Strides for Adam (Riverview - 2022 - 5K)
Registration:
I registered very late on Saturday for Strides for Adam less than 24 hours before race start. I was registered to run in Twin Lake in Muskegon County at the Blue Lake Firefighters St. Pat’s 5K on Saturday morning. There were no electric charging stations in Twin Lake with the closest most reliable chargers near The Lakes Mall in Muskegon. It was going to be very difficult to make it to Twin Lake and back to the charger in Muskegon. All my runs this March were between 130 and 150 miles away. Twin Lake's drive would have been 138 miles one-way. March 2022 was a big traveling month. Without a festival, limited activities near the charger and once again…winter weather…it was looking grim for us to attempt the travel in the electric car. We would have loved to have gone and spent the day relaxing on Kruse Park, one of our favorite dog friendly beaches in Muskegon while the car charged, but it was not good beach weather.
I got really lucky
with Strides for Adam. They had extra shirts
in my size and the price I paid was only $5.00 more than what I would have paid
had I registered early. I thought the price
had increased a lot more when I saw the $35 registration price. It was a slightly more expensive 5K, but
totally worth every penny with the cause, awesome post-race food and great swag
given out to participants.
Registration on RunSignUp
had pictures of the finisher medal and shirt with good event information that
was sectioned off into easy-to-read categories.
Finisher medals and shirts were given to the first 500 registrants. Final race numbers came in at 322. A $5.00 discount per participant was available for
people that signed up in pairs of three or more. 2022 was Strides for Adam’s third year.
Packet pick-up was
located in the Riverview Community Center.
It was a nice spacious building with an Athletico Physical Therapy area
for athletes after the race, lots of signage and a nice group of registration
ladies. The walk to the start line from
registration was 750 feet downhill through Young Patriots Park to the Riverview
Fire Station with strong winter winds and good music.
Course:
The Strides for Adam course took us by the Riverview Post Office and around the Riverview City Offices, and Riverview Police Department before heading into the Riverview neighborhood Adam Holten lived in. We ran past Huntington Elementary School and Seitz Middle School. At the three-mile mark of the course is a tree planted for Adam. There was a really beautiful home that stood out from all the rest of the homes we ran by with elaborate brick work and gargoyles on the porch. It was awesome. With the entire 5K being on roads and not sidewalks or trails, there was an abundance of room for participants.
The 5K course was flat with snow dusted roads that
had ice patches along the edges to watch out for. It was a unique shaped course not in a circle,
square or rectangle shape. A three-quarter
mile section of the course was repeated at the end on our way back to the
finish line. Just over half of the
course (about 1.62 miles) was a path we didn’t repeat twice. I liked that the repeat areas of the course were
around the Police Station and City Hall, it was a nice winding path without
hard turns. The course in general had a
lot of turns with a lot of volunteers and signs. Volunteer groups at street corners were huge
and very vocal at Strides for Adam. It
seemed like a very tight knit community event where people knew one
another. I think more people would have
been out cheering for participants from their homes had it been warmer. I don’t blame them for staying indoors.
I really liked that the start and finish of the race was at the Riverview Fire Department. It was very scenic with the flagpole and park behind it.
Young Patriot's Park was Adam's Cross Country course in middle school and high school and a place he would come to be alone, think and enjoy nature. In the words of his father Mark,
"Adam's place for solace."
Swag:
I received a black t-shirt
with the awesome Strides for Adam race logo surrounded by a yellow honeycomb pattern
and group of bees. They had bright blue
bibs. Beautiful finisher medals that
matched the shirt with the race logo and bees were on black honeycomb patterned
lanyards with the words “Forever Remembered, Forever Loved” in large white
letters. I loved the bees and honeycomb pattern
on the lanyard. The black and yellow
were a great color combination. Phil McMullen is the magic behind the Strides for Adam logo/art. He was like an uncle to Adam and has made the designs for the race annually.
Food:
Inside a large tent provided by Total Party Planning there was a table with full sized water bottles donated by Discount Drinks, where Adam had worked. The water bottle table had a large basket of red delicious apples and bananas. A second table had assorted bagels from Panera with plain, asiago, blueberry and cinnamon sugar. There were mini paper plates and knives from Panera, but I did not see cream cheese. The knives may have just been for cutting bagels in half. The paper plate was very helpful. I was not overwhelmed with food for once. ^_^
On a third table there were two Panera carafes with coffee and one with hot water. The hot water carafe had a container of Swiss Miss scoopable hot chocolate next to it with spoons. I got a banana, blueberry bagel, bottled water and two cups of hot chocolate. After 90% of participants had left and race staff were getting ready to close up the food and awards tent, I came back for a second hot chocolate. Hot chocolate is my favorite post-race drink after winter races. They had tons of bagels, napkins, plates and cups for participants. Adam's father Mark used to work at Panera.
Awards:
There was no formal awards
ceremony at Strides for Adam.
I didn’t mind going up to the awards table to get my age group award
after checking the results. I was hoping there would be a short speech given about Adam, but other than that, having no awards ceremony was fine. The awards
table had really nice ladies that let me take a picture of them and all the
awards. One of the women grabbed a handmade
first place age group medal and held it up so I could take pictures of the
front and back.
Award categories started at “14 and under” and ended at “65 and above" in five-year increments. There were overall awards for first, second and third place male and female finishers. I loved that they went three deep for overall trophies. That is very uncommon. The overall female at Strides for Adam came in seventh overall with a three and a half minute time difference from the first place overall finisher.
The awards for Strides
for Adam blew me away! When I walked
into the food tent the first thing I noticed was a table with stacks of plaques. I walked up, starting reading, and saw “2nd”
and “3rd” place on them, but no “1st” place plaques. Plaques were given to second and third place age
group winners. What a great day to come
in second! I love plague age group
awards because it is incredibly rare for races to have them. I am so excited about my age group plague. It made me feel like Strides for Adam was
where I was meant to race this weekend after missing Twin Lake the day before.
First place age
group winners received handmade ceramic medals with a suede string. They had a stamp on the front and a black and
yellow artistic print on the back. The woman
that held a first-place medal for me to take a picture of commented about it being made by Anna Fedor and Mya McMullen. I found out from Adam's dad that Mya and Adam were friends since they were kids. Anna Fedor is the art teacher at Gabriel Richard High School.
Overall winners received engraved trophies. Overall first-place finishers received a handcrafted medal in addition to their trophy.
City Notes:
We didn’t stay in Riverview long Sunday morning. We had lunch to get with my mom and Sean for a belated birthday for Ryan at Red Robin in Livonia. I had gotten pictures of the Riverview city offices, police department and post office while I was running. Those buildings are three of the businesses I try to find when I take city pictures after runs. It was really convenient to run past them. Since Riverview does not have a classic downtown we drove around getting pictures of Riverview landmarks and buildings.
I have to come back to get pictures of my
grandma’s house and Mom’s Kitchen, a restaurant I got lunch at with my grandma
many times. I took pictures of well-known
“Downriver” roads and put them together in a collage.
I finally found out
what the super cool building on Sibley Road between Allen and Fort Street is. I’ve always admired its unique architecture
and design. Jason was right when he guessed
it had something to do with radio broadcasting.
I had the help of Jason’s friend Mike who has lived in Allen Park and
Riverview. Mike found out it was the old
WJR transmitter building. The building
was built in 1934 with Zig-Zag Art Deco Architecture designed by Cyril Schley. The WJR transmitter building is not on Michigan’s
register of historical places. WJR
offices have been located in the Fischer Building in Detroit since 1928. The transmitter building was constructed to
provide increased modulation/signal when transmitting power increased from
10,000 watts to 50,000 watts. I found
out the radio antennas behind the WJR transmitter are 700 feet tall! I was way off.
I thought they were as tall as the Top Thrill Dragster.
(https://www.discoverdownriver.com/history/historical-downriver-locations/)
My cousin’s wedding reception
was held at Riverview Highlands. I
remember the amazing golf course views.
It is a nice facility for parties and gatherings.
This was my first
time at Young Patriots Park. I loved the
lake, the U.S Army Nike missile statue, oversized gazebo and overall space the
park had. I saw a sign about skating on
the lake in the winter. It’s so cool
that Riverview has winter ice skating in the park.
During the Cold War what is now Young Patriot’s Park was a Nike anti-aircraft missile launch site of the U.S Army with a crew of 109 and over 46 acres of land. The project was started in 1945 and by 1953 was successful in testing of the first operational anti-aircraft missile system in the United States. The Nike missiles were named after the Greek goddess of Victory, Nike.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Nike)
City Sign:
One of Riverview’s
city signs is located on Sibley Road a quarter mile west of the WJR transmitter
building. You can see the building in
the distance standing by the sign. The
sign has the Riverview city seal with the State of Michigan in it. It is white with light blue accents. It has the year that the city of Riverview
was established, 1923. The sign was in
very good condition and extremely easy to find.
Other Awesomeness:
Driving to Metro Detroit was not only much more manageable
with the electric car, we were able to save my mom and Sean a trip out to
Marshall by meeting them closer to their house for Ryan’s birthday. We met at Red Robin in Livonia after the run. After a nice lunch we drove over to Laurel
Park Mall. We thought we were going to
walk around for 20 minutes to kill time.
We ended up finding an amazing Easter Bunny and getting our first Easter
Bunny pictures.
You heard that right….
Luke just turned 10 and this was their first
visit with the Easter Bunny. Don’t ask
me why. We see Santa every year. I have 17 Christmas frames I put on display
every December that show each family Christmas picture we’ve taken. For some reason Easter just fell through the
cracks over the years. (Pun intended)
We got the best first experience with an Easter
Bunny. The entire staff were amazing. I have a video of the Easter Bunny dancing with the kids in my album. He was such an interactive and over the top Bunny! We even got a free snow globe
egg frame!
We said goodbye to mom and Sean after taking our pictures and headed to Phoenix Theaters for a 2:45 showing of The Lost City. The Bolt was able to charge while we walked the mall and watched the movie. I love the reclining heated seats at the Phoenix Theater at Laurel Park. It was super comfy and relaxing. I got to see Channing Tatum’s butt while snacking on Tostito’s. It was an amazing 5K cool down afternoon.
Strides for Adam is a non-profit organization formed after the tragic
passing of 16-year-old Adam Holten of Riverview a day after Christmas on December
26, 2018. To add to the tragedy Adam had
come to his family expressing his sadness, feelings of being different and life
being difficult and pointless a year before he took his life. His family had gotten Adam counseling and
medication, but Adam succumbed to his sadness just a year after being open
about his struggles. Adam was a Cross
Country runner at Gabriel Richard High School. Funds from the annual
Strides for Adam are used for athletic scholarships for Riverview students at RCHS and Grabriel Richard. In 2021 $10,000 from the event was given out
in scholarships and in 2022, $17,000. The Holten family was especially
touched this year when the total number of registered participants came to 322
between the 5K run and one-mile reflection walk. Adam’s birthday was March 22nd.
(https://www.stridesforadam.org/adam-s-story)
I rarely miss runs I am registered for and it’s very sad for me
when I do. I have to work myself out of
a bad mental state of mind when it happens that tends to linger the entire day
of the event. Jason pushed me to
register for Strides for Adam when he saw how upset I was Saturday. It was especially hard not making it to Twin
Lake because it was due to unexpected car issues. It wasn’t due to being ill or having important
events come up like a funeral. It should
have been an avoidable circumstance. I was
very hesitant to register for Strides for Adam because I hate paying double
fees for a missed run.
I am very glad I made it to Strides for Adam. It was the running experience I needed to bring me out of my Saturday sadness. I reached out to Adam's father inquiring what the significance of the bees were for Adam. Adam was fascinated with bees, how they functioned together as a hive and how important bees are to the world. I love bees myself. Jason wants to have a hive at our house and harvest honey in the future and I am completely onboard. The coolest thing about the Strides for Adam logo are the 16 bees the family put on it. Sixteen bees to represent Adam's age when he passed. That is something I would not have known had I not reached out to his family. I love the 16 bees. They are the best thing about the run logo.
The music selection at Strides for Adam was amazing. I loved all the great beats radiating out across the park from the DJ under the gazebo. I got Here Comes the Sun, Enjoy the Silence, Never Let You Go and You Can Call Me on video as I was walking. Adam's dad told me the playlist was a bunch of Adam's favorite songs which included:
Mr. Blue Sky
Ripple
Learn to Fly
I love Adam's playlist. It was a lot of the songs I have on my "Running" play list.
While I was walking and filming at Strides for Adam I slipped on ice by the Fire Department and wiped out. It would have been epic had my camera stayed on. I must have hit the "end" button when I started to fall. You can see the start of the fall at the very end of the twelve second video that is in the album right after the picture of the Fire Department. It happened after I finished running while I was walking up to the food tent.
I personally know how overwhelmed Adam felt in constant sadness and hopelessness, thinking life was meaningless and that he was meaningless. Thankfully, running and Jason helped save my life. My heart breaks that Adam didn’t find peace with his demons. I hope his story can help others defeat and overcome their sadness. People like Adam should never be condemned for their actions. As a person who has fought depression for just over a decade, it isn’t selfish when someone succumbs to the sadness.
It’s a tragedy.
It’s devastating when any life on this Earth feels as though they aren’t enough, worthless, a mistake etc.
Resentment and anger are not the answer towards suicide victims, but rather compassion for the hurt and broken souls. Suicides are not selfish acts done intentionally to hurt friends
and family. They are desperate acts committed
by people hurting on extraordinary levels, incomprehensible by people who have
not felt the same kind of sadness. I have
felt Adam’s level of sadness. I know how
dark, lonely and painful it is and how hard it is to escape and see the light.
Had I met Adam before December 2018 I would have hugged him and
said,
“I know how much this sucks.
Everyday. It doesn’t go away. No matter how bad it feels, your life means
something to this world. You just don’t
see it yet. I am still here. You need to stay here too. It wasn’t my time and it’s not yours. When you feel like giving up. Don’t.”
Course Rating: 4.5 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 4.8 Stars
Swag Rating: 5 Stars
Awards Rating: 5 Stars
Race Execution: 5 Stars
Restroom Rating: 5 Stars
Strides for Adam Quote:
“How can the dead truly be dead when they still live in the
souls of those who are left behind.” - NurseBuff.
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