Boston Harvest 2013

This story starts with last year's Boston Harvest 5k. Shane has been working around the clock since about 3 days after the 2012 race ended to make this year's version bigger and better. He added a 10k option and got more sponsors, more donations, more door prizes, and just more everything. The goal this year was to have 300 participants. Thanks to an estimated 800 man-hours we reached, and possibly exceeded, this goal.

Friday night we packed up the kids and sent them off to Shane's parents for the night. Then we frantically packed vehicles and double checked mile markers and signs. We had caught a teenager stealing the handmade scarecrow mile markers from the trail so we had to check every last detail ten times over to be sure everything was perfect. Shane picked up cookies, cake, chips, and made Gatorade while I made parking signs and buckets for door prize drawings.

Parking signs

My car

Shane's car

 

Handmade mile markers

 

By the time we made it to bed Friday night I had no idea how we would make it through race morning. However, we were up and moving shortly after 5am and we got everything set up right on schedule. We never could have done it without all of our wonderful volunteers. They erected tents, set up tables, registered runners, handed out packets, and generally turned chaos into calm.

 

Food table

 

Cake with a certain child's fingerprints

 

 

At 9am we were ready to launch the 10k runners. I was originally registered for the 10k but I developed a bad cold in the days leading up to the race and I didn't want to be MIA for over an hour so I dropped to the 5k. As the 10k began I rushed to set up the awards table, food table, and door prizes for the runners upon their return. A short 15 minutes later it was my turn to toe the line.

 



Big Beaver Big Dawgs

 

As we took off I tried to hold back. I was breathing okay and I began to hope I might do okay despite my cold. I was running with our friend's son and we put down a 7:40 mile. I felt fine and wasn't even breathing hard. I started to get excited but I guess it was premature. As we approached the turn around I began to feel my chest tighten up. I kept pushing but quickly went from congestion to pain so I pulled way back. My friend's son kept up the strong pace while I struggled to breathe coming in at 8:30 for mile 2. In mile 3 I began to assume I was going to have to walk. I really eased up and trotted while a few men passed me. As soon as a woman passed me I pulled it together and sped up again. I managed to fend off all of the other approaching women. Mile 3 ticked off in 8:48. I held steady for the last .12 miles and just crossed before the next woman.

 

Waving to our amazing photographer, Jesse Meyers

 

 

Finishing

 

My chip didn't register as I crossed the mat and I forgot to stop my Garmin so my time is off. But the official results are listed as 25:54 for 24th overall, 7th woman, and 1st in my age group. I'll take that for being sick, up all night, and stressed all morning!

 

Boston Harvest swag

 

As soon as I finished I stumbled up to the finish area to get back to work. My mom and the other volunteers had set out the door prizes and drawn bib numbers while the races were happening so I spent the next half hour handing out 130 prizes to the lucky winners. Meanwhile Shane was getting the official results printed out and the clown and Kona Ice truck entertained the kids. Unfortunately, our scheduled band did not show up so the adults were less entertained.

 

Lulu the Clown was a hit again

 

As soon as the results were available we handed out plaques plus gift certificates to the top 3 men and women in each race plus the top master man and woman. The top 3 men and women in each 5 year age group each received a medal. Every kid got a finisher medal on top of being eligible for an age group award. And there was a midpack award for each race as well. Our hope was that everyone would go home with something between awards and door prizes.

 

Age group awards

 

Kids' medals

 

Midpack awards

 

Overall awards

 

Even the dogs got medals

 

It began to rain as we started the awards ceremony. Thankfully it stayed at a light drizzle until we were just finishing cleaning up. Everyone except our most loyal volunteers and friends had left by the time it really poured. We quickly broke down the tents and tables and cleaned up the garbage and signs. Before we knew it the ballfield looked like we had never been there and the trail was empty. We were left with 3 vehicles to unload in a downpour but it didn't put a damper on what turned out to be a really great day!

 

There is no official total yet but we feel confident we exceeded the $4,000+ we raised for Rex's fight against Batten's Disease last year. As soon as the final bills (port-o-john rentals, timing fees, etc) are paid and the final registration check comes in we will be able to give Rex and his family the proceeds from the race. Seeing Rex's face light up at the race made it worth all the time and effort and frustration. He is such a sweetheart!

 

Rex and his family and friends

 

Overall, I don't think we could have asked for a better day. The course was dead on accurate, the weather was great until the very end, the volunteers were amazing, the participants were cheerful and patient, and everything just went according to plan. We are so blessed to be part of such an amazing community and running family!

Boston Harvest 5k

September 22, 2012 marked a new experience for all of Team Brunazzi. We directed a race, with no help from co-directors, for the first time! If you remember the last two years we helped with the planning and execution of the Dead Man's Hollow and Boston Trail 5k. But this is the first race Team Brunazzi put together ourselves!

We had a great reason for doing this. Rex is a four year old boy in our school district who is affected by Batten's Disease. It causes loss of motor function, seizures and a lot of other symptoms. There is no cure and the treatments are still developing. Raising money to improve Rex's quality of life and help his family afford the best possible care meant a lot to us. It also meant a lot to all of the runners and walkers that came out to support Rex! Donations from those who couldn't attend poured in as well. All together we raised $4,062! So thank you to all of our sponsors, runners, and volunteers. You made this race happen!

Signs for Rex donated by Carol Hill.

So what went into making it happen? Five months of planning, begging, brainstorming, designing, buying and scheduling. In the days leading up to the race our house began to look like an episode of hoarders. Shane and I had to pick up donations of chips, cookies, and donuts. Shane took the week before the race off work and spent his days picking up race shirts, bottled water, and communicating with volunteers. During the day before the race Shane and I loaded vehicles with tables, chairs, food and water, race bags, etc. We met with Pittsburgh Tent Rentals on Friday night and set up two large tents to cover the food and registration tables in case of rain (it did). We also put out the mile marker signs as well as signs cheering on our family and friends.

Registration tents

 

Our basement prior to the race.

 

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and took everything down to the trailhead. With the help of an army of volunteers we laid out the race day registration area and check-in tables despite a constant drizzle. Fall decorations in the form of hay bales, corn stalks and mums were everywhere thanks to a wonderful volunteer named Carol. Our family and friends helped us hang signs thanking all of our (75!) sponsors and also door prize lists.

 

Three pages of door prizes

 

Rex's family made a poster to explain Batten's Disease and his battle

 

Next thing we knew the timing company was setting up and so was the band, AE Honick & The Soul Shakedown. The local bar provided electricity and I'm sure we provided them an early crowd! More than 70 people showed up for race day registration! We had our own race to get everyone registered and chipped before the actual 5k started at 9am sharp. Around 8:00am the rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds. At 8:50 Shane made the announcement that everyone should walk down to the starting line. I made sure everyone lined up with faster people in the front and walkers in the rear. Then the timing company started us off with a horn!

 

Making signs for our family and friends

 

Shane and I both jumped in and ran too. Both of our girls, Shane's mother, my step father, Shane's sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and a family friend all ran in the 5k wearing the Team Brunazzi shirt. I quickly realized we'd made a mistake when I reached our 1 mile sign and my Garmin read 0.90 miles instead. This was the only major glitch of the race. The course ended up being 1/10th of a mile short because of the misplaced mile sign. Besides that everything was going perfectly.

 

Start of the race

 

By the turn around I realized I was on PR pace. I was running with some of the guys I'm usually trailing. I was having a blast too. High-fiving kids, yelling encouragement to our friends and family, and chatting with those around me. I ran the whole race with a huge grin plastered on my face. It turns out Shane was having the exact same experience a couple minutes ahead of me. I ended up finishing in 24:58. I know the course was a little short but I'm claiming the PR anyway! Shane finished in 20:50 for a new PR as well.

 

My finish picture courtesy of JMeyers Photography

 

Shane finishing with style

 

After the race it was time to make sure door prizes were drawn, awards were arranged, food was available and everyone was having a good time. A quick count showed somewhere around 215 people registered! 180 of those people picked up timing chips while a few chose to walk part of the course or register but volunteer instead. It was an amazing turnout for a first year race! What could make it even more amazing?

 

How about an Olympian?!

 

Amy Yoder-Begley, the 2008 10k Olympian, finished in 17 minutes for 2nd overall and first woman! She was awesomely kind and gave out autographs to everyone, including a special note for Rex! I can't imagine a better surprise than having an elite athlete turn up at a race!

We had some other very special guests that included Kristi Torba of the Pittsburgh Passion women's football team, Lulu the Clown, and Team Odyssey! The Big Beaver Big Dogs and Latrobe Area Pacer Society were also represented well.

Kristi Torba of the Pittsburgh Passion gave a medal to every kid as they finished.

 

Awards

 

The timing company did a great job of getting the results in our hands quickly. There were only a couple glitches where race-day registrants ended up being listed as the wrong gender but those were quickly corrected. Gemma and Ash helped me hand out the awards and a lot people were impressed with the custom medals. Gemma was proud because she helped to design the logo.

 

Custom medals

 

After the awards ceremony most of the runners started to wander off. Our courageous volunteers and amazing friends stuck around to help us clean up and load our cars. Thanks to their generous help we were able to completely clean up the start/finish area in under 2 hours. After that Shane walked the course again to take down the signs and markers and pick up trash while I unloaded our vehicles at home. By dinner time everything was back in its place and Shane and I were exhausted! We celebrated with dinner out and a movie before we crashed.

 

Once we got a good night's sleep we were able to fully appreciate the scope of what had happened. We'd actually pulled off a first year race without any huge mistakes and had double the number of runners we'd originally expected! We also managed to raise double the original goal for Rex and his family. We can never say thank you enough to everyone who came out and made this day so special for the Timko family! Our sponsors, family, friends, and the community made this the best race of the year. It's going to be really hard to top but we really hope we'll see you on September 21, 2013 to do it again!