Altered Woodfruff 5K course doesn’t dampen spirits
Look around a crowd of runners and walker participating in a road race, and one might be surprised to see a lot of smiling faces.
Now, this could be the result of pain, dehydration and oxygen debt (and for the non-walkers and runners, why?), but I鈥檇 like to think it鈥檚 the result of accomplishment and having a good time.
I was one of those folks with a smile and was in good humor Wednesday night after the completion of my 35th John Woodruff 5K.
Construction altered the traditional course for the fourth time over my years walking the race that honors John Woodruff, the gold medalist in the 800 at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. Brick removal and paving of Isabella Road (boy, those bricks were fun to walk in a rainstorm) caused one change, and stadium/track renovation led to the other minor changes on the course.
Some felt it was harder, others easier. As for me, I prefer the traditional course.聽
I know lots of folks along the traditional way and missed the memory of passing my father sitting on steps of the Presbyterian Church, waiting for me to walk on by.
But, to the credit of the South Side and South Connellsville neighborhoods, many new to the race course, folks showed up with water, a dousing from a garden hose and applause and cheering for all.
I warmed up for the big show by running the Kid鈥檚 Race by escorting the next generation, my great-nephew Sawyer Muir, one lap around the track. (It used to be two laps to commemorate Mr. Woodruff鈥檚 gold-medal run, but has been downsized over the years. Lucky for me!)
The kids, along with Sawyer, took off like they were shot out of a cannon with the 鈥淕o!鈥� command. There was an unfortunate pile up with a couple kids on the inside, but attentive parents were at the ready to make sure no injuries resulted.
Meanwhile, Sawyer ran the first 100 so fast I had to, umm, cut the course and sprint across the infield. Now, there鈥檚 usually a slowdown with such a frenetic start. But not Sawyer, nor any of the other youngsters I had no chance of catching.
The Hempfield Area first-grader-to-be kept sprinting around the track, passing one or two runners and keeping a healthy distance in front of his great uncle.
The race committee does a nice job for the future Woodruff runners and walkers with a certificate of achievement, a ribbon and a card for a Dairy Queen ice cream cone. And, a bottle of water, popsicles and watermelon waited for the well-deserving competitors.
Plus, Kona Ice was stationed outside the stadium and they provided more smiles with green, red and blue lips to many happy youngsters.
I feel very fortunate to have 35 consecutive races under my belt, though I鈥檝e reached the 鈥淩oseann Rosannadanna鈥� health years.聽
For those who are too young (or not fans of Saturday Night Live), Roseann was a character created by brilliant comic Gilda Radner. She鈥檇 appear on Weekend Update with Bill Murray, going off on some subject. Roseann would take a round-about route with her explanation, finally coming to a conclusion with the phrase, 鈥淚t鈥檚 always something!鈥�
That鈥檚 the description of my body these days. This year鈥檚 鈥渟omething鈥� was ankle/heel issues, but I soldiered through.聽
Then, there was the typical Woodruff weather. The only thing missing from the hot, 80-plus temperature and humid conditions was a thunderstorm in the afternoon that made things even steamier with evaporation off the asphalt.
Unfortunately, a handful succumbed to the hot, humid conditions, but medical staff alertly met the issues.
I was fortunate to be the third male and fifth overall finisher, spurred forward over the last half of the course by Jack Crislip. Jack has had a knack of passing me in the final mile of a race, and I wasn鈥檛 about to let that happen.
Little did I know, while my attention was on Jack, Jason Coppula was sneaking up on me. I managed to hold both walkers off, though, thanks to their hard finish.
The Woodruff 5K is big with families and friends, and I was fortunate to have family and friends share the experience.
My nephew Jason Lohr, not noted for his punctuality, arrived just moments before the start, out of breath after hauling a half mile from his parking spot. Jason, who won the walk in 2015 and followed that finish with back-to-back second places, somehow gathered his breath to finish 16th overall.
His older brother Brian, who ran his first Woodruff about 20 years ago, paced his stepdaughter-to-be Adyson. Adyson, too, was all smiles with popsicle in hand after a tough 3.1-mile run.
Not enough praises can be doled out for the behind-the-scenes work of the race committee. The new course was well marked, all intersections were manned to protect the competitors (not an easy task considering the start/finish of the race is a main section of the detour caused by the road construction), loose gravel was swept away from the course, plenty of water, popsicles, bananas and watermelon was available, and the trophies and medals were top notch.
I was able to share some post-race fun with my brother-in-law Rick, Jason, and Jason鈥檚 buddies TJ Fox (who won a door prize!) and Dylan, and girlfriend Bailey.
And, let me sum up the race experience with a borrowed quote from Rob鈥檚 race story from walking champion Carl Kondrach.
鈥淚 love this race,鈥� said Kondrach. 鈥淭he people are nice, the food is great, Bud Murphy鈥檚 (the preferred postrace stop for most competitors) is great, the awards are great.
鈥淚 love the atmosphere. You can hear the excitement. Look, everybody鈥檚 all happy.鈥�