Traverse City Record-Eagle

2011 Cherry Festival

July 7, 2011

Cherry Festival races stay fresh

Saturday's 5K, 15K to feature new additions

By MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — The Cherry Festival's annual Festival of Races are among the oldest and most popular road races in the area.

Yet, there seems to be something new every year.

Both Saturday's 5K and 15K races will have something a little different than previous years.

"We're looking for ways to really make it unique," race director Lisa Taylor said.

Taylor said this year's 15K field should have about 1,000 runners.

The biggest addition to the longer and older race of the two will be a couple of new prizes. First, the top local finisher in both the men's and women's divisions will win a pair of Brooks running shoes. Also, a new prize has been added for the "Conquer McKinley" winners — the first runners to reach the peak of the large hill on McKinley Road.

"The McKinley Road crest is just over Center (Road). It's probably 200 meters west of Center," Taylor said, adding that two large signs will be placed on the side of the road to indicate where the peak is. "Our only requirement is that you do have to finish the race. That should be fun."

The male and female "Conquer McKinley" winners will receive running gear valued at more than $100.

Both the 15K and 5K races will add a "Team Challenge" component this year. Teams must have a minimum of five runners and will be ranked by their cumulative times.

"I know one group is up to about 20 people," Taylor said. "I see that as an addition to the competition, but also a way to have some social fun and be a part of a team."

The 5K should have a field around 2,500 runners. With such a large group — and some narrow areas of the course around Northwestern Michigan College and the Civic Center — there will be pace corrals at the starting line.

"The concept of pace corrals has been done to perfection at Boston (Marathon)," Taylor said. "They corral you little on your qualifying time. We're not going to actually corral people, but we do recommend runners to start based on their average mile time."

Volunteers will be holding signs for three categories: race, run and fun.

Taylor said the race group should be the serious runners at a pace between 5:30 to 8:30 a mile. The run group is for speeds between 8:30-12:30 miles while the fun group is for people at a 12:30 pace or slower.

Taylor said the evolution of chip timing makes it advantageous to start at the correct speed instead of pushing up to the front. Finishing times will reflect when runners cross the start, not when the gun goes off.

"As a race director, it's hard to educate people, because they want to start right out at the front," Taylor said. "It's good manners to start off at the location that reflects your ability. You won't be losing out. It's safer and it will reflect more accurately your actual time."

Saturday's 5K will begin at 7:50 a.m. and the 15K will start at 8:10 a.m. Both races begin on the NMC campus and end downtown just past the intersection of Front and Union Streets.

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