A Race With A Mission

The latest chapter of my MI County Challenge had me out the door at 5:30 am to get to Alpena for the 9:00 am race. The 5K race, called Running With The Leprechauns, was held at the Thunder Bay Recreation Center and organized by the Dork Brothers Racing Team. As registration closed, it looked like we had 50 to 60 runners and walkers ready to take on the windy and potentially rainy conditions. We walked to the parking lot and the race director gave the pre-race instructions. He mentioned that the race was a fundraiser for a Mission Trip to Thailand. It is always nice to hear when the race fees (or portion of them) is going to a charity. I will talk more about the Mission Trip later, but now back to the race. He finished up by describing the out and back course and it seemed pretty straight forward.

All the runners got set and we were off. As we left the parking lot, we were going to turn onto the sidewalk. This was the only area in the Rec Center area that had ice, so I made a mental note about the ice for the return trip. How embarrassing would that be to fall 20-30 yards from the finish? I made it to the next turn and I guessed that I was around 10th place. 2 younger guys were way out front and then there was a second pack. I followed another runner through this pack and we quickly separated from the rest. I stayed behind the third place runner until one mile in. His pace started to slow, so I decided to pass and attempted to keep up with the front runners. They passed me on the return trip and both runners looked strong...and YOUNG. They didn't look that much older than Nick. I made the turn to head back and ran the second half alone. I looked at my watch and I was on pace to half my best 5K time since high school. I tried to maintain my pace for the rest of the race and did a pretty good job. I made the second to last turn and recalled the ice up ahead. I slowed a bit through the ice and then made the final turn. I crossed the line at 20:30. It was good for 3rd Overall and 1st 30-39 Male.

It felt great to run the time this early in the year. A lot of time and races to improve. I met up with the with the first and second place runners and we chatted for a bit. Both guys were from Alpena High School. Alex Guzman, a sophomore, won the race in 18:48 while his freshman teammate, Jacob Benson, finished only 9 seconds behind him. Over half the participants stuck around for the award ceremony whether they got one or not. Instead of medals, we got awards with an Irish theme to match the "Running With the Leprechauns" title. They were rocks with the word sham on them. Get it...Shamrock. Ha! My rock is proudly sitting next to my other awards and it definitely stands out from the rest.

As I mentioned, the proceeds from the race were going to a young girl who is preparing to go on a Mission Trip to Thailand. Saidee Jacobs is the young lady who will be going on a 25 day journey through Thailand. While there, she will travel through three rural villagers and stay with the villagers. She will visit schools, local clinics, several houses, village water sources, and other areas that need help. She will be teaching, running a camp, working in rice fields, building a library, putting in toilets at a school, and helping to repair the village's water holding tanks.Talk about a busy 25 days. The mission is sponsored by Rustic Pathways, but Saidee does need to raise money to participate. If any of you would like to help her, you can send donations to Dork Brothers Racing Team, c/o Mark Jacobs, P.O Box 301, Alpena, MI 49707.

It is always good to participate in a race with a cause. It turned out to be a great race. I got to help a girl get closer to her mission and run a race in another county. Now on to another 5K on the west side of the state...