Run the Rock (Albion - 2022 - 5K)
11.6 Mile Drive
Registration:
Run Albion has always been throughout with their registration descriptions with plenty of information on RunSignUp and even more detailed information with pictures on their https://runalbion.com website. They give frequent updates about upcoming races with videos and posts on their Facebook page. When severe weather caused the 2021 History Hustle to be cancelled an email was sent out letting participants know hours in advance. Run Albion is awesome with race updates and communication. They post great race photos and always share their yearly medal designs and shirts with participants. Somehow I didn’t know about their free kids run until this year even though it’s right in their race info section. Run Albion is quick to respond to race questions through email and social media.
Packet pick-up has always been under a white tent set up on the corner of Ash and Superior Street. Caroline or Emily usually work at the registration table with one other volunteer. It is a friendly and speedy packet pick-up.
Course:
I know the Run Albion 5K course well. The 2022 Run the Rock was my sixth time running it (fifth official). The course has not changed since I started running Run Albion in June 2020.
I’ve always said how much I love the Albion course. It’s a fantastic mix of course scenery. Participants go through downtown Albion on Superior Street (Albion’s main historic brick road) and over the Kalamazoo River on Cass Street.
The course could go around Albion College taking Cass Street to Hannah
Street, but it instead sends participants directly through the grounds of the Albion
College campus within touching distance of the Albion Rock (the 1899 Albion
College senior class gift) The giant Albion rock is painted almost daily with
different messages and pictures.
From Albion College the course turns onto a wide winding uphill sidewalk through Victory Park into farmlands near an Equestrian Center.
The
farmlands have some of the most beautiful and long distance views on the Albion
course but they are also the area where I lose my stamina in Albion…
Every. Single.
Race.
I don’t know if it’s
the slow uphill for almost a half mile…
The farmlands are my
Albion course kryptonite.
Albion farmlands transition to a short paved trail into woods that end at the back of Riverside Cemetery.
Cemetery grounds continue for
half a mile with a lot of amazing views that include passing two small stone
buildings, the Cemetery Office (1904) and Receiving Vault (1886) that look
incredible for being over 100 years old.
After exiting
Riverside Cemetery participants run over the Kalamazoo River a second time (a
great spot to see fishermen) and continue down Superior Street another half
mile passing the Albion Library and Gardner House Museum before finishing across
the street from the Albion Malleable Brewing Company.
The Run Albion 5K
course gives the most diverse scenery I have seen on a 5K course. Every half mile participants experience new surroundings
to enjoy and admire. There are frequent
turns, wonderful course support and volunteers, and a very enthusiastic finish
line awaiting finishers.
For the first time Luke participated
in the kids race in Albion before Run the Rock started. It took place ten
minutes before the 5K start. It was a 400 feet dash down Ash Street from
Ionia to Superior. Kids didn't receive bibs. Awesome plastic medals with rainbow lanyards and bubbles were
given to kids that ran. The Albion kids race is free and meant to be fun
for children. It was awesome hearing Emily say a Pokemon finished
first. Luke had his Pikachu hoodie on while he ran.
Swag:
Every year Albion’s swag changes. For the last two years since I started running Run Albion all three medals in the series have connected. The first year the medals were green sparkly maps with the Kalamazoo River and course landmarks. In 2021 the series medals were diamond shaped and fit together to make an even larger diamond with the state of Michigan cut out in the middle. This year finisher medals did not magnet together. 2022 Run Albion finisher medals are single spinning medals for each race. One side of the Run the Rock medal had the race symbol engraved with purple lining and the other side had, “Run Albion” in white letters. There was a thick purple lanyard with, “Run Albion” on one side and “Run the Rock” on the other. I love the lanyard color.
Albion’s medal design for 2022 was not my
favorite. It had nothing to do with the
spinning. I am a fan of spinning medals. I felt that Albion’s finisher medal designs
got better from 2020 to 2021. The
lanyards in 2021 had a cool color fade with a black border and the medals
themselves were more detailed. It was
awesome how collecting all three made the state of Michigan. Within five minutes of
receiving my Run the Rock finisher medal the white “Run Albion” words started to come off. That was disappointing. The other side of the medal was engraved with
the Albion Rock and had an awesome purple border. The engraving will keep
the purple outline of the rock from having the same fate as the white lettering. I really like the front of the medal. Purple is my favorite color. I wish the back would not have rubbed off so easily.
I think Run Albion
should go back to connecting series medals in 2023. They could make each medal into the symbols
of the runs similar to the pins they gave out in 2021. Run the Rock and History Hustle already have
great shapes for medals. Medals could be
shaped like Albion landmarks or be three pieces that connect to make a large
letter “A” for Albion. Future possibilities
are endless for Albion.
Run Albion revamped
their race logo this year and put it on their series shirts. They picked a nice dark blue for the shirt and
made “Run Albion” in big white letters with two runners in a faded yellow overlapping
the logo. The shirt was a very soft
cotton, my favorite. I really like the
new logo.
In addition to the
shirt and finisher medal Run Albion gave other race goodies out like they
always do. This year they gave all
participants a blue running journal with “Run Albion” written down the side. Alex Harris (A local Albion trainer) and Caroline
Hurteau (one of the Run Albion race directors) talked about the importance of
journaling during a Facebook live Run Albion video. The biggest piece of advice I took from that
video was the “accountability” journaling can give. I lack in my ability to motivate myself and I
would benedit from someone guiding me and setting up a plan for me to follow and
report back on. That is why I’ve been
looking for a running coach. I want someone
to hold me accountable so I will push myself further. I think writing in a journal is a great way
to hold oneself accountable to workout.
Journaling is a great tool to reflect on what things worked, didn’t work
etc.
Run Albion always has
tons of swag for participants. I
remember getting bright sky blue sunglasses, awesome lip balm and a locally
made cirtronella candle at my very first Albion run.
Restrooms:
Run Albion does not have
Porta-Johns. The first year I ran the
History Hustle I didn’t know anything about Albion besides that it had a college. That year I had a hard time finding a
bathroom before the race. I ended up
finding a random construction Porta-John behind the Pure Albion store. At my second Albion race, Forks 5K, I still
could not find a bathroom and that time the construction Porta-John was
gone. I decided to go into Albion
Malleable Brewing Company. I bought the
most expensive medium to-go Coke of all time ($4.50) and used their bathroom. I didn’t know the Pure Albion store let Run Albion
participants use their really nice indoor bathroom at the back of their
store. The store is feet away from the
start line. It is in a very convenient location.
Food:
There were assorted 20oz Gatorade bottles in orange, lemon-lime and fruit punch flavors as well as 20oz Gatorade Zero bottles in orange, glacier freeze and grape flavors. Eight ounce water bottles were out with tangerines, sliced oranges and halved bananas in aluminum trays.
There was an amazing selection of giant post-race
cookies made by The Foundry Bakery. This
was not their first time making amazing post-race sweets. There were sugar, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle,
oatmeal and…
…. Amazing frosted white sugar cookies with “Run Albion” in red lettering on them!
I took a frosted “Run Albion” cookie.
It was even better than it looked. The frosted Run Albion cookies were the best cookies Albion has made and I hope they bring them back for future races.
Run Albion always
has great post-race food for runners. Their post-race
food mirrors their swag quality.
Awards:
I saw the first Run Albion awards ceremony since I started running Run Albion at the 2022 Run the Rock. It was held on the sidewalk behind the start/finish line. Emily announced the awards. Three leading runners (all men) beat the police cars at one point and ended up cutting the 5K course short unsure of what path to take. Overall winning awards were given to the first five men that crossed the finish and ran the entire 5K course and not to the men that finished first but ran short.
Run
Albion has a very unique award system I have not seen done anywhere else I have
run. They do not do age groups. They instead give awards to the first five
male and female overall finishers. I
have not seen overall awards go as deep as five. The deepest overall award I have seen at a race is third
place. At the 2020 Fork 5K I placed
fourth overall and took home a special Albion medal. I almost had a 5K PR that day. I missed getting it by 12 seconds. I like the unique medals Albion awards to its
five fastest men and women at every race. I do however think older participants miss out when only overall awards are given. I will always be a bigger fan of tradtional age group awards at races.
Aide Stations:
There are always two aide stations on the Run Albion course. One is at the 1.25ish mile mark just after you enter Victory Park and the other is at the 2.18ish mile mark when you come out of the woods into Riverside Cemetery. Run Albion aide stations have always had extremely friendly volunteers since I’ve been running their races.
This year the Victory Park aide station had
girl scouts handing out cups of water and 12oz Gatorade bottles and the
Riverside Cemetery aide station had boy scouts with water and Gatorade. I took a Gatorade at the first aide
station. I love getting electrolytes at
aide stations. I always take Gatorade, juice or pop over water when offered. It can be challenging carrying a bottle and
my phone, but I make it work.
Timing:
Michigan Running
Foundation times Run Albion races and I always love seeing Chuck working hard
doing what he loves. I love the bright yellow
flags at the finish line and getting my results within seconds of finishing. This was the first time I’ve
seen Chuck at a race since he’s been back from Florida. He is a very hardworking man with a big heart.
City Notes:
What to say about Albion my fifth time
writing a race blog…
The Albion Bohm
Theater opened on a very special day in 1929, Christmas Day. It’s been closed on and off through the decades
since its grand opening. It became very
deteriorated and restored when it took fourth place in a State Farm Facebook
neighborhood assist compaign earning a $25,000 grant. It was fourth place in a pool of 200 entries
across the United States and Canada with over 69,000 votes. It was also the only Michigan entry to place
in the top 40. If that doesn’t tell you
how much the theater is loved by Albion and surrounding areas…
It just proves that hometown
spirit runs deep in Albion, Michigan. The
Bolm Theater has two movie screens as of 2016.
https://www.cityofalbionmi.gov/residents/city_at_a_glance/history.php
Albion almost went
down in history as Peabodyville! …I love
that name. It’s fun and goofy like me,
however, I think Albion is a more distinguished and fitting name. The first settler to discover the area now
known as Albion, Michigan was Tenney Peabody and his brother-in-law Charles Blanchard. Tenney’s wife wanted the town to be named
Peabodyville after the couple. Jesse Croswell
then came to town and opened a development business called, The Albion Company. Croswell became the first postmaster of the
town. The name of his company stuck as
the town name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albion,_Michigan#Law_and_government
In 1836 Jesse Croswell
bought one and a half acres in Albion which he sold two years later to his
company, The Albion Company. In 1842 The
Albion Company sold the grounds to The Albion Cemetery Corporation for two
dollars. From 1836 to 1914 the cemetery increased
in size to the forty six acres it is today. Riverside Cemetery is unique in that it has
areas of burials based on ethnicity. There
is a Russian area, German Hill, African American veteran section and areas for
Catholics from Poland, Italy and Lithuania.
There is said to be a “Woman in White” that walks the cemetery wearing a
white dress with flowers. There is also
said to be a cursed chair in Riverside Cemetery. Legend says if a person sits in the chair
they will die within a year. I plan on
looking for that chair at the History Hustle coming up in June. I will not be sitting in it if I find
it. I am a bit superstitious and I do believe
in the paranormal.
It would be doing an
injustice if I didn’t hightlight The Foundry Bakery in Albion.
The bakery owned by
the Dobbins family opened its doors in downtown Albion on May 1, 2019. May first is our wedding anniversary and I love the date. At the time of the Dobbins family vision, Albion
was struggling with many empty businesses downtown in need of renovation. Albion didn’t have a bakery and the Dobbins
family were not experienced bakers. They
said, “How hard can it be to open a bakery?”
Opening the Foundry proved to be a lot harder than they expected, but
the Dobbins also proved to have quite the hidden talent for baking.
The goal was simple,
bring life back to Albion.
That goal is being
accomplished everyday in Albion, Michigan.
Not only does the Dobbins Family own Caster Concepts and The Foundry Bakery,
they started the Run Albion series of runs and all graduated from Albion
College themselves.
The Dobbins wear the
heart of Albion on their sleeves and will always be remembered for what they
have done for their hometown.
https://www.mlive.com/michigansbest/2020/10/this-bakery-is-like-a-love-letter-to-albion.html
City Sign:
Other Awesomeness:
The kids played at Victory Park while I ran. It’s a great location to see them on the course and it lets them have fun. After I finished running we got takeout pizza from Cascarelli’s in Albion. I forgot Cascarelli’s (one of our favorite pizza restaurants in Homer) is also in downtown Albion. Albion’s Cascarelli’s is very different from Homer inside. I loved the small town bar feel with a Red Wings game playing. I wish I could have eaten inside and watched the game at the bar.
We got Luke a gluten free pizza from the Hungry Howie’s in town. It was a tiny building across from the Albion Police Department.
The Albion Police Department has awesome blue and red lights on their door. I liked the historic stone building they shared with Albion City Hall. I don’t know where they park all their police cars. I didn’t see any parking around the building.
We got to drive by the Amtrak Albion Station and I got a great shot of the Albion Coca Cola Mural that was recently repainted.
Jason took me
back to Riverside Cemetery to get a picture of the American Flag made out of
rocks in front of the veteran’s memorial.
We saw some graveyard strolling geese that I shot a video of. They were walking around like course clean-up
crew.
There is an eight year old girl I have seen year after year
running Run Albion races. I always follow
her to Victory Park and pass her as we enter the park. It’s a déjà vu moment when it happens. She is a little rockstar. I am so impressed by her. I make sure to tell her that everytime I pass
her. She finished just after 30 minutes
and was high-fived as she crossed the finish line by Caroline. It was a great photo moment.
There was no dandelion girl on Superior Street this race. I always look at the house at the corner of
Superior and River Street to see if that little girl is there. I wish I could have saved my dandelion from the
2021 Run the Rock. Just past the dandelion
house was a woman standing by her car in the parking lot of Albion Insurance
Agency. She had tons of enthusiasm and
told me that I was awesome. I thanked
her. She was wonderful finish line
support.
I have to give one last shout out to the woman that finished the 5K pushing a portable crib.
1. I never knew cribs on wheels existed until I saw her.
2. How amazing and exhausting to push that for 3.1 miles!
Course Rating: 5 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 5
Stars
Swag Rating: 4.2 Stars
Awards Rating: 4.7 Stars
Race Execution: 4.8 Stars
Restroom Rating: 5 Stars
Aide Stations: 5 Stars
Timing Company: 5 Stars
Post-Race Activities: N/A
Run the
Rock 2022 Quote:
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged
to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
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