Twilight 5K summons sweet memories
by Marie Fitzsimmons, published on June 15th, 2012 in the Ithaca Journal
It is Father's Day, 1975.
My dad has taken me to the Ithaca High School track to see how many laps I can run. My dad, a Boston Marathon admirer, is enthralled by the notion that perhaps his daughter could run such a distance. He tells me stories of Johnny Kelley and Kathrine Switzer and describes the agony of Heartbreak Hill. I run laps as my dad counts, anxious to please and intrigued at the notion of running until I can't.
But at lap 24, my dad seems a little bored, and I have to yell out my lap number. At lap 40, he seems a little fatigued and I begin to worry that he needs a snack or a drink. By lap 64, he has me worried, his neck is crunched on to his shoulder and he is emitting deep snores. By lap 68, I decide he has had enough and he really is too fatigued for me to go on.
It is the week of Father's Day 2012, and I am back on the Ithaca High track for the start of the Twilight Run. The evening is perfect -- 70 degrees with a sweet breeze. The high school sports fields are loaded with kids, and my husband -- a former lacrosse co-captain at North Carolina State -- grins happily watching 5-year-olds with their sticks. Stewart Park is teeming with action. At least 10 volleyball games are going on, bikers zip about and kite surfers grab their gear. On the lake, sailboats dance prettily while Finger Lakes Runners Club volunteers ready the water station. This is not just a race.
This is a festival -- a quirky and fun festival. Four hundred runners on a track is quite a sight, and fittingly, "Born to Run" is belting out over the loudspeaker. Race co-director Maria Costanzo warns that runners must stop if the train barrier is down. She is fairly optimistic, though, as the train has already been by twice, so perhaps the runners will be lucky. Last year, they weren't. The runners grin happily about this bit of information and then applaud heartily as the FLRC announces $3,000 in scholarships.
Quinn Thomas takes the race in 15 minutes, 53 seconds, with runner-up Jimmy O'Dea coming in nine seconds later. Casey Carlstrom wins the master's division in 17:31.
The women's race is won by former Trumansburg High cross country standout Sarah Danner, in 19:19, followed by Anne Elise Creamer in 19:57. Ithaca's Becky Harman wins the masters division in 21:40.
Sixty-one-year-old Pam LaBarr is the last runner to come in. It is her first 5K and she has won her age group. When I ask her if she is going to run another 5K, she is emphatic: "Oh, yes, I am."
The award-winners, three deep in every group, receive beautifully made mugs and half moons from Front Porch Pottery as Twilight 5K co-director Gary McCheyne announces. Everyone chows down on pizza, and the music plays on. What a party.
A woman hands me a card for the Peter DeMott Peace Trot, and I am immediately charmed by her. "Who is Peter?" I ask. Her eyes tear up as she tells me about her husband. There is a run on Father's Day to celebrate him, and runners are invited to wear pictures of their dads as they run.
I am listening intently, for I want to tell my dad -- almost two years after he really was too fatigued to go on and passed away -- that one of the sweetest days of my life was hearing Johnny Kelley sing "Young at Heart" while I ran the Boston Marathon. Because my dad thought, just maybe, I could.
Information on the Peter DeMott Peace Trot may be found, with all other area race information, is at fingerlakesrunners.org.
Marie Fitzsimmons is The Journal's running columnist. She can be reached at mfitzsim@wgcsd.org.
It is Father's Day, 1975.
My dad has taken me to the Ithaca High School track to see how many laps I can run. My dad, a Boston Marathon admirer, is enthralled by the notion that perhaps his daughter could run such a distance. He tells me stories of Johnny Kelley and Kathrine Switzer and describes the agony of Heartbreak Hill. I run laps as my dad counts, anxious to please and intrigued at the notion of running until I can't.
But at lap 24, my dad seems a little bored, and I have to yell out my lap number. At lap 40, he seems a little fatigued and I begin to worry that he needs a snack or a drink. By lap 64, he has me worried, his neck is crunched on to his shoulder and he is emitting deep snores. By lap 68, I decide he has had enough and he really is too fatigued for me to go on.
It is the week of Father's Day 2012, and I am back on the Ithaca High track for the start of the Twilight Run. The evening is perfect -- 70 degrees with a sweet breeze. The high school sports fields are loaded with kids, and my husband -- a former lacrosse co-captain at North Carolina State -- grins happily watching 5-year-olds with their sticks. Stewart Park is teeming with action. At least 10 volleyball games are going on, bikers zip about and kite surfers grab their gear. On the lake, sailboats dance prettily while Finger Lakes Runners Club volunteers ready the water station. This is not just a race.
This is a festival -- a quirky and fun festival. Four hundred runners on a track is quite a sight, and fittingly, "Born to Run" is belting out over the loudspeaker. Race co-director Maria Costanzo warns that runners must stop if the train barrier is down. She is fairly optimistic, though, as the train has already been by twice, so perhaps the runners will be lucky. Last year, they weren't. The runners grin happily about this bit of information and then applaud heartily as the FLRC announces $3,000 in scholarships.
Quinn Thomas takes the race in 15 minutes, 53 seconds, with runner-up Jimmy O'Dea coming in nine seconds later. Casey Carlstrom wins the master's division in 17:31.
The women's race is won by former Trumansburg High cross country standout Sarah Danner, in 19:19, followed by Anne Elise Creamer in 19:57. Ithaca's Becky Harman wins the masters division in 21:40.
Sixty-one-year-old Pam LaBarr is the last runner to come in. It is her first 5K and she has won her age group. When I ask her if she is going to run another 5K, she is emphatic: "Oh, yes, I am."
The award-winners, three deep in every group, receive beautifully made mugs and half moons from Front Porch Pottery as Twilight 5K co-director Gary McCheyne announces. Everyone chows down on pizza, and the music plays on. What a party.
A woman hands me a card for the Peter DeMott Peace Trot, and I am immediately charmed by her. "Who is Peter?" I ask. Her eyes tear up as she tells me about her husband. There is a run on Father's Day to celebrate him, and runners are invited to wear pictures of their dads as they run.
I am listening intently, for I want to tell my dad -- almost two years after he really was too fatigued to go on and passed away -- that one of the sweetest days of my life was hearing Johnny Kelley sing "Young at Heart" while I ran the Boston Marathon. Because my dad thought, just maybe, I could.
Information on the Peter DeMott Peace Trot may be found, with all other area race information, is at fingerlakesrunners.org.
Marie Fitzsimmons is The Journal's running columnist. She can be reached at mfitzsim@wgcsd.org.