BARC Mardi Gras 5K/10K (Reese - 2022 - 5K)
Registration:
There was so little information
on RunSignUp about the BARC Mardi Gras 5K and 10K event. The description read, “Paved roads through
the neighborhood.” That was it. It was the shortest description I had ever
seen. ItsYourRace.com and the PDF of the
registration flyer from the BARCmi.com website gave me more information….but…
I didn’t discover those resources until I was writing this blog post following the race.
There was a nice breakdown of
information neatly put into categories on the event registration flyer. Important information was bolded and
highlighted. All events in the BARC
winter series were listed. There was an additional
piece of information that stated $2.00 from every entry would be donated to the
Reese High School Track and Field Program. That ended up being an $840.00 check
from the four events in the series.
Packet pick-up was in the warm and spacious cafeteria of Reese High School. There were amazing bathrooms right across the hall. The packet pick-up tables had Mardi Gras beads for participants to grab before the run. The table next to packet pick-up had all their awards nicely displayed. There were tons of tables and seats for people. A group of high school boys passed out shirts and bibs that were in Ziplock bags. There was no line when I arrived. It was fast and easy to pick-up my shirt and bib.
Course:
The 10K course was two loops of the 5K course. Describing the 5K course will describe the
entire 10K course. The only difference…
10Kers got to see awesome course scenery twice.
The course shape resembled a staircase. We went south then east three times before
doing a small loop and heading north than west three times back up the same
path to the finish. The course was very
flat through Reese neighborhoods for the most part. Exciting course scenery included:
The Reese Community Park with baseball diamonds
The bright orange and yellow JLG Life cherry picker
The Reese Drain
Awesome silos on a railway!
The course had great mileage signs but no arrow signs. I was lucky it wasn’t a race where I was
alone for any portion. I followed the
people in front of me. At one point in
the last mile I thought we had to go straight and not turn right at Hill
Street. I followed the pack in front of
me when they turned right. The majority
of runners at the BARC Mardi Gras 5K were series participants and knew the
course very well. I was surprised to see
no course arrows with a lot of turns. I
think the BARC series is a very close-knit group of familiar faces. I was definitely not one of those familiar
faces. I could run Albion’s course
without arrows, just like a lot of the Mardi Gras participants knew the Reese
course.
I loved the finish line set up right outside of the high school doors in the drop off loop. There was one sign at the end of the course on an open truck bed. It had a left pointing arrow for 10Kers to keep going through the parking lot and a right arrow instructing 5Kers to keep right to the finish line. It was very large and easy to read. I was called by name and handed a sticky note sized print out with all my results less than a minute after finishing.
Swag:
I spent $20.00 on registration
to get a shirt. It would have only been
$10 to register without a shirt. I
couldn’t believe the great registration price.
The white long sleeve Mardi Gras shirt is nice. I didn’t have a Mardi Gras themed running shirt
yet. It’s a thicker warm cotton
shirt. I got a standard bib. They had a small box filled with a variety of
Mardi Grass bead necklaces. They weren’t
just varying colors, but greatly varying lengths. The race director let the kids each pick a
necklace. Ryan got the longest Mardi
Gras necklace I have ever seen. Will got
a really short one. It was hilarious. I grabbed a purple one that I wore on the
run. They raffled off an amazing
multi-colored Mardi Gras bead hat after the run to a lucky participant who wore
it proudly around the cafeteria during the awards ceremony.
I was handed a gold flying shoe pin as I crossed the finish line. It was BARC’s unique take on a finisher medal. I have never gotten a pin as a finisher medal before. I really like the little gold shoe pin. I had to ask for a second because the first one they gave me was bent. They had no problems giving me a second. I will use the bent one for my medal wall and wear the other.
Food:
There was a huge cheese ball and
twisty pretzel container on the “Day of Registration” table. Below them on the ground were two coolers. One cooler had full sized water bottles and
the other had assorted pop cans. They had
Diet Coke, Coke, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew. I took a Pepsi and water. It’s rare I drink pop so I look at it as a treat
when I do. I break the rules at runs
because I think of post-race food as something special. I also donate a lot of my post-race food to
my family. The kids and Jason all got a
pop can at the end of the awards ceremony.
I like to wait until every participant has a chance and then ask race staff
if that’s okay.
It was good that the BARC Mardi
Gras 5K/10K had post-race snacks. In one
respect, I love that they aren’t afraid of germs. For me personally, I don’t like grabbing
snack food out of a communal container, especially at an event with as many
people as this run had. That’s been an
opinion of mine long before covid was around.
I will grab a snack from a bowl with friends, but strangers make me leery.
Jason once saw a man leave a restroom
stall and not wash his hands. The
thought of a person like that grabbing cheeseballs from a shared container makes
me dry heave.
Awards:
There was a wonderful awards ceremony back inside the warm
cafeteria. They had a lot of awards to
hand out. The Mardi Gras race completed
the BARC winter series consisting of four races. The ceremony started with eight overall plaque
awards for the 5K and 10K. I loved that
they gave out plaques to second place overall finishers. I don’t see that done often. It’s usually only first overall male and
female finishers with a Master’s category sometimes. The white marbled plaques were really
nice. They had a very colorful Mardi
Gras emblems on them.
Overall awards were followed by age group awards for the Mardi
Gras 5K and 10K. They went two deep in five-year
age categories starting at 14 and under and finishing at 70+. I came in second in my age group and received
an awesome purple Mardi Gras medal. The
color was awesome. There were only two
runners in my age group and finish times were close.
The last awards given out were the very special series winner trophies. The energy in the room completely changed when series awards started going out. I loved seeing the reactions and hearing the cheers. Series awards are extra meaningful because they represent repeated strength and success over months. The amazing kilt guy took home a series award for his age group. He was very excited about it. The woman handing the awards was so excited and enthusiastic for people. I will never forget her glowing smile. It could light up a room.
City Notes:
Reese is a small village 23 minutes from both Saginaw and Bay City. Frankenmuth is ten miles south of Reese. Reese is right where the border of “The Thumb” starts. I wouldn’t call it an authentic thumb city. Every Michigander draws their “thumb” boundaries a tad different. I mean no insult to native thumb Michiganders. Reese is also not far from Saginaw Bay. It is the second to last exit on 1-75 before the Zilwaukee Bridge. We had a bet if we would see the Zilwaukee Bridge when we exited 75. We all thought we would see the bridge and we were all wrong. It’s that final bend right past where we got off that reveals it on 75. The Zilwaukee Bridge is an amazing sight to see.
Something very cool about Reese are two railroads that intersect
to form an “X” in the center of the village.
You can see the giant X from Google Earth. It’s as if “X” marks the spot in Tuscola
County.
(https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/82663/reese-michigan)
I am always amazed at what I find in small Michigan villages and
towns. In Reese Jason wanted to go in
Dunn Hardware and Supply. Dunn Hardware
had EVERYTHING. I was totally blown away
by their shelf neatness, variety of products and overall layout and store
design. They had an awesome bean dispenser,
a deer decoy dressed in hunter’s clothes, an amazing extension cord display and
painted wall murals designating departments. The store also had a small grocery area.
Those weren’t even the most amazing things about Dunn Hardware and
Supply in Reese….
They had a “Destination Milwaukee” room!!
A ROOM filled with only Milwaukee brand tools and accessories….
It was a beautiful beacon of red amazingness. I have never seen so many Milwaukee items in
one area anywhere. The Milwaukee Destination
room gives the small village of Reese something even many big cities don’t
have. I am sure people come to Reese for
very specific Milwaukee drill bits, accessories and tools. All the local and big chain hardware stores I
have lived by, have never had anywhere close to a Milwaukee selection like
Reese. There are not many things that
couldn’t be found in the Destination Milwaukee room. I will remember the day I was blinded by a room
of red tools in Reese.
Reese had a dog park not even a block from Dunn Hardware and Supply. We released some Bean energy with the kids
there. It was very muddy. I always have our beach towels in the trunk. They were a life saver after a tan dog
started to turn mud brown. I think it’s
better for a town to build a small dog park then have no dog park at all. Reese even had painted tires in their dog
park.
Pompei Pizza Factory was our lunch choice. We love trying pizza from different cities. I am big on eating and buying locally when we
visit new Michigan cities. Pompeii had a
great dining room, nice staff and GLUTEN FREE PIZZA. The best thing about Pompei Pizza Factory was
their bread bites and cheese. I think
their bread bites may be one of the best on the east side of the state. They were delicious and cushy. I could only eat one slice of pizza, but I ate
a lot of the bread bites. Our whole experience at Pompei Pizza Factory
was amazing.
I love how many tractors and farming equipment were in downtown Reese. It was definitely a country town with strong rural vibes.
City Sign:
One of the Reese village signs was on West Caro Road just after it changes from Saginaw Street. The sign was only two and half blocks out of our way to downtown after leaving the high school. I saw two Reese signs on our way to the run. I love finding city signs before runs so we don’t have to go on hunts for them after. Some city sign hunts have been long (Shelby Township). Reese had a great city sign with a brick base, rock landscape and roof! Last year I found a lot of city signs with roofs. The sign I took a picture with had an awesome farm field background.
Other Awesomeness:
The BARC Mardi Gras 5K was the second race in a row I haven’t
had labored breathing after finishing. I’ve
been working on VCD breathing exercises while running. For two weeks I have seen major improvement. I thought the improvement would come in the
form of stopping attacks after finishing, but it has actually improved the air
intake I get while running allowing me to run faster on courses and not feel so
exhausted. It’s been a game changer. I knocked another 36 seconds off my time from
Portage at Reese. I am seeing 5K finish
times I haven’t seen in months. I feel a
lot stronger. I am very thankful for
learning about Vocal Cord Disfunction from my doctor. I never knew such a disorder existed.
BARC stands for Bay Are Runners Club. The club was founded in 1977 by Bay City
Central High School Track and Cross Country Coach Al Kayner and Bay City Central
teacher Larry Sundberg and to make a running club that was less exclusive. BARC was preceded by the Wolves Track Club at
a time when road races were almost unheard of and racing involved a line drawn
in dirt, stopwatch, tic sheet and numbered popsicle sticks. BARC started with weekly one-mile track meet
style races. Participants would meet up
for food and beer locally afterwards forming long lasting friendships. Founder Al Kayner was not a fan of the same
course route and frequently changed routes to give participants different
running experiences. In the early 80’s a
relay from Detroit to Mackinaw City was sponsored by BARC. The run was completed over five days with ten-mile
segments. Al completed a 17-year running
steak before he passed away. The BARC St.
Patrick’s Day races were the heart and sole of Al Kayner and the inspiration
for Bobby Crim to start his well known 10 -mile race in downtown Flint in 1977.
(https://www.barcmi.com/barc_history.cfm)
During the awards ceremony Donna Mrozek came up to me and asked
if I was Mandy. She told me she was part
of the Mandy Runs Michigan Facebook group.
I feel bad that I did not recognize her immediately. I was really touched that she recognized me
from my Facebook page. It is so cool to
have people from across the state that know me.
This was a first for me that really made my day. I am glad I was able to get a picture with
Donna. She placed first in her age group
and looked fantastic!
After we left Reese we drove through Frankenmuth. I got additional pictures for the Frankenmuth
album of things I missed. We saw a huge
building that said, “Frankenmuth Farmer’s Market.” It was an indoor and outdoor facility. We parked, walked up, and saw a shower
happening inside. A lot of people were
staring at us. It was so awkward and
funny. I was excited to go in and see an
indoor market farmer’s market in the winter.
We got denied. We have been to an
indoor winter farmer’s market before. I am sure we will find another one in the
future.
We stopped in Birch Run
on the way home. It was meant to be a
snack stop at DQ for Dilly Bars. Jason spotted
“The Kreepy Closet.” He remembered it
from a previous time we had been in the area and wanted to go in. We took the kids with us but they didn’t want
to check out the haunted prop display walk.
I have never seen an all year around Halloween decoration shop. It was an awesome find! The owner was the coolest guy. We talked with him and found out new 2022 décor
is coming in in July. There is a vendor
convention next week showcasing new decorations for Halloween 2022 he was
geeked about. I love how the man made a
mini haunted attraction that doubles as a showroom of the large outdoor props
he sells. It’s genius! It was awesome going through a haunted store
in March. I loved it. Jason saw a Jason hoodie that he liked. On the way home we passed “Voorhies Road.”
I was very happy to be able to swing a tad east out of our way to stop in Oxford and pick up a long awaited Oxford Strong hoodie I ordered around Christmas. I did a porch pick-up. The hoodie was beautiful. I wear it too frequently since getting it. Cory and the other people involved in design and production did such a wonderful job. There was a handful of Oxford clothing that was designed the month of December. I liked Cory’s hoddie the most because it was so vibrant and colorful. It had writing on the front, back and sleeves. I wear it proudly 135 miles across the state to show that we don’t have to live near Oxford, Michigan to feel their pain and show our love in times of tragedy. All Michiganders from Morenci to Hancock felt the pain of that day in November 2021.
We stopped by my dad’s house in Novi after we left Oxford. The stop in Oxford made seeing dad possible. Luke was able to celebrate a belated birthday, open gifts and have a great dinner at Culver’s before we officially went home for the night. It was a long day, but an awesome day for everyone.
Lastly….let’s clear the air…
Mandy why did you take a picture of a toilet?….O my gosh it’s
disgusting to touch a phone in a bathroom stall.
Yes, I took a bathroom picture.
As a runner, I often have to use outhouses which are not the prettiest
or nicest smelling bathrooms. It’s a
real treat when bathrooms are indoors and are so clean.
I have to document all aspects of racing. Restrooms are a big aspect. Ask any runner. In fact, maybe I should make “Restrooms” a
rating category….
To answer the second question.
Two hands. One touches the door
handle and lock, one takes a one-handed picture and puts the phone back in my pocket.
What critics do for throughout critiques….
Course Rating: 4.8 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 3.9 Stars
Swag Rating: 4.8 Stars
Awards Rating: 4.9 Stars
Race Execution: 5 Stars
Restroom Rating: 5 Stars
BARC Mardi Gras 5K/10K Quote:
“Strive to be worthy of recognition.” –Abraham Lincoln.
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