Diabetes Dash 5k

Diabetes Dash 5k

Diabetes Dash 5k

( 1 review )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Westerville,
    Ohio,
    United States
  • July
  • 3 miles/5K
  • Trail Race
  • Event Website

Craig Simpson

Delaware, Ohio, United States
11 47
2019
"Like Scaring Fish Out of the Water, Summer Arrived: Part 2"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Craig Simpson's thoughts:

Just three days after the Independence Day four miler was the Diabetes Dash 5K, a product of CRC Westerville Teammate Jeff Washburn & family. This is their race description:

“Ryan more than likely has Type 1 Diabetes.” These were the words spoken to us by our pediatrician on July 23, 2018.

Now here we are, nine months after his diagnosis, rocking our new normal. I am not trying to act like it has been a breeze, because to be honest, it has been a roller coaster of ups and downs, many sleepless nights, sleeping on his floor, waking up in the middle of the night to test his glucose levels, waking up to give him juice when his blood glucose is low, waking up to give him insulin when his blood glucose is high, and waking up to just make sure he is alive. Yes, I do that more than I should admit. This disease is one that sucks, but at the same time, makes me thankful this is what we were given. I count my blessings as I remind myself, it could be worse.

From the moment we entered into the Type 1 family, we knew it was our mission to help spread awareness, give hope to those dealing with the disease and to fight for a cure. We are very lucky for the support we have received from JDRF and want to do our part in giving back. We hope you can join us on July 7th for the inaugural Diabetes Dash 5K run/walk. The proceeds from the race will go to JDRF. Together we hope to someday, find a cure!

The Washburn family created such a buzz with the event, some Columbus area media took off with the story. Of course, hanging out with Jeff and others every week for our CRC Tuesday Night Track session meant that many of us would join in to assist and have some fun. Maybe we, as a team, we could push each other enough to get over the 18:00 barrier a few of us have been grasping for the last year or two. And not to mention some good-natured ribbing for the next few Tuesday track workouts. Even better, a post race party would take place nearby at The Draft Room.

Similar to the Independence Day 4 miler, this day would also start with a cloudy sky but that changed quickly as the race start moved closer. It was slightly cooler, but minimal. The field was a smattering of age groups along with a large contingent of CRC Westerville Teammates. If one didn't know any better you'd think it was a regular CRC Tuesday Night Track practice. At the gun I'm up front with CRC John, mostly because no one else wanted to be. I think I surprised him by not flying out the gate, rather I hung near him (as I did at the Columbus 10k last month).

A quarter mile in and a high school kid drifts by us and John follows, I then follow them. I can hear the footsteps of those behind me, but I continue on as the kid & John stretch their lead. At mile one I'm at 5:35 and haven't lost the leaders. Navigating the bike trail around the Westerville Sports Complex and Heritage Park we dodge wet and muddy sections left over from recent massive rains. I soon see John over take the kid and mile two comes in at 6:11.

I'm beginning to gain on the teen and John stretches his lead as we make the return trip. As we go under the N. Cleveland Avenue Bridge a second time, I hear footsteps from behind again. A moment later I notice CRC Teammate Ken come up on my left. To counter, I'm close enough to the teen to attempt a pass, but just as I try to dart around he pushes forward. I fall back behind him and he stretches his lead as I, too, push forward. I don't see Ken anymore, but I can still hear him.

Keeping pace I cruise through the finish and stop my watch and see 16:53, of which I wanted to be ecstatic about if it weren't for the distance covered indicating 2.9 miles. Don't get me wrong, I was satisfied with I was wanting to do but the race distance measurement was off. And it just wasn't me, everyone else had the relative same distance covered as well. I did, however, earn a third place finish and the 40-plus year old CRC Westerville contingent took five of the top six places.

As for L, she finished in 22:56 which would have put her on pace for a 5k personal record. This included a 32nd place finish and an age group victory. We finished the morning by grabbing some breakfast on the way home and eating it at a picnic table at Shale Hollow Park. We declined the post race party due to L having a city rec softball game later in the day and we needed to crash for awhile. Sooner or later I will be able to tout a sub-18:00 5k, but I'm getting ever so close.

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