Our goal for this first annual event was to raise $5,000, and I'm so excited that we surpassed that! Donations are still rolling in, so we don't yet know what our final total will be.
As far as the events go, it was so much work, but so worth it!
I took Friday off from work, to run around and get everything ready for Saturday. I went to bed on Thursday night with a clear plan for Friday.
Unfortunately, I woke up on Friday morning to an email from the company I had rented the timing system from, stating there was a "mix-up" at UPS, and I would not be receiving the printout stopwatch system. This could definitely be classified as a "Big Deal". I had visions of me standing at the finish line of the half marathon, with my $10 target stop watch, shouting out to the finishers things like, "You were a little more than 2 hours" and "Okay-#4 was about 2:20, and #6 was about 2:30. So, we'll give #5 a 2:25."
Or, "Hey, you all finished! Isn't that what's really important here?"
After three hours of near panic, several emails and phone calls, I had a solution to the problem. Thanks to the Tamarac High School Cross Country coach, and Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club, I found 2 reliable stop watches to use!
(I'm now a member of HMRRC.)
Then the fun began! It was a day of running around to pick up safety cones, raffle tickets, T-shirts, which look awesome. We still have a few for sale, if any one's interested.
Friday evening, we were joined by Ed and Donna Peck to stuff goodie bags and organize T-shirts for all registered runners/walkers. By 1:20 AM, I was ready for bed!
Saturday morning, I hopped up at 5, loaded up the van, and woke Mack up. We swung over to get my friend Mindy, who had volunteered to spend the day helping out, and made our way to the school. We spent the next 2 hours ( joined by several other volunteers) getting set up, greeting people, registering same day runners, getting the water stations squared away, and before we knew it, it was time to speak to the runners! Ed Peck and I both said a few words.
The runners gathered at the starting line
Remember the time keeping fiasco I mentioned? Well, thanks to these two lovely ladies and Andrew, the timing of the race was smooth as silk!
Here are my two littlest volunteers. They hung in there all day long, and were incredibly helpful!
The first runner came in at 1hour and 25 minutes!
There are a few things I learned from this event, and a few things I'll do differently next year. The first is that I'll choose a weekend that doesn't coincide with a local 5k that draws over 5,000 runners from all around the world. Some of the other changes include, adding mile markers on the course, starting a little earlier, and getting a volunteer to take pictures of the event.
Some of you might be asking, "Where was Kevin during the event?" Well, my awesome husband was competing in the race. And let me brag a little, to say that he finished his first Half Mary in 2:07! That breaks down to 9:45 per mile!
For the most part, I think the day was an incredible success!
Hope to see you at the Second Annual "Make it a Great Day" Half Marathon!
-Heidi
3 comments:
You truly had a successful event and we are very proud of you. Thanks for the write-up and sorry we live too far away or I would have been there helping. Aunt .e & Uncle Joe too
I'm so glad you posted this! I was curious how it turned out...and it sounds like it was a success! Congratulations! I'm always inspired by people who have a dream or a vision and find a way to make it a reality!
wow it might have been a gr8 day ////////////
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