Family friends fun run through 2019 5K/hike series
At only 10-months-old, William Thompson was certainly in the running to be the youngest participant in this year’s Run the State 5K events at Fort Harrison State Park.
What people may not know about William (who slept through at least some of the run, pushed along at a brisk pace in his stroller by his father John) is that the Aug. 17 race was actually his second visit to the park.
“He was here last year, too,” Mom Betsy Thompson joked as the family of four posed for a photo. “He just wasn’t in the pictures.”
William was still a couple months away from being born in August 2018 when Betsy, John, and their elder son Henry (now 6) ran and walked the 3.1 mile course at the treasured Hoosier state park. Betsy, a program coordinator for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Office of Air Quality, and John, an employee of the Johnson County Highway Department, are making getting out and getting moving a regular activity for their family.
The Run the State series fits that bill nicely, and looks to be part of the family’s fitness agenda in the springs and summers to come.
“We did three or four [Run the State] runs last year,” said John. “We really enjoyed it.”
The family has previously been part of Run the State events at Turkey Run State Park and Clifty Falls State Park as well, but the grand finale to the 2019 series was anything but old hat; if anything it was yet more feathers in the caps of a family focused on staying well.
“From a personal standpoint, I want to stay as active as I can,” John said.
The Thompsons are showing that the family that runs together has fun together, and that appeared to be a common trend at Fort Harrison. As an approaching storm threatened to dampen the festivities a bit, several dozen state employees, their families, friends, and more than a few dogs tackled the course at any pace they chose. Some pushed themselves to improve their times while others turned the 5K into an extended summer morning walk. There was no wrong way to be part of the pair of 5Ks, which, along with the series’ previous events, married some of the Hoosier State’s finest state parks with a popular fitness activity.
“I’d love to be part of even more,” said Indiana State Board of Accounts Chief of Staff Matt Light. “I try to do as many 5Ks as I can.”
Light was among the first finishers in the 8:30 a.m. iteration of the 5K, crossing the finish line with a small group of men and women who ran all – or nearly all – of the course.
The fastest finisher was a retired carpenter from Muncie, who visited the park that morning and decided to join the fun. The 5K itself was nothing new for Chet Paskiewicz, an avid runner with nearly two dozen Ironman triathlons to his credit. A triathlon involves completing a 2.4- mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and a 26.2-mile marathon – all in the same day.
Nurse Practitioner Tammy Lightner accompanied Paskiewicz and was the first female participant to finish the race. Though not employees of the state of Indiana, Paskiewicz and Lightner praised the Run the State series as a positive way to keep employees engaged in their individual wellness journeys.
Nick and Sarah Staller were another couple who didn’t waste time on the trail Saturday morning.
The Stallers said they are not regular runners, but both enjoy sports and outdoor activities. Sarah jokingly defined their completion times as simply “fine” in this year’s event.
Sarah works for Elements Financial while Nick, who enjoys playing basketball recreationally, is section chief for the IDEM Office of Land Quality. This was the third year in a row they finished the course at Fort Harrison.
“It was a good way to start the Saturday off with a good workout,” Nick said.
Those sorts of Saturdays are already the norm for Pu Han, an IT project manager for the Indiana State Department of Health. Like the Thompsons, Han has been part of previous Run the State events at Clifty Falls and Fort Harrison. She hopes to add Turkey Run to the list at some point in the future.
Han’s precocious companion Aug. 17 was Bruno, an energetic Labrador retriever who appeared to be as excited as any other participant – four legs or two – on race day. Bruno was part of a caravan of canines of all shapes and sizes who joined their human family members for a jaunt around the park.
Exploring the parks is a goal of each Run the State event as the Hoosier State is home to some of the nation’s most beautiful nature preserves. Venetta Keefe, an Indiana Department of Transportation employee for more than 20 years, said she thinks hosting the series in state parks incentivizes employees to show up. There is always so much to do.
“It’s a great way for the state to promote the state parks,” said Keefe.
To that end, this year’s series visited the previously mentioned Clifty Falls and Turkey Run State Parks, while also making stops at Indiana Dunes and Angel Mounds State Historic Site. The weather wasn’t always cooperative (a snowstorm threatened Dunes runners, while a heat advisory made Turkey Run a sweltering affair), but the many who joined the events this season proved that fun can be had anywhere in Indiana – and in any sort of weather.
All it takes is setting aside an hour or two for a Saturday in the park. Venetta Keefe thinks the benefits are more than worth it.
“It’s not really about the time,” Keefe said. “It’s about your health.”
Story by Brent Brown Indiana State Personnel Department