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Thanks to all that participated and volunteered in the 1st Ever Vac & Dash April Fools Day 5K Classic!
Quick Links To Race Coverage:
Race Recap by Charlotte's Bill Shires - 2010 AFD Champ:
http://runnerscooldownmile.blogspot.com/2010/04/april-fools-5k-albemarle-nc-race-recap.html
Race Recap by Gastonia's Richard Hefner - 8th Overall 2nd Slowest in his age group:
http://networkedblogs.com/2dWFw
Approx. $200.00 was donated to the YMCA Strong Communities Program
The fun filled race was full of pranks & surprises!
Mandi Rogers, Gwen Lanning and Rita Phillips were ready for a fun-filled race.
Top Ten 2010 Pranks:
1) Volunteer Ritchie Hearne called out the mile time split at the .7 mile mark.
2) Runners were hit by water balloons and supersoakers at Tenth St. turn.
3) Course went down the Owen's driveway, carport and backyard. Their three year-old, was able to squirt runners without getting in trouble from his parents.
4) Runners were surprised to find that in the Owen's backyard, Ryan had put together a simulated paintball war game with his youth group.
5) Turned around and ran through water balloon zone again.
6) On Oakwood Ave. the course detoured through the Greenlee's Garage, around the back of their yard and through a kids water wiggly sprinkler system.
7) At the finish, the runners had to navigate through a 35 foot inflatable obstacle course. Runners that did not want to go through the obstacle course had to count 20 Mississippi's.
8) Door Prizes: Runners thought The Very Big Door Prize that was the rectangular in shape, was the old white closet door in the above picture with a sign that said "Very Big Door Prize". 13 year old, won the prize but had her choice of picking one of the Saucony bags with a prize in it.
She chose the bag, which had a $8.00 hat. If she accepted the "Very Big Door Prize" that was rectangular in shape, she would have walked away with a Ben Franklin! That's right, I had a $100.00 bill taped to the back of the Very Big Door Prize sign.
Other door prize twists: Mixture of a wide variety of items, including a leftover from the Kellie Pickler American Idol days, a Pick Pickler Thong, made of cool max material of course.
9) Age Group Awards went to the Slowest, 2nd Slowest and 3rd Slowest in each age group.
10) Slowest men and women runners earned the big hardware:
Best of Slow, 2nd Best of Slow and 3rd Best of Slow
Mark your calendar for the next nine Vac & Dash April Fools Day 5K Classics:
4/1/11, 4/1/12, 4/1/13, 4/1/14, 4/1/15, 4/1/16, 4/1/17, 4/1/18 & 4/1/19
Pictures From Sunday's Practice Run
Runners that showed up for Sundays April Fools Day 5K practice run won door prizes. The seven that showed up and ran the course were awarded a April Fools Day 5K Classice Cool Max T-shirts at Thursday's Post-Race Award Ceremony.
In photo #2, Kelly Franklin shows off the out-of-date box of GU she won. Mandi Rogers won reflective arm bands from Asics.
In honor of our newly invented sponsors: Butts and Mutts and Barney's Animal Clinic & Taxidermy, we thought it was appropriate to take the photo in front of the dog waste bucket at the Y.
If you'd like to help, send an e-mail to peter@vacanddash.com
When runners make the last turn, they will have to make their way through the 32' Obstacle Course before finishing the race.
. This race will be full of suprises. Yes there will be an actual race. Start and finish will be at the YMCA. I know that I always send out a prank newsletter on April Fools Day, so the challenge for me is to get folks to believe that there will actually be a race. There will be. The Albemarle City Council has already approved closing Glenn St. for the Start/Finish Line.
I will warn you, that if you don't have a sense of humor, you may not want to run this race.
Event: 1st Ever Vac & Dash April Fools Day 5K Classic
Time & Date: April 1st - 6:45pm
Location: Stanly County Family YMCA
Course: The 3.1 mile course has not been finalized. However, please note that you will run through two peoples yards. At one house you will run through a garage and to a backyard. At another you will run through a backyard that has a bomb shelter.
Water Stations: The plan is to have two water stations. Instead of cups, we are using balloons to hold the water. It's a down and back course and water tables will be across the street from each other. What you do with the water balloons, is up to you.
(Hint: Runners will be approaching you with balloons in hand. You can defend yourself or attack.)
Cost: $20.00 Register at Vac & Dash or on-line at:
http://www.active.com/running/albemarle-nc/vac-and-dash-april-fools-day-5k-classic-2010
Door Prizes: To get a ticket for the door prizes, run the race in a shirt that has Vac & Dash somewhere on it. (It is not a requirement to run the race in a Vac & Dash shirt. However, to get a door prize it is. Vac & Dash can be on the back, sleeve or front of the shirt.)
Long Sleeve T-Shirt: You'll want to run it for the long sleeve t-shirt. If you think a store that sells vacuum cleaners & running shoes is weird, the sponsors on the back will be those wacky area combo stores such as:
Tillery Vineyard & Taxi Service "You Drink - We Drive"
Plus:
OK, the sponsors aren't real, but they will look cool on the back of the shirt.
Race Day Details & Packet Pick-up
Weather looks perfect for the race!
1) Packet Pick-Up Is Available for the 1st Ever Vac & Dash April Fools Day 5K Classic is available at Vac & Dash. 9-6 Tues. & Wed. 9-4 Thursday.
Packet Pick-up will be at the Y at 5:45 pm on Thursday.
2) Race Starts at 6:45 PM on Thursday April 1st at Stanly County Family YMCA.
3) Parking: Note that it is Holy Thursday. Many area churches will probably have services Thursday evening, so please do not park in the Church parking lots, or in the Hartsell Funeral Home lot, as they usually have viewings. You can park at the Y, on the street, or other parking lots. (Except for Glenn Ave, which will be closed for the finish line and obstacle course.) If you can carpool it would be great.
4) Be careful of traffic. I know of two churches near the Y that are having services at 7:00 pm, so be aware of traffic. We will have course monitors and the City of Albemarle Police Department helping with traffic. Run Safe!
5) Awards: You'll want to stick around for the awards and prizes. Door prizes will begin as soon as the last runner crosses the finish line. With awards given afterwards. You'll want to stick around for the awards.
6) Door Prize Eligibility: A door prize ticket will be given to runners that run in a shirt that has Vac & Dash somewhere on the shirt. (Vac & Dash can be anywhere on the shirt .) You can purchase extra door prize tickets for $1.00 each. All of the door prize money will go to the YMCA Strong Communities Program.)
7) Obstacle Course Bypass Option: There will be a 35' inflatable obstacle course to run through. If you feel you can not run through the obstacle course, you can by pass it with 20 Mississippi's. You must stop and count one mississippi, two mississippi, etc.
8) Very Big Door Prize Option: For the person that wins the Very Big Door Prize that is rectangular in shape, if you don't want to take it home with you, there is the option to take the Prize Behind Door Number 1.
9) Running through yards and garages. You will run down the Owen's driveway, under their carport, past their bomb shelter and around their house. You will also run through the Greenlee's Garage and around their house. You will be on concrete the entire way at the Greenlee's house, you will run on grass for about thirty yards at the Owen's. Run easy at those points and enjoy the oddity of it.