St. Patty's Day Strev Strut (New Baltimore - 2022 - 5K)
Registration:
Just like Reese the
week before, there was not a whole lot of information on RunSignUp for the Strev
Strut. Race and packet pick-up times,
location and shirt deadlines were listed.
I liked the race map they had on the registration website as a PDF
file. It had the packet pick-up location
in a blue box and start and finish in a purple box so distance between the two
could be seen. The Strev Strut Facebook page
had a lot more information including a sale of past race logo items and Irish
buffet information following the run.
Packet pick-up was
at the New Baltimore Civic Center two blocks from the run start. It was warm and there were nice bathrooms
without lines inside. There were two
huge rooms filled with participants and a lot of tables set up. On one side of the room St. Patty’s Day event
glasses, pins, keychains and shirts were being sold, on the other side was
registration and packet pick-up. In between
the two areas was a table set up with extra freebies from sponsors. The two women that gave me my shirt and bib
were so nice and festive. They let me
take their picture before I hurried off to the start with four minutes to nine and
two blocks to power walk.
Course:
The first two miles
of the course were through New Baltimore neighborhoods. We ran past the New Baltimore Public Library
and the Civic Center from packet pick-up.
It was an interesting course design to veer off from Main Street and do
a small loop on Highwater Street. I don’t
know if the course fell a little short and that quick loop got the distance to
where it needed to be. I can only remember one run that had a similar
course. It was in the short loop at the Yale
Bolonga Run I saw a woman cut the course.
A half mile after
the small loop we came to a larger loop that was our turn-around point. It was at the end of the Reginald
Street/Brady Street loop we ran next to the shoreline of Anchor Bay and got the
most scenic views on the course. It was
chillier with the cold bay winds. I could
see the marinas of Clay Township across the bay. It was an amazing view. I love seeing water views on courses.
We ran on the same
path back down Main Street until we got to Ashley Street. We took Ashley Street a block over to Alfred
Street and within minutes were running past the finish line. Jason and the kids were parked behind
Huntington Bank and got out to wave as I ran by. It was a great moment. I love seeing them on courses unexpectedly.
The last quarter
mile was a rectangle around the city showing off the south end of town on Front
Street. It was awesome to run by the New
Baltimore Water Department and First Congregational Church. We ran by an amazing house called “Shorty Lane”
with all kinds of colorful yard décor.
The yard sculptures stood out even more on the white snow. The yard decorations were amazing at Shorty Lane. They had a “Free Wasp Sting” and “Don’t Look,
Private Property.” It was funny.
We turned left back
into downtown New Baltimore at the Walter & Mary Burke Park by the iconic
flag pole. On that last course straight
away to the finish line I got blown by very strong winds in my face. It was skin freezing wind. I had to keep looking down to catch my breath.
The course was a flat
city street course. There was no
off-roading on trails. New Baltimore police
were at all major intersections. I counted
three police cars. There was one course
volunteer standing in the small loop around the lakeshore neighborhood and
another guiding us to go straight and then right at Ashley Street. We passed him twice. Course volunteers wore big bright yellow jackets. I liked that the course route circled around past
the finish. I loved that the turnaround
point was an Anchor Bay viewing area.
While I was taking
pictures after I finished, I saw two women running towards the finish
line. One was on the sidewalk yelling
things like, “You got this! Don’t slow
down now!” Her friend was running towards
the finish arch. I don’t know if the one
yelling had finished already or wasn’t in the race at all and came for pure support. It was amazing to watch either way.
Swag:
I received a long
sleeve light blue shirt with the race logo which had two runners on top of a
large shamrock. Freebies included a blue
silicone bracelet, a trial of melt-in sunscreen, hydrating sunscreen and $10
gift card to Elite Feet in Port Huron. I
really liked the race logo design. It
had two tiny butterflies inside the shamrock which are a symbol of hope,
rebirth and transformation. There was a
cancer ribbon put in the middle.
Everything had great placement. Keeping
colors limited to three was also a good choice.
Food:
There were mini 8oz
water bottles on a table by the finish line.
An Irish Buffet at Little Camille’s By the Bay had been advertised on
the run’s Facebook page for $15. The
buffet was an additional expense for interested participants, but it was also
done only for race participants. It was
a special Irish buffet made for the Strev Strut. The atmosphere inside Little Camille’s was
awesome. The nine items on the buffet
menu looked amazing. We decided against the
buffet this time, but it really did sound delicious. I am regretting the decision now. I wish there had been kids pricing. If so, we probably would have stayed and ate. Our kids don’t eat much at buffets. It doesn’t make sense for our family to eat
at buffets when we consider cost versus how much we actually eat.
Awards:
There was an awards
ceremony held inside Little Camille’s By the Bay. It was supposed to start at 11am following
the 5K. Do to wind issues with the
finishing arch the ceremony was postponed a few minutes past 11:00am once they
had the arch taken down and secured in the trailer.
It was a short awards ceremony with only one overall winner and ten-year increments starting at 10-14 and ending at 60+. Sixty and over is a very large range for a final age group. I commonly see 70+ with a few 80+ every now and then. I was confused when online results had 1-14 listed as the first age group and medals were engraved 10-14. I am not sure what the true first age groups were. I don’t think they had any participants younger than 10 at this year’s run.
I was very surprised
when a young man came up to take the 5K Overall plaque and no female winner was
called. It was odd to me this race had only
one overall winner. It’s rare for a woman
to win a 5K against a man. I believe it’s
better give out two overall awards to both the first-place female and first-place
male. Their overall plaques were very professional
and nice.
Age group medals had “girls” for the categories 10-14 and 15-17 and then transitioned to “women” for the rest. I assumed the men’s age group medals were made the same way. They only had female age group medals on display on the table with race result print-outs.
The Strev Strut’s
age group medals were absolutely amazing! I loved the race logo engraving on the front
and personalized shamrock sticker on the back.
The medals had an awesome star design along the rim. They were heavier medals with a nice green
lanyard. I am dedicating my third-place
medal to Ryan with his birthday being on Saint Patrick’s Day. This was a win in honor of him. It was shocking I was able to take home third
place in a ten-year age group. I was
thrilled.
Overall, the warm
cozy environment of the restaurant with very enthusiastic participants celebrating
the wins of their fellow running mates was great. Participants were very excited to get their
medals. I caught one especially great
hand raising moment. The microphone made
the announcements easy to hear from wherever anyone was located. I think I annoyed a man standing in front of
me by my picture taking. He left the restaurant
before the ceremony had concluded. I did
step on the side of his shoe once and immediately apologized. It was hard to see around him.
I like it when runs
take photos of age group winners. The
Strev Strut did that for their winners.
When we were getting together for our 30-39 age group picture the second-place
winner put her arm around me and told me,
“You did really great
out there.”
I replied, “When you passed me I said, Awesome Job! …But you had ear buds in.”
She had passed me in
the last mile of the course. I remembered
her bright yellow hoodie and St. Patty’s day themed leggings. She was such a gracious winner. I love winners who take the time to congratulate
people they beat. It meant the world to
me. She was so kind.
City Notes:
New Baltimore is a
city on the coast of Anchor Bay (Lake Saint Clair). You can see Clay Township across the bay on a
clear day. I was able to see homes and
businesses across the water when we got to the turn-around with bay views.
I love towns on
water. The Walter & Mary Burke Park and
New Baltimore Water Department are on shoreline property. New Baltimore’s downtown is on Washington
Street. Washington Street dead-ends at
the Burke Park with a tall American Flag pole.
It’s a very memorable and photogenic spot with the bay in the background.
I found a lot of fun
shops in New Baltimore. Most of the
shops were not open before we left so we didn’t get to check them out. The outside décor of the downtown shops and
signs were fun. Uptown Girl, Embroidered
Creations, On the Bay Café and Le Beaute caught my eye as I was taking downtown
pictures. The Sweet Boutique advertised
selling Michi-Gummies. I was most
interested in the Made in Michigan store.
It had awesome things in the window and an oversized wooden shamrock chair
outside. It was unfortunately closed
too. After I took pictures of New
Baltimore’s downtown I went back to the car.
Little Camille’s By the Bay seemed to be the only business in downtown
New Baltimore that was open. I think it
was a special opening for the 5K event.
As we were leaving
New Baltimore for a charger we passed an awesome gazebo, free library, picnic
table and swing on Crapaud Creek. It’s
rare I see a wooden swing out in a park area.
I wonder if the swing was put in by the city of New Baltimore or donated
by a friendly neighborhood resident. Regardless
of who put it there, it was a great area to sit and relax.
New Baltimore had
metal fishfly sculptures all around town.
We saw a read and silver flishfly.
They were huge!
In the Spring of 2022 the Walter & Mary Burke Park will be getting a brand new handicap accessible playscape right on the beach.
City Sign:
New Baltimore’s city sign was a quant wood sign a few inches shorter than me. It had white painted columns with a blue sign in between them. There were a lot of details carved in the sign. In the sign’s picture was Anchor Bay with eleven white sailboats resting in the water as the sun set. I really liked New Baltimore’s city sign. It was located at the entrance of their downtown on Washington Street and had a giant metal fishfly next to it. Parking to get a picture with it was very easy. We’ve had some troublesome city signs when it comes to getting close enough to take a picture.
Other Awesomeness:
I loved the Irish music and Irish clothing so many participants
wore to the St. Patty’s Day Strev Strut.
I wish there had been a costume contest.
I had a clear winner picked out wearing gold Viking horns. She was decked out from head to toe in
greenery. The music choices were upbeat
Celtic songs. At the awards ceremony I
took a picture of a table at the front. Everyone
at the table had awesome St. Patty’s Day themed clothing. They were all award winners in addition to
being in spirit.
46-year-old Anchor Bay Middle School Cross Country coach Missy
Streveler passed away on September 13, 2018 after being diagnosed with melanoma
cancer in late 2017. She had a tumor on
her spinal cord that was removed but it grew back making her wheelchair bound. The first St. Patty’s Strev Strut took place
in New Baltimore on March 17, 2018 as the coach was still fighting for her
life. She attended the race with her
family. Flo Hayman, a New Baltimore
council member had this to say about Missy,
“I hate the cold, but for her, I would freeze.”
Missy was a cherished member of the Anchor Bay area known by
athletes she trained and the many friends and family she touched in her
life.
(https://www.voicenews.com/2018/03/05/st-patricks-day-5k-to-support-anchor-bay-coach-battling-cancer/)
I love the groovy run name, “Strev Strut.” I give kudos to the
person who came up with that. This event
is very important for the Anchor Bay area in remembrance of a beloved coach. It is a great way to honor her legacy and her
fight with cancer that she won, quoting her husband,
“Cancer didn’t beat her, she fought so hard for the girls and myself
to give us the best of her last months.
So to me,
She WON.”
I did not want to go to the Strev Strut when I saw how cold it
was going to be on Saturday morning. Early
in the week the temperature forecast for New Baltimore had been in the 40’s. It dropped to the high teens by Friday
night. 2022 has been the hardest winter since
I started running. March in particular has
been a huge struggle. I was hoping March
would transition more to high 30’s or 40s.
The temperature in New Baltimore was 17 degrees but it felt like -5 with
the bay winds. Everytime we got out of
the car to take pictures we were running back freezing after only minutes outside.
My breathing strategies really seemed to help me in Portage and
Reese. In New Baltimore I felt winded no
matter how many breathing exercises I did.
The cold affected me and my blocked nose made it hard to do my breathing
techniques. I’ve had a clogged nose with
no other symptoms for three weeks now.
It makes it very hard to breath in and out of my nose even when I am
sitting typing on a computer. I have to
wait until April to see an ENT and hopefully figure out a cause. I keep thinking allergies, but my allergies have
never before caused such long lasting clogged nasal airways. I wish my nose distress was over. Even though I ran slower and struggled on the
course with endurance and breathing, I did not have a finish line attack like I
did in Grandville. Something I was doing
must have helped, even if it didn’t help as much as it could have. I was very thankful that I finished the 5K without
going into a breathing attack immediately.
I have quite the story to tell when it comes to our adventures
taking our electric car to the New Baltimore St Patty’s Day Strev Strut. We wouldn’t normally have taken it due to
three factors, distance, temperature and battery recall replacement. The biggest contributing factor of those
three was temperature. Cold temperatures
cause the battery to have less mileage. We
will have an increase of 20% more miles once our new battery is installed. We were called as “next” on the recall
waiting list in early November, but it took until last week to get a battery
replacement appointment. While it’s in
the shop we get a free rental car for a week.
We had to take the Bolt to New Baltimore because of an oil leak that
arose suddenly with our Town and Country.
We spent $2,900.00 on needed minivan repairs less than two weeks ago. On the Wednesday before the run we lost
almost our entire oil tank rapidly and had to tow the van. We think Firestone made a mistake that caused
this to happen. Unfortunately, all we
can do for now is get it fixed by a different mechanic and wait to get their
professional option on the cause. In the
meantime, the van is stranded in Portage until March 28th waiting to
be repaired.
As for our day with the Bolt….it didn’t go quite as planned.
Jason found chargers and entertainment in the area. We knew we were going to have to stay near New Baltimore for most of the day while the car charged. The original charger we had planned to use was in use by a Hummer with a Bolt waiting behind it. I didn’t know Hummer made electric trucks. We had already bought movie tickets at the theater across the street. I called and got refunded for the tickers. We drove to the Mall at Partridge Creek next. There were only two chargers there. One was in use with a hybrid JEEP and the other was “Out of Service.” I was frustrated that a hybrid JEEP was taking the only functioniong charger. If I had known where the owner was, with how desperate I was in that moment, I would have gone in and asked them if they could let us charge for 30 minutes. Hybrid cards can get gas in emergencies.
With only 20
miles of range left we took a risk and drove 11 miles to the next nearest
charger at a Consumers Energy building in Clinton Township. When we pulled in we saw both chargers were
not in use. When Jason put the plug in
it didn’t work. Neither of the two
chargers worked. There were no “Out of
Service” signs. The screen on the
charger system was functioning. Jason
tried multiple times with no luck making a connection. I found the number to the Consumers building
and called to ask if they would let us past their gates to try their other EV
charger for employees that was on the other side of the fence. I got no answer. The Bolt was down to a nine mile range.
I went onto Google and searched for chargers in the area. I found one in the parking garage of McLaren
Hospital in Mount Clemens. The hospital
was eight miles from us. In the cold, it
wasn’t a guarantee the Bolt could make it.
Our fate had we failed would have been a 140 mile tow across the state
and an Uber for the same distance with three kids, two adults, two dogs and all of our stuff.
The McLaren EV charger was….
WORKING AND AVAILABLE!!
It was the win we needed after three failed chargers. We played “Turning Red” and ordered pizzas,
bread and drinks from Detroit Brothers Pizza in Mount Clemens. The movie and pizza were amazing. It wasn’t the big screen theater as we had
planned (5.5 inches versus 50 feet), but it worked for us and gave the car needed
charge time. The pizza took over an hour
to get to us. Detroit Brothers Pizza called
to apologize. Minutes before I had
placed our order a $700 order came in without any advanced notice. I have never heard of an order that large
without advanced notice to a business.
It was pretty crappy on the buyer’s part. I felt bad for Detroit Brothers Pizza. Lunch was definitely worth the wait. We all had Bacon Mac Cheesy Pizza for the
first time. They had gluten free crust
for Luke. I didn’t get an acid reflex
attack without traditional red sauce and it was delicious!
After charging at the hospital Jason found our next charging
stop in Waterford. The charging station
was at a dealership near Century Bowl, Zap Zone and Waterford’s Regal
Theater. Jason dropped me and the kids
at Century Bowl and walked back to us after plugging in the Bolt. I was not a long walk, but it was a cold
walk. We bowled one game at Century
Bowl. We were originally going to bowl
two games but $55 seemed expensive and I reminded myself it takes a while for
five people to get shoes on, pick out balls and bowl one game. One game ended up being the better choice. We got awesome bowling alley food with the
exception of Ryan’s vending machine snack.
Ryan likes spicy food and decided to try Flamin’ Hot Nacho Doritos. His mouth was uncomfortably hot for a half
hour. He says he will never eat them
again. I loved the chicken strips! My arm still isn’t 100% from my injury back
in December lifting Corky so I had to bowl with two hands. It was a challenge for me. Jason blew us all away with a strike and
spare streak. Luke and I battled for
what ended up being an exact tie.
We left Century Bowl and walked to its neighbor Zap Zone. Thank goodness the two businesses were right next to one another. Walking outside for less than five minutes felt like a winter in North Dakota. Zap Zone is where we stayed for the rest of the time the car charged. Everything was so expensive in Zap Zone. We paid $90 for unlimited attraction cards for all three kids. They didn’t play any of the $1.60 a piece arcade games while we were there. They played Glow Golf one time, two ten-minute Laser Tag games and rode on the bumper cars and played in the Ninja obstacle course more times than Jason and I could count. Each attraction normally costs $9. The unlimited cards saved us a lot and gave the kids a great experience. Before we left, I got two Zap Zone souvenir glasses. I love their robot mascot and the strawberry kiwi freeze was awesome.
Jason got the cops called on him while he was sitting in the Bolt charging at the Suburban Ford Dealership checking in on the dogs. The dealership claimed he wasn’t allowed to be charging but they had no signs stating that. The awesome cop that approached Jason essentially called the dealership out on being idiots in nice police officer language and told Jason to have a great night. Jason left a poor review for them the following day.
After all that….
We thought we had enough charge to get home.
Temperatures kept dropping as we travelled. By the time we got to Ann Arbor it was clear
we still were not going to make it. We
had to charge at Michigan Stadium past 1:00am.
We got on the road and the battery surprised us yet again. We weren’t running heat. We had tons of blankets that I had brought
with the expectation of a colder ride home.
We had to stop in Jackson and charge again.
Thankfully the kids had fallen asleep 15 minutes after leaving
Zap Zone.
We were on our second flashing orange battery light of the day when we got into Marshall Township. We barely made it home after charging in both Ann Arbor and Jackson. It was 5:30 in the morning when we pulled in the driveway. We had left at 6:00am. Jason and I had been awake for almost 24 hours.
We had issues on our way home because:
1.
Michigan needs more EV chargers. This is the biggest problem. Tesla chargers are not universal.
2.
Michigan needs to maintain its current EV chargers
in a timely manner. One of the EV’s we
use near our house broke. It took two
months to get fixed with us reaching out weekly for updates. Thankfully Marshall has two universal
charging stations and they are the same distance from our home.
3. We didn’t have our new battery from the Chevy recall yet.
4. Temperatures dropped much lower than we expected from the morning until we got home.
Moral of the Story:
Electric cars are not bad. This is not a story to scare people away from buying them. They are not a good fit for everyone. In our unique family situation, we needed an electric car to get Jason from Marshall to Romulus. Our electric car is fantastic for Jason’s ninety-mile commute. It saves us hundreds of dollars monthly.
Not all electric cars cost $50,000. Some do. There are SUVs and trucks that cost $50,000 and come with maintenance and gas expenses electric cars don’t come with. We bought our Bolt used for under $20,000 with 31,000 miles on it. It will have zero miles in two weeks.
Batteries for electric cars do
not cost $20,000 apiece. Our Bolt has three batteries that cost $4,200 each to replace (1,296 labor costs) and are under warranty for 100,000 miles similar
to drive train warranties on gas vehicles.
Don’t always trust what you see online. Talk to people that own electric cars.
I was supposed to go to the final race in the Winter Warrior Series in Mount Pleasant Sunday morning but after getting home at nearly 6am with a depleted car battery that did not happen. Luckily, the race director Rick was nice enough to save my race swag for me and let me submit virtual results to keep my medal. I’ve done a lot of crazy things to make it to runs over the last four years (Strev Strut included ^_^). The only way I would have made it to Mount Pleasant would have been to get an Uber for me to go alone and that was too crazy after the Saturday we had.
Course Rating: 5 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 4 Stars
Swag Rating: 4 Stars
Awards Rating: 4 Stars
Race Execution: 5 Stars
Restroom Rating: 5 Stars
St. Patty’s Strev Strut Quote:
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the
wind blows colds: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
–
Charles Dickens.
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