Home Run Hustle (Saint John's - 2022 - 5K)
65.3 Mile Drive
Registration:
The Home Run Hustle in Saint John’s was a great new city close to home after a long trip the weekend before. The event offered a free kids run for kids under 12 that I registered all three kids for. The only downside was the start of the kids run at 8:30am. It was an early start.
RunSignUp mentioned a raffle that
participants did not need to be present to win, a start and finish at the
Feldpausch Baseball Fields and an out and back pavement course. I really liked the race logo design. The “R” in “Run” as the bottom of a shoe in
motion was awesome.
Course:
The morning of Home
Run Hustle was perfect weather with photography worthy skies. One cloud in particular was long and thin
like a train going across an otherwise cloudless sky.
The kids fun run course was half a mile down Townshed Road and back. I could almost see the kids the entire way down before they turned around.
Luke finished second overall behind a young boy that was flying. He hit the grass hard after finishing.
Ryan amazed us too.
Will chose not to run in Saint John’s. I was really touched by the young girl in a
wheelchair as she was handed her finisher medal. That moment showcased why I believe in
finisher medals.
The 5K course was west
down Townshed Road to Saint John’s High School, looping around the main parking
lot in the back of the school and following the same path back to the
finish. The high school entrance was
1.18 miles down Townshed Road. It was
1.18 miles of straight pavement with no sun and no turns.
I found the 5K to be very difficult. I was hot even though it was only 70 degrees out. Temperatures in lower Michigan would end up climbing to a high of 82 degrees by 2:00pm, which is a two and a half degree increase per hour.
Courses down main roads without turns are the toughest courses for
me. I didn’t bring music to listen and
that made it worse. Miles felt like they
were passing so slowly. It was mentally
and physically draining.
I passed a couple
sitting in their lawn across the street from the high school entrance. They were a nice change of scenery. A course volunteer joked, “I like your
shirt!” to a man in front of me. They
were both wearing the race t-shirt.
The best part of the course was the grounds of Saint John’s High School. We curved a lot as we went past the neighboring Saint John’s Middle School and the high school’s baseball diamonds, track field and tennis courts.
There was a lot to look at and see in the three quarters of a mile that I ran next to the high school.
Swag:
I got a black tech t-shirt
with the amazing run logo I loved from registration. The logo was large on the shirt. I love black running shirts because things I
get on them can’t be seen. The shirt fit
well. I usually order unisex medium size
shirts but they don’t always fit.
Sometimes I order a large if I think the shirts may run small. I don’t order women sizes in running shirts
anymore. They have repeatedly fit too
tight.
All 5K participants received
finisher medals. The medals had the run
logo in a thin gold circular base with a red and black striped lanyard. The lanyard did not have any words. The two-tone black and red colors were
awesome.
Kids fun run
participants got the same 5K finisher medals.
Restrooms:
Restrooms for the Home Run Hustle were in the baseball field athletic building. It looked like a huge metal shed. It was across the parking lot from packet pick-it. It was not as long of a walk as Bronson, but still a decent walk. I didn’t feel panicked to make it back to the start of the race.
It was so nice to have an indoor
bathroom. Walking through the shed felt
like going behind the scenes at Saint John’s Park and Rec. I saw a tower of mulch and a lot of landscaping
tools.
Food:
Home Run Hustle
volunteers made the most organized post-race food table I’ve seen at a
run. The girls in charge laid all the
Nature Valley granola bars out individually in rows and placed the Ice Mountain
water bottles in a tight square formation. They took pride in their work. The water bottles they had were huge! They were not the twist lids I’m used to. They had fancy sport-top lids that flip
open.
Post-race food also
included bananas. Post-run granola bars came
in Crunchy and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate varieties.
Awards:
To my surprise there was not an awards ceremony or age group awards given out. The run didn’t advertise as being just a fun run or a run focused on community and exercise. There was a well-known timing company posting live results. In my experience, runs that pay for timing companies typically have awards. That was why it was surprising. We waited around wondering if there were awards and when nothing happened, we left. I hope we didn’t miss an awards ceremony.
We stayed a pretty long time after the run. Since there were no awards I was very grateful to receive a finisher medal. Results were done in overall standings. There were only 36 total participants in the 5K. The event seemed a lot larger with the crowd of people gathered.
There must
have been a lot of parents with their kids filling in the field and making the
illusion of a larger run. I was the
fourth female to cross the finish line coming in just seconds under my personal
goal of 30 minutes. Out of 36 5K participants,
24 were female.
Aide Stations:
Home Run Hustle had a great aide station positioned at the turn around point at Saint John’s High School. It was manned by four volunteers that smiled for a picture as I ran by. They all had foldable seats. I took a glass of water and asked if I could pour it on my head. I don’t know why I asked.
They laughed and told me to go for it. It was the first time I have taken an aide
station water cup and poured it on my head.
It was so hot I needed the water on me more than I needed to drink
it. You could see under the aide station
table they were using the same sport’s-top Ice Mountain bottles to pour into
cups for participants. With 36 runners
and walkers, they didn’t need to open many.
Timing:
Aldrich Timing was
the timing company at Home Run Hustle. I’ve
ran with Aldrich a few times and it seems like they go all over the lower part
of the state. The last time I ran with Aldrich
was in Reese. They do the BARC races
series in the thumb. Aldrich Timing is
an older husband and wife team that always show up in their truck with a
trailer attached to it. The trailer is
where all the timing magic takes place.
They wear maroon shirts and the husband (everytime I’ve seen him) always
wears a matching hat.
Something I love
about Aldrich Timing is their live results TV screen that constantly revolves
through finishing times for participants to see. I tried to get pictures of it, but the bright
sun made it difficult to see. Another unique
thing about Aldrich Timing results is their details. I know my speed in miles per hour in addition
to my pace and….
“Time Behind
Leader.”
How cool of a race
stat is that? I think it’s awesome. I’ve never seen “time behind leader” given at
any other race I’ve run.
Aldrich Timing had
some technical difficulties before the Home Run Hustle 5K started and the owner
asked if anyone could help. The issue
was getting the results to broadcast on their TV accurately. They fixed the problem and had everything
going smoothly just in time for the race.
City Notes:
I learned that Saint
John’s has amazing Michigan farming soil, some of the best in the state. Ninety percent of the soil in Clinton County
is classified by the Michigan DNR as “prime growing soil.” Saint John’s uses its dark rich soil to grow
tons of peppermint and spearmint.
https://www.michigan.org/city/saint-johns
The city has a mint
festival yearly to celebrate their strong mint farming heritage that dates back
to the mid 1800’s when Michigan’s mint production was closing in on New York, the
national leader in mint farming at the time.
With Michigan’s harsh winters mint farmers in the state had to be
proactive. Adding muck to mint farm
fields improved water retention and caused soils to be even richer, which
helped protect mint plants from winter elements.
By the 20th century
90% of the entire world’s supply of mint was Michigan grown and Saint John’s
became known as, “Mint City, USA.”
https://www.mintfest.org/heritage
The Saint John’s
mint Festival happens the second weekend of August every year. The dedication and
hard work of generations of mint farmers is honored, farming families are
celebrated and some of Michigan’s best Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream is
sold. I wish Saint John’s had a Mint
Festival 5K. I would register for it in
a heartbeat. The festival is something I
want to go to next year, now that I know about it.
I really liked the layout of the Saint John’s city website. It is very user friendly and easy to navigate around. It seems very community driven. It has an “Around Your City” section to make residents aware of construction, closures, events etc. It also has “Meeting Agendas” and “Service Request” buttons.
It is not antiquated
with lists of information that are hard to maneuver through. Whoever was involved in designing the city’s
website did a fantastic job. It’s unlike
other city websites I have come across.
It made me want to get more involved in the Saint John’s community and I
don’t live there.
City Sign:
Other Awesomeness:
I met a fellow runner while we were sitting in the
grass relaxing. I noticed a necklace she
was wearing. She told me her son made it
out of dandelions. It was so cool. Ryan overheard the conversation and promptly
started picking Dandelions in the area.
He successfully duplicated the necklace by the time we got home and gave
it to me. It was sweet and
impressive.
The Fred Meijer Trail runs through Saint
John’s. It is a paved trail through the
city and goes through downtown Saint John’s.
The trail passes by the Saint John’s Veteran Memorial Park, Co-Operate
Silos and town gazebo.
I looked up local Saint John’s bakeries and Cupcakes and Kisses popped up on my Google search. We love Cupcakes and Kisses. I only knew of the bakery in Owosso. We had a hard time finding the Saint John’s location. We passed it twice because it didn’t have a big store sign. The sign was small and red with tiny font. Lights were hanging over the sign that made it even harder to see.
When we opened the door and walked in, it was like being in Owosso. The presentation of baked goods and decor was amazing. They had a gluten free basket and other gluten free items for Luke around the store.
We have to restrain ourselves in Cupcakes and Kisses otherwise we would bring half the store home.
The rabbit poop Luke got was my favorite
baked good from our Saint John’s Cupcakes and Kisses trip. In Owosso my favorite item is their Hershey
Kiss cookies.
Saint John’s reminded me of Mason with its amazing Clinton County Courthouse in the center of downtown. I loved the fountain at the courthouse. You can stare down North Clinton Avenue and see the four-story courthouse filling the entire clearing at the intersection of East State Street.
We had been in Saint John’s before for an emergency
Wendy’s burger stop months back. I saw that
Wendy’s on Old U.S. 27 and remembered it.
It’s a great Wendy’s. I made a
special dedication video to the Wendy’s.
I was really craving iron after running at the Home Run Hustle. A bunless double stack did the trick for me.
I left the Home Run Hustle curious about the raffle mentioned in
the RunSignUp description. There were no signs or announcements about it
that I found. I saw three different shirts and large boards about the
Peter's Sunny Day Foundation. I didn't think shirts were being raffled
off. I did not see anything else on a table anywhere. I loved the
mission of the Peter's Sunny Day Foundation that stated, "
“The mission of the foundation is to create more ‘Sunny Days’
for the families with more time spent making precious memories and less time
spent dealing with worries and stress. The foundation works to offer reprieve
from the demands of everyday life for parents while giving the children much
needed distractions from their battle with cancer in the form of gifts and
special experiences.”
It's great to have medical expenses covered when dealing with illnesses
like cancer, but even more meaningful to get “fun” experiences and memories
with children paid for so families can live their lives to the fullest incase
the most unfortunate outcomes happen.
Course Rating: 3.8 Stars
Post-Race Food Rating: 3.8
Stars
Swag Rating: 4.8 Stars
Awards Rating: N/A
Race Execution: 5 Stars
Restroom Rating: 5 Stars
Aide Stations: 4.8 Stars
Timing
Company: 5 Stars
Post-Race Activities: N/A
Home Run Hustle Quote:
“Some things go slow, slow, slow and then – wham! They’re over.”
- Henry Blodget
Comments
Post a Comment