Friday, August 6, 2010

Support the Sport

When you follow road running you end up watching a procession of races putting the touch on runners to support some charity or the other. Holding a road race is as standard a fund-raising tool now as car washes and bake sales. Of course, if you do a good job producing a road race then you and your volunteers have probably put in hours of work entirely out of proportion to the amount of money raised. Unless you're also very good at scaring up sponsorship dollars--a talent like spinning straw into gold.


I'm not going to comment on how worthy some of the charities are. Nor am I interested in hearing someone make the case for their favorite charity. In fact, if you feel you have to defend it, how worthy is it really?


But I'm pleased to see that during August there are a rash of races that are actually raising funds for running. Some of these are in our area.


The first of these is the second annual Coach Mike's Run for the Kids 5K in Tallahassee on 7 August 2010, which raises money for middle school cross-country running in Leon County. The Coach Mike 5K starts at 8:00am ET on Saturday morning at Cobb Middle School. Race day registration will set you back $15. Unless you're a middle-school student, in which case you run for free--another great way that this race supports middle-school running.


Up the road and later in the day on 7 August 2010, the Sunbelt Running Club is hosting the 21st annual Run For Love 5K Evening Run in Tifton, Georgia. Proceeds of this race fund the Tift County High School cross-country team, which probably manages to operate on less money than the laundry budget of the Tift County High School football team. The 5K race starts at 7:45pm ET from the tennis center on the campus of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and race day registration is $20. You also have the option of running a one mile, in which case you start at 7:15pm ET and pay $12.


Back in Tallahassee, Florida on 21 August 2010, the Breakfast on the Track one-mile run raises money for Maclay School athletics. Held on the Maclay School track, the Breakfast on the Track is a track meet with one event--the mile. From 7:45am to 9:15am ET, section after section of the one mile is held on the track till everyone has run--nearly 200 athletes last year. Runners are divided into sections on the basis of their projected time for a mile. You can always sandbag and "win" your section, but in the final results all the sections are combined and places determined on the basis of time. Early registration is $12, race-day registration is $15, and discounts are available for school teams. However you register, you get a pancake breakfast with your entry (preferably before your race, but that's your choice).


The same Saturday morning as the Breakfast on the Track, Pelham, Georgia is host to the second annual Hornet's Nest 5K Road Race. Proceeds from this race benefit the Pelham High and Pelham Middle School cross-country teams (Pelham High is the "Hornets"). Race day registration takes place at Pelham High School and costs $16 ($12 for children under 12). If you pre-register you can still get that discounted by $2. This one also includes a one-mile fun run.


I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the fourth annual Memorial Day 5K Night Run in Bainbridge, Georgia was a fund raiser for Bainbridge High School cross-country.


Support our sport. Support these races.


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Posted by Herb Wills at 1:38 AM
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