The Schrauger Memorial 5k Run

Our only experience with cross country races came from racing in them over the years. We had a general idea of what was needed to be done and started doing it. Since the race was my idea, the small group of seniors chose me to be the leader of the efforts. I tirelessly worked for a month and a half to make the race a success. We set the race date for November 17th which coincidentally would have been Josh's 18th birthday. We began by spending hours going door to door around the community trying to get businesses to sponsor the event. Next, I set up online registration on a popular site and began advertising on the internet, making flyers, commercials, emails, etc. We set up an email account specific for the race in order to help answer questions and communicate with possible sponsors.Once we got the building approved for use, we set a course and made maps. During our weekly meetings we designed a T-shirt including our sponsors on the back of it. Next, we ordered ribbons and medals to give to hand out to racers after the race. We also coordinated concessions including donated goods from local stores as well as a student-bake sale. A PO Box was set up to receive mail-in registration and my persistent nagging efforts earned us a spot in the local paper as well as the county paper. With over 215,000 people being able to learn of the race, I knew it would be big. I continued to manage race registration as well as managing the course. A week before the race we trimmed the course, drew the map, painted the lines, etc. The last few days were the most hectic. We set up registration area, coordinated a timing/finish area, recruited race-day volunteers, labeled pre-registered numbers, folded shirts and stuffed them into individual bags along with pins, numbers, maps, etc. The day of the race everything went smoothly. We efficiently worked through registering over 350 people in less than an hour and when the gun went off, the experience was powerful. After the race during the awards ceremony Josh's mother and father spoke to the mass of people. Hearing them speak of how happy they were was moving to all, after knowing the hardships the family had went through. As everyone wiped the tears from their eyes and left the race that day we knew we had to make the race an annual event. To see the impact it had on the community, as well as those of us who planned it was powerful. Since the family raised enough money to buy a house we spoke with them and agreed to use the money to help a different family. So, we decided each year the profits of the Schrauger Memorial 5k Run will go to a different local family involved in a tragedy. I made a detailed 30 page binder documenting how to plan the race so that future seniors could help plan it every year. Since I was heavily involved with the planning last year I contributed many hours this year to help plan it again-following similar steps as last year. This year the money went to a family with two members suffering from terminal cancer. To see the impact it had on this family, made us even more eager to continue holding the race.