll through once we were safe under our roof. The White Cloud Trail Trot was not cancelled and our drive home was without a rain drop.
Course Rating: 4.6 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 4 Stars
Swag Rating: 3.5 Stars
Awards Rating: 3.5 Stars
White Cloud Trail Trot 5K Quote:
“The same sun that melts butter hardens clay.” – Bill Vaughan.
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