AkRun & Crawl: After Dark Recap

Photos by Tim Fitzwater

The milestone 10th Annual Torchbearers AkRun & Crawl was held on Saturday May 21, 2016. For the second year in a row, the event was held in the Merriman Valley, and for the first time ever, the event was held "After Dark," incorporating glow-in-the-dark elements along the course. 

This high-energy event kicked off with a 5K that started from the front of BCG & Co. Runners were taken along the scenic Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, which was illuminated with LED lights, bright flashing balloons, and glow sticks that lined the course. In addition, all runners were given neon glow accessories, including necklaces and bracelets.



It was a cool spring evening, and the  sunset provided a perfect backdrop to kick off the night. DJ Garrick Black provided music to get the participants amped up for the run. AkRun & Crawl Committee member Patrick Bravo gave announcements, and introduced special guest Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan to provide remarks.



Torchbearers President Nicole Mullet also spoke to thank the runners, and soon enough, the horn sounded and the runners started on the course!  With thoughts of cold adult beverages, as well as  cheers from volunteers and beats from DJ Ben Fulkman, all of the runners made their way across the finish line. The athletes’ efforts were rewarded with bananas and water (provided by Giant Eagle) to help with their recovery before moving on to the next phase of the night.

A banner welcoming runners to the bars!

The next portion of the night was the bar crawl. This year, a total of 5 bars were along the crawl path, including The Corner Bar, The Lazy Gator, Shots, Woody's Tavern, and the starting point, Johnny J's. The participants were given special custom mugs that gave them drink specials for the night. Johnny J’s provided free (and delicious) burgers, hot dogs and sides. Drink specials were available at each bar, including "birthday cake" shots in honor of the "10th birthday" of the AkRun & Crawl.



This year’s AkRun & Crawl event brought in a record high number of registrations (454)! A big thank you definitely goes out to the event co-chairs, Michael Evans and Brian Berg, for a successful turnout.



We also would like to thank our sponsors: Brouse McDowell, Giant Eagle, Riverview Property Management and Yoga Bliss.

Torchbearers looks forward to seeing everyone at next year’s 11th Annual Torchbearers AkRun & Crawl!

Running T-Shirt Quilt

Photo by OHventures

As an avid runner, my dresser drawers slowly began to overflow with race t-shirts I have collected over the many years of hitting the pavement. 

At first, it's really cool to get a new t-shirt every time you run - it can serve as a memento of a great accomplishment and fantastic experience had with friends. But, if you do 10, 15, even 20 races a year like I do, then it begins to take over your wardrobe, and your storage! A friend once asked if I had anything other than suits and running t-shirts, because he'd see me wearing them so often. Unacceptable.

So I decided it was time to do something about it. As part of my 30 Things To Do Before (While) I'm 30, I set out to have a quilt made using some old running t-shirts! It was a genius idea that I had seen before on Groupon. But rather than sending shirts off to a random company, I put the call out to my friends on Facebook to see if anyone had any ideas of where or who I could go to for a t-shirt quilt.

Many people stepped up and offered ideas, but one friend of mine, Rick, stepped up in a big way. He said that he had always wanted to try to make a quilt, but never had a reason to. If I trusted him, he said he would be willing to make a quilt for me. Instead of monetary payment, he said he would like to have a sampling of wines I gathered from all of my various wineries I visited across the state. It was a perfect match! 

I had to figure out which shirts I could use. He said he could take 20. There were some that I didn't want to give up because I really enjoy wearing them and they are too cool to give up. And there are some that - let's face it - are so ugly that I didn't even want them on a quilt. I wanted ones that looked good and were from races that had special meaning to me. So, after meticulous planning, I came up with a good mix of shirts. 

The shirts are, as displayed on the quilt:

Row 1 (l-r)

Capital City Quarter Marathon - May 2013, Columbus

Boardman Memorial Mile - May 2013, Boardman

Capital City Half Marathon - May 2012, Columbus (my first half marathon)

Run With The Pack 5K - June 2012, Columbus (first run I did with my dog)

Row 2 (l-r)

World Fit 5K - May 2014, Warren (my brother helped organize this race)

Selfless Elf 5K - December 2013, Akron

Glo Run Columbus - April 2013, Columbus

Arnold Pump & Run 5K 2014 - March 2014, Columbus

Row 3 (l-r)

Hubbard Public Library Zombie Run - October 2012, Hubbard

Oktoberfest Brat Trot 4 Miler - September 2012, Columbus

Warrior Dash Ohio 2014 - August 2014, North Lawrence

Out Of The Darkness Walk - October 2014, North Canton (in honor of my cousin)

Row 4 (l-r)

Team OHventures T-Shirts (a shirt I designed for the blog)

Warren Kiwanis Turkey Trot - November 2012, Warren (started our family tradition)

Funny Bunny 4 Miler - April 2014, Canton (took place on my birthday)

Foam Fest 5K - June 2013, Logan

Row 5 (l-r)

Akron Marathon Relay 2014 - September 2014 Akron

Bike Columbus Festival – July 2012, Columbus (first biking event)

Dirty Dog 5K Run & Wash - July 2013, Avon Lake

Akron Gen. Birthday Bash Dash 5K - August 2014, Stow (I was Race Director)

These shirts were the perfect shirts to have made into a quilt. And, Rick certainly delivered with a high quality and great looking quilt (not too shabby for his first quilt making experience). Having this quilt has transformed a pile of t-shirts shoved in a dresser into a unique, meaningful and timeless piece of art (that also doubles as a comfy blanket). 

I owe a great deal of gratitude to Rick for making this happen. This is an item I will always value. One look at it brings back a flood of memories of friends and stories I have made in my running career that has truly changed my life in a number of ways. It's something you can't put a price tag on. No amount of wine can show my appreciation for this great creation!

20 Races in 2013

Believe it or not, I participated in a total of 20 walk/run events in 2013, doubling the amount of races I ran in 2012! Most of the events had a fun element added in, such as running through foam (Logan 5K Foam Fest) or running with your dog (Run With The Pack 5K, Avon Lake Dirty Dog Run)! Many were done to support a cause, such as the Memory Walk for Alzheimer's or the Brace Against Hunger 5K. Most were 5Ks, but some were longer, such as the Capital City Patron Quarter Marathon, and some were shorter, such as the Boardman Memorial Mile. Each was fun and exciting in their own way, and I am happy to have successfully completed over 62.55 competitive miles in one year!

Below, you can find links to all 20 of these events from 2013, in chronological order! Hopefully these can give you ideas for races you can run in the New Year!

1. Fight For Air Stair Climb (February 2013 - 880 steps in 7:48 - Columbus)
2. Arnold Pump & Run 5K (March 2013 - 3.1 miles in 20:00 - Columbus)
3. Glo Run 5K (April 2013 - 3.1 miles in 31:00 - Columbus)
4. Boston Strong Ohio (April 2013 - 4 miles, untimed - Columbus)
5. Akron Color Vibe 5K (April 2013 - 3.1 miles in 26:00 - Akron)
6. Capital City Patron Quarter Marathon (May 2013 - 6.55 miles in 56:55 - Columbus)
7. Boardman Memorial Mile (May 2013 - 1 mile in 09:05 - Boardman)
8. Run With The Pack 5K (June 2013 - 3.1 miles in 39:00 - Columbus)
9. Foam Fest 5K (June 2013 - 3.1 miles in 50:00 - Logan)
10. Darby Creek Trail Run (July 2013 - 6.2 miles in 1:03:00 - Galloway)
11. Avon Lake Dirty Dog 5K (July 2013 - 3.1 miles in 32:00 - Avon Lake)
12. Warrior Dash Ohio II (August 2013 - 3.1 miles in 37:53 - North Lawrence)
13. Brace Against Hunger 5K @ Gervasi (September 2013 - 3.1 miles in 24:23 - North Canton)
14. Akron Marathon (September 2013 - 4.8 miles in 39:40 - Akron)
15. Youngstown Peace Race (October 2013 - 2 miles in 14:38 - Youngstown)
16. Memory Walk For Alzheimer's (October 2013 - 1 mile, untimed - Boardman)
17. Ohio State 4 Miler (November 2013 - 4 miles in 33:57 - Columbus)
18. Kent State Stark Turkey Trot (November 2013 - 3.1 miles in 26:00 - North Canton)
19. Warren Kiwanis Turkey Trot (November 2013 - 2 miles in 16:20 - Warren)
20. Selfless Elf 5K (December 2013 - 3.1 miles in 24:16 - Akron)

Glo Run Recap

Photos by OHventures

First came mud runs, then came dog runs, and soon after came zombie runs. But now, a whole new kind of 5K walk/run has arrived: glow-in-the-dark! Like many novelty races, there are many different names for the same kind of event: the Glow Run (Columbus), Electric Run (Columbus & Cincinnati), and Glo Run (Columbus) are all examples, and many are taking their turns in various Ohio cities. On April 6, 2013, the Glo Run Columbus 5K walk/run was held and OHventures was there to try it out firsthand!

When I told my mom about a 5K walk/run that included glow sticks, laser shows, black lights, and fluorescent clothing, all she could do is laugh and say "sign me up!" My mom is not a runner, for the record, but she wanted to be a part of one the zany races that me and my brother were always taking part in! So, I signed up my mom, dad and aunt to do the Glo Run (although they joked and called it the "Slo Run" for them) when they came down to visit me in Columbus.

The "swag" for the Glo Run was pretty fun - we got neon shirts (either pink or yellow), race bibs (even though it was not a timed race), and glow-in-the-dark necklaces and "glasses" (which made us look like Wall-E). At many races, people do not wear the t-shirt until AFTER they completed the race and therefore "earned" the shirt. But, for this race, it was different. Everyone wore their pink or yellow neon t-shirts, since they themselves were part of what made the event stand out from the rest! The "Glo Run" text on the shirts in fact was "glow-in-the-dark"!

Also joining me in the race were my pals Beth (who ran the Jingle Bell Run with me in December), and Kristen (who recently participated in the Fight For Air Climb with me), The race began at 8:30 PM (you know, in order for it to get dark and all) and began/ended at Genoa Park, by COSI and the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. A DJ was spinning some jams for us to make it seem more like a techno rave than a 5K run! It was definitely a sight to see! Many people elaborated with their outfits: we saw a group of folks with neon green light-up afro wigs and another person with an outfit made entirely out of glow sticks! It was pretty bizarre if you took a step back and looked at what we were doing! But, we were having fun!

All of us agreed to walk the first half mile with my parents and aunt, as they are not runners. The first part of the course took us east on Broad Street, North on Marconi, and West on Spring. From there, Beth, Kristen and I took off running. As much as I wanted to stay with my family, it is just too hard for a runner like myself to not try my hardest! Unfortunately, it was very difficult for any "true runner" to truly run this whole race! That is because most of the rest of the course took place on the nearby bike path, and therefore was very narrow. This caused a massive bottleneck, given that there were so many participants.

Videos by OHventures

This just made us realize more that the Glo Run was definitely one to take lightly. We jogged our way through some pretty awesome tunnels where people blew bubbles, laser light shows bounced off the ceilings, and strobe lights flashed about. Another tunnel had black lights shining, which made for a pretty cool effect! Because of these fun additions and the slow moving crowd, Beth and I managed to finish in approximately 31 minutes. We grabbed some free snacks and water and waited at the "after party" for my parents, who came "sprinting" in at exactly 50 minutes. 

I have to say, I was very proud of my family for comleting the walk in such good time and good spirit! They said that they occasionally had spurts of energy and ran for a short while, but said they did not enjoy the hilly course. All in all, it was a pretty fun time. But we were definitely excited to go have our OWN after party having drinks at a nearby bar!