Kingsley is one of the area’s many cross road towns. One thing that sets this town apart is the community support. This year they had an inaugural race to raise funds for a track at the middle school. With an entry fee of $5.00 and a 10:00 AM start time, it didn’t take long to make the decision to race. A race like this generally attracts 45-60 runners. Race day, DW and I slept in and head out at 8:45. When we got to the school an hour before the start time and it was a flurry of activity! Parking was great. Right away we saw Rodney, Dan from the local running store, Lisa and John2. So was Katie, on of the teachers at the school. There were over 100 runners and the place was a zoo!!!!! Since it was a race to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and it was 26F, I decided to wear a black ribbed Batman tank top, black running pants, asics gel shoes, a black Batman stocking cap and black gloves. As it was overcast and the wind was light, I left the sun glasses in the car. There was a young girl with Batman gloves and a boy with a Batman stocking cap with a really kewl Batsignal on it. There is hope for our youth!!!! John2 and I started next to each other about the middle of the pack. We both had 26 min goals. The map showed a whole lotta turns and road crossings. We decided we’d just follow Rodney. Just before the start, I ran back to DW and got a quick kiss. Then we were off!!! We started up a gentle hill and quickly lost sight of Rodney. He was wearing really bright colors and looked more like a one man Easter Parade than a Leprechaun. The course was all residential and, though there were lots of turns, it was well marked and well stationed. Thank goodness for volunteers. I had a hard time getting air and started to lag soon after the start. I reached into my utility belt…Let’s see……Hill repellent….Batgirls Illustrated….mace….a trout….there we are, Batman Chewable Decongestant Vitamins with Iron. Sweet. John2 started pulling ahead and I was getting nervous. About ½ the time he beats me, but it just couldn’t happen today. After catching up to him, a husky off of it’s leash wandered up and gave regards to many racers and spent about ¾ of a mile pacing John2 and I. We heard “Woof woof woof”. Which translates into “Timmy fell in a well and needs help!”. We hoped the dog found his way home as he left us. About ½ way I started getting my wind and pulled John2. As he had pulled me earlier, I yelled for him to catch up. He did once…Twice…Then faded…. I spent the rest of the race solo and enjoyed the gentle hills and was able to pass a few runners. With the finish line in sight I gave a final kick and out of no where a teen flies by me and I picked it up againand yelled "Thunder Thigh Powers Activate!", but could not catch him. 5K 26:59:94. I’ll call it 27 min in the record books. John2 was close behind. We both waited for Lisa to finish. I talked with a young man who finished in 50 min was really happy with himself. Real kewl. Also after the race, in a dark alley I saw two little kids with Batman gear and now I have a new hat and gloves. They don’t fit, but point is, there weren’t any witnesses. This part is kewl. First male and female finishers received plaques made by the schools’ shop classes. All the 12 and under runners received awards with their individual names called out. Rodney took 1st in his AG with another sub 20. This race was great!!! Well marked and stationed course. The Race Directors were very energetic and organized. It was mostly youths who won in the post race raffles. The only thing I’d change is to have the results posted so we could see how we did over all and in our Age Groups. We all hope this was the first of many St Patrick races for the school. Sweet.

Hi Steve, you definitely had a blast and did very well. Wow, there were other people dressed in Bat Gear? Very kewl. I also like the $5.00 fee and the 10AM start. Interesting that 100 runners= zoo (I would LOVE to do a race with only 100 runners). Bask in the glory, Your Batness....

Kewl race and report!! So, did you fry up that trout for dinner? They should really raise that entry fee to ten dollars..

Would love to race with you. You seem to make all these events more enjoyable and your reports are superb. Thanks Steve. Spareribs

Great report Batman as always. I still haven't heard if Bayshore is on your Bat Schedule. I hope so . Hope to see you May 26th.

Nice report steve, My wife and I saw the latest clips of the new Batman movie coming out at the show last weekend. I must say that the Joker you battle in this one is much more real looking. To bad about Bayshore I was hoping to see you there. Maybe we will run into each other at a volunteer station or something.

Nice run, Steve, and as usual a fun report That’s a beautiful area you live in. When I was I kid I used to hitch hike from the slums of Flint up to Lake Charlevoix, Boyne, and that area during the summers. Great place.

However, sorry it was such a zoo with doubling entrants to 100 runners, .

I chuckled when I wrote about the zoo. I had no idea how funny it was at the time!