Commerical Bank Mason 5K (Mason - 2022 - 5K)
Registration:
The Commerical Bank Mason 5K had fantastic kid pricing. Fifteen dollars for the kids mile included a shirt, finisher medal and post-race food. There was also a shorter kids fun run. Running events were spaced out well. Getting the kids to their run at 6:15 helped me show up early for the 5K at 7:00pm. Mason had very detailed information on their registration page. The race fee increase by $3.00 was a unique amount. I usually see registration increases go up by $5.00. I liked how the fun house and Kona truck were in the race description. The event info set the image of a very family friendly running event in Mason.
Packet pick-up was in the Maple Room of Mason City Hall on the second floor. I liked the landscaping, art and the building’s overall style of architecture. The inside was beautiful with a really cool staircase.
Packet pick-up was very well organized and had a bunch of amazing women who posed for my picture request. Most people smile when I ask to take pictures. Mason went over and beyond and officially gets the title of, "Best registration picture." All four ladies stood in awesome poses, one holding a shirt, one holding two bibs, one giving a thumbs up and the last with a big smile.
Course:
The Mason 5K course was a giant rectangle like shape with a small off shoot down a neighborhood court. The course began and finished next to the Ingham County Courthouse. There was a slight downhill in the first quarter mile of the course and a significant uphill in the last quarter mile of the course. The rest of the Mason 5K course was pretty flat.
The course had plenty of room for its 228 participants to spread out on Mason roads. There were so many people on the Mason course. It was a mix of run volunteers and residents that came out to support participants. I did not feel alone at any time while running the 5K. We got to run past Laylin Park with two awesome ponds and Mason Middle School.
There were spray painted arrows instead of signs with a large amount of volunteers guiding participants at turns. There was a group of cones at the halfway turn-around. I noticed all runners were going against the arrow spray painted on the road. Maybe Mason thought we would go one way and the first runners went the opposite, which has a domino effect on the rest of the pack.
My friend Barb had warned me about the turn by the finish with the big uphill. The hill really does appear out of nowhere as you turn left onto Michigan 36 from South Rogers Street. The beginning of the hill is 1,000 feet from the finish line. I saw Luke, Ryan and Will at the top of the hill posing with swords and glow sticks. Luke had a picture frame. It was a good spot for them. The hill was really hard at the end of the course. It wasn’t an overly long or steep hill, but still very tiresome due to its location.
The Mason finish shoot was lengthy and amazing. There was tons of support lining the cones. It was very scenic with the tall historical courthouse. I could see activities in the distance behind the big blow-up “Michigan Running Foundation” arch. I didn’t know Michigan Running Foundation had a blow-up arch in addition to their iconic yellow finish line flags.
Swag:
I received an awesome red tech shirt with “5K” in huge letters. The shirt had the Mason schools bulldog mascot with “Commercial Bank” in what looked like a tear mark from a dog. It was a cool shirt. I liked the extra large logo that took up the majority of it.
Luke and Ryan got shirts for their one-mile run registration. Mile finishers received really nice finisher medals with maroon lanyards and 3D 5K designs. Fun run participants received plastic gold medals with red, white and blue lanyards that had “Winner” written amongst stars on them.
Restrooms:
The Commercial Bank Mason 5K had five regular Porta-Johns and one extra large handicap Porta-John with a nice portable sink. The setup was really well done. I don’t see handicap accessible Porta-Johns at races often. I think it's a good idea to have a handicap Porta-John if a run does not have regular indoor bathrooms for participants. All it takes is one participant to need one, even at a smaller race.
There were really nice restrooms on the second floor of the Mason City Hall across the landing from the packet pick-up room.
Food:
There was a table setup feet from the finish line packed with full size water bottles and assorted large boxes of Nature Valley granola bars in crunchy oats and honey and peanut butter flavors.
There was a second table stationed under a canopy that we found after the mile run. It had the same food with additional rainbow goldfish packets for kids. It’s always hard seeing Luke not able to eat post-race food.
Awards:
There were huge red trophies for overall and master race winners. 5K age group winners got in line to pick a prize from a table of items that included:
· Black Michigan coozies
· Maroon Commercial Bank coozies
· Gray Commercial Bank gaiters
· Commercial Bank reusable plastic cups with straws
· Commercial Bank water bottles
The water bottles seemed to be the most popular as they were picked over with only one left when I finished. I saw Spiderman in line for an award. Jason mistakenly pulled up my time from the Maple Syrup Run and told me I was an age group winner. It was a little embarrassing waiting in line to get up and find out I hadn't age group placed.
I didn’t mind not placing in my age group in Mason. I was not over the moon for the age group award items. They were things I commonly see given away from companies like T-Mobile at fairs and events. I would have still put a Mason age group award on my running wall had I received one. I favor medals, plaques, gift certificates etc. as age group awards and I especially love really unique age group awards, stuffed animals, blankets, railway spikes
....to name a few.
Aide Stations:
There was a very energetic and lively aide station at the 5K turn-around that was in the court of a Mason neighborhood. Boy scouts held out pre-poured water cups to participants while their dads filled cups.
The aide station was in front of a home that had a group of people sitting in foldable chairs on their driveway. They had an awesome black lab and music playing. The Mason aide station was an aide station that provided emotional support (music, cheering and animals) and physical support (hydration). It felt like I had run into a neighborhood block party.
Timing:
Whenever I run in the Lansing Metro area the odds of seeing the Michigan Running Foundation at the start and finish are high. At the Mason 5K Chuck was not present. I saw Luke from a distance but did not make it over to say “Hi” to him. It was a busy night with the kids race, the 5K, free massages and kids activities.
Michigan Running Foundation always does a great job timing races. I especially like having the Michigan Running Foundation at kid events because they send out finish time texts within minutes of crossing a finish line. Luke likes to see his race times as soon as he can after finishing a race.
City Notes:
Mason is the county seat in the state of Michigan. It was chosen as the government center in the Capitol county of Ingham. During the 1800’s Mason was more like a functioning state Capitol than Lansing, housing many government activities. Every state Capitol in the U.S is located in the county seat except in Michigan.
The Ingham County Courthouse is a sight to see as you enter downtown Mason in a similar way the Capitol is in Lansing. It is the third Ingham County courthouse built since the first one was constructed in 1843. Populations in Mason and surrounding areas grew significantly in the 57 years from 1843 until 1902 when the current courthouse was built. The first trial in the courthouse after the rebuild was a murder trial for a White Oak Township farmer. The courthouse was built with berea sandstone from Amhurst Ohio, a roof made of black buckingham slate and a three foot tall golden eagle perched on the top of the tallest point. It costed $40,000 in 1902. In 1980 extensive courthouse renovations began that lasted until 1995.
We stopped at Klavon’s Pizzeria and Pub before we went home for the night. It was a random find and a great find. Everything from the design of the building, music playing outside, interior décor and entertainment for customers was amazing.
There was a huge metal Transformers Bumblebee statue by the host stand. Bumblebee was holding a metal pizza and was for sale. The pizzeria had tall ceilings, TVs in every booth, beautiful fish tanks and a really cool bar.
We passed a huge fish tank on the way to our table. The fish they had were really big. It was very cozy in the restaurant. I loved the TV in our booth. The kids put on wrestling and had fun watching it for the first time. The menu was simple and easy with very unique items. I almost got the Gummy Bear drink. It was tempting. I haven’t had an alcoholic drink in months because of my general distaste for alcohol. I drink fruity drinks if I do drink alcohol.
We ordered the Pepperoni Pinwheels, which could have been an entire meal. They were amazing and something I haven’t seen on a pizza restaurant menu before. Klavon’s even had a drive-thru window! I have never seen a pizzeria with a drive-thru that wasn’t a chain restaurant like Hungry Howie’s or Domino’s.
I lost the family temporarily after taking pictures of statues in front of Mason’s City Hall. I looked for them back at the courthouse with no luck. It wasn’t until I spotted Jason’s hair in Kean’s from across the street that I knew where they were. Jason’s hair is pretty amazing and so was Kean’s gift shop. It was wall to wall gifts inside with a huge candy area in the center.
There was a small area for kids to play and read books in Kean's and so many bright and colorful things to look at. Jason had bought the kids a variety of really unique candy. The shop attendants were really nice and kept the store open. I came in with minutes to spare before closing. They let me look around and take pictures quickly.
City Sign :
The Mason city sign was a tad challenging to find. It ended up being on a divided highway, Cedar Street, near the 127 ramps. It was hidden behind a tree in front of City Limits Bowling Alley. From certain areas on the road the sign was completely hidden due to its placement and the trees along Cedar Street. Jason was able to spot it using a picture I found on Google. It was a nice large wooden sign painted in evergreen and gold. Some of its paint was starting to peel on the posts. I hope there are more “Welcome to Mason” signs in other areas surrounding the city that are easier to see.
Other Awesomeness:
My friend Barb warned me about a hill at the end of the Mason course that comes out of nowhere. Sure enough, that hill was literally a climb to the finish line with only a block left of course after I reached the top. I was exhausted. A hill in the last quarter mile of a run is a challenge, as a good amount of participants are out of stamina at the end of a race. I saw Luke, Ryan and Will at the top of the hill waving and holding out swords and a picture frame. I smiled and gave Will a high five. It was a really motivating place for them to be.
I must bring up the awesomeness of the registration ladies again. Registration for the Commercial Bank Mason 5K was in such a great building at Mason’s City Hall. When I asked my standard, “Can I take a picture of all of you, I write a blog…” the response was so positive. The four women struck a pose with three of them grabbing registration items. It was a one-of-a-kind picture. I get smiles almost every time I ask to take a picture, but Mason set a new bar.
The Commercial Bank Mason 5K was an extremely family friendly event. It radiated a fantastic energy as soon as we got downtown. There was a portable funhouse with a slide and obstacle area, a balloon dart popping game with prizes and a Kona Ice truck for kids.
There were free massages given out by Loyola University massage therapist students. Jason and I both got a massage. It was Jason’s first time getting a massage at a run. His massage was great. My message made me very sore when I got up from the table until I started running. I ended up feeling a lot better after the run.
The therapist that worked on me talked about how they momentarily cut blood circulation off to a tight area which increases blood flow and circulation afterwards. I had a huge knot in my shoulder that needed to be worked on. It was great to get the muscle freed up a bit and nice to talk to the therapist. Mason’s massage felt longer than other run massages I’ve gotten.
I registered Luke and Ryan for the one-mile run. When we arrived downtown kids started lining up for a run while we rushed to get their bibs on. Luke and Ryan ran up into the crowd of kids. Jason suddenly realized the line was for the shorter 100 Yard Dash down Jefferson Street. I had to scream to Luke and Ryan to get out of the line seconds before all the kids in it took off. It was pretty comical. They had a fifteen minute wait until their one mile race started. Events were spread a good distance apart from one another to allow for all participants to finish.
An inflatable chicken walked around downtown Mason before the 5K started. The chicken ran in the kids 100 Yard Dash. It was amazing. I took videos of the chicken running. I don’t know what the significance of the chicken was for the run, but I loved it. It’s not every 5K you see an inflatable chicken. We made sure to get pictures with the chicken.
Mason’s course was full of volunteers and residents that came out to sit on their driveways and clap for participants.
A man running ahead of me must have been well known in Mason. There was a house waiting for him. When he came into view another man ran out into the street with a ribbon stretching halfway across the road. A second man standing in a driveway held the other end. They were simulating a first place finish line ribbon moment for him. It was the most amazing thing I’ve seen a friend or family member do for someone running a race. I took pictures of that moment and will remember it forever. In addition the to epic ribbon house other groups of bystanders knew the man by name, called out to him and ran out to give him high fives. I would love to know his story. Maybe this was his first 5K…or he just beat cancer and it was his first race back…the possibilities are amazing and endless.
I saw Spiderman again at the Commercial Bank Mason 5K! I last ran with him in Portage at Winter Blast. It’s amazing to me how he runs in the suit with the mask covering his entire face. I imagine it’s harder to see and gets hot inside. I give him a lot of credit for what he does. I really love Spiderman’s priorities. His running is not about being the fastest. I saw a group of kids come down to the end of their driveway to give him fist bumps. He didn’t pass by them or simply wave and continue running. Spiderman turned and left the 5K group to meet the kids at their driveway and gave a fist bump to each one. It was another running moment I won’t forget.
I have immense respect for people that can take the time to stop and do special things and not be bothered by it taking seconds off their finishing time. Running is more than a finish time for me. It’s about great experiences with moments like the Spiderman fist bumps and ribbon crossing. If I took my running as seriously as an elite athlete, I wouldn’t have my camera out taking as many course pictures as I do.
Course Rating: 4.5 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 4.5 Stars
Swag Rating: 4 Stars
Awards Rating: 3.5 Stars
Race Execution: 5 Stars
Restroom Rating: 5 Stars
Aide Stations: 5 Stars
Timing Company: 5 Stars
Post-Race Activities: 5 Stars
Commercial Bank Mason 5K Quote:
“Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.”
- Nothing Familiar Travel.
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