The 5th Annual David’s Run for Autism was held on May 4th, 2019 in Nappanee, IN. Race Day weather was really nice with cloudy skies and temps right at about 50 degrees. This is not a large race, but it is for a good cause. All proceeds go to benefit Autism Charities. There were 48 participants in the 3k, and 105 in the 5k.
Packet pickup was easy with two options. You could pick up your packet the night before at Nappanee Elementary School (Race location) or you could get it race morning. We elected to get ours the evening before, just to get it out of the way. Race shirts were a bright orange cotton shirt with the colorful logo on the front and sponsors on the back. You also got a nice David’s Run for Autism pen as well. Very nice for office use at work.
Prior to the race, there was a couple of people who spoke, basically thanking everyone who came out to the race and came to Nappanee. Speakers included the mayor as well as race director, Noah Price (David’s Brother). David started this race back when he was in high school and has continued to do well with it ever since, even with him now going to school in Fort Wayne. Prior to the race, there was also a firetruck that kids could go up and see and ask the firemen questions. I think my son Derek spent about an hour asking the firemen about every question that he could think of. God bless them.
The race started just a few minutes after 9:00. There were 2 race distances to choose from, the 5k and the 3k. My oldest daughter, Emma, and I ran the 5k while Tina and my younger daughter Chloe ran the 3k. Derek just hung out with grandpa at the fire truck. The 5k started first with the 3k starting about 5 minutes later. https://youtu.be/vz3l_YUnZ1Q
I had no goals for this race. I was running a marathon the next day so I was taking this one easy. I guess you can say, my goal was not to win the race or to even win my age division. The course goes through a couple of neighborhoods in town as well as the town park. Due to downtown Nappanee being right along two very busy roads (SR 19 and US 6) the race does not go near downtown.
I really did what I wanted to do in this race, and that was to have a nice shakeout run before my marathon the next day. Honestly, i forgot that I had the marathon the next day when I registered for the race, but still managed to enjoy the day anyways. I ran in a time of 23:24, never running faster than a 7:30 mile. And I still finished 3rd in my division.
Emma ran a new PR in the 5k by running a 28:45. She finished 1st in her age division and 5th woman overall. Chloe ran the 3k in 23:01. To my knowledge, this was her first 3k on a road course and so we will call that a PR for her. She is getting better. 3k is also the race distance for middle school cross country, which she will run for the first time this fall. Our goal for her in cross county is not based on time, but rather on running the whole distance by the end of the year without walking. She did place first in her age division in this race (13 and under). Tina, who ran with Chloe, also won her own division.
If there was one thing I would suggest changing in this race is the age divisions. And what I mean by that, is primarily the younger divisions. the age divisions went like this:
- 0-13
- 14-16
- 17-19
- 20-30
- 31-40
- 41-50
- 51-60
- 61 and up
My suggestion would be to start with 10 and under. Then go 11-15, 16-20, and then every 10 years. They did miscalculate the number of medals they would need for awards which wasn’t that big of a deal to me. At least the younger age divisions go theirs before running out. But with fewer age divisions, the fewer awards you need. And some may complain about the 10 year age divisions, but with this not being a huge race and having 2 different race distances, I think think the 10 year age division is good enough.
Daddy, Did You Win? 