Curtain Call on the Inaugural Geist Half Marathon & 5K

What was once a dream to many residents came to fruition. After countless hours of planning, the inaugural Geist Half Marathon & 5K finally happened.

Looking back, it was February of 2007 when I was sitting at Mama Bears having coffee (like I always do on Friday mornings) with Bob Tollini. We set out each week to solve world problems, and we are more than happy to share our thoughts with anyone that stops by to say “hello.” On this particular morning, Bob and I were talking about the need for a local event at Geist. Bob is an avid swimmer and was training for his first triathalon, so the idea of a similar event came up. I went home and was finishing up the February “atGeist Community Newsletter” when I decided to add a blurb calling for others that might be interested in helping organize some sort of event.

This is me with my daughters and friends before the 5K race (left to right) Taylor Britt, Stefanie Turk, Cassie King (with all the hair), Elizabeth McGarvey, Fred McGarvey, Tory Britt and moi (with no hair).

Two weeks later, much to my surprise, there were about 20 people gathered around a board room table at Burd Ford talking about a half marathon. Everyone from professional race consultants to Geist neighbors that just like to run were there. We were excited, optimistic and willing to do whatever it took to pull off what would be the biggest single-day event in Geist history. We met weekly at first, calendaring the event itself and organizing ourselves into a bona fide not for profit. After the launch announcement on May 1st, the heavy lifting began, and the dream of hosting a half marathon around the reservoir became an extended task list.

Now that you know the story behind the Geist Half Marathon & 5K, I’d like to call out some neighbors and businesses that made our first race so successful. Consider this my personal curtain call on the first of hopefully many “Races Around the Reservoir.”

• 4,500 Participants: A sold-out field for our first race was something we never imagined — 2,500 registered for the half marathon; 2,000 signed up for the 5K race. What was surprising was the volume of school-aged kids that participated– just over 1,300 from more than 60 schools.
• Over 700 Volunteers: Most of our volunteers were local residents that just wanted to help. Non-runners, residents living along the race route, family members, local retirement communities, teachers, Key Club students and service groups like the Exchange Club came to pick up a blue t-shirt with “Event Crew” on the back and do whatever was needed. We even had a small group of “Volunteer Commandos” that took on larger assignments and helped out with business and resident notifications prior to the race. What is most remarkable about these volunteers is none of them were paid; they all donated their time to support the cause. Also to your credit is the spirit in which you operated — cheerful and welcoming ambassadors for Geist.
• Bands: Cindy’s in Stitches owners Cindy Hannon and Cindy Johnson organized the musical talent along the half marathon route. You all kept the runners and walkers moving and provided a lot of encouragement along the way. Bands like SoundKrew, Frontline Existence, Da Fish Tank, Naked with Blake, Falling Awake, Above the Garage, Chad Mills Live, Chronicle, Stone Soup Jazz, and a group led by my neighbor Kyle Nagy (with a name to be determined) came out in the wee hours to set up and play. We even had a cheerleading group from Geist Sports Academy come and cheer on runners.
• Cambridge Residents: Both races meandered through Cambridge, filling their streets with a sea of runners and walkers for over an hour. Several of you came out and staffed the “Jim Verona” water stop; others came out in lawn chairs and clapped for race participants as they came by. At the finish line and in the participant surveys, many people commented on the enthusiasm shown in Cambridge.
• Race Route Residents: For those of you that came out to support the runners and volunteers, dealt with the traffic inconveniences, and posted the light blue signs reminding everyone of the traffic restrictions, you were great hosts, and your neighborhood was chosen to run through for this very reason.
• First Lady Cheri Daniels: Our official starter of the Geist Half Marathon and a 5K participant.
• Brooke Roe: 14-year-old singing sensation Brooke Roe from Noblesville did a beautiful job on the national anthem.
• Pat Carlini: Endured a couple commercial shoots with me for Comcast ads that aired prior to the race. After a few dozen takes, I always got my line at least once.
• Geist Self Storage: For providing a storage unit for all the stuff we amassed in late April and early May.
• Britt’s Professional Packing & Moving: Debbie Britt provided a superb gear-check service on race day.
• Lincoln Square Pancake House: Kris Katris hooked up our volunteers with amazing breakfast items on race day morning.
• Genesis/Sentry Management: Leslie Stoeffler was our first paying sponsor of the results tent, and she helped out considerably recruiting volunteers.
• Cardinal Fitness: Provided the nifty blue bracelets with “GEIST 1/2 MARATHON” on them to kids in the Healthy Kids Incentive Program. Area clubs also hung our colorful Geist Half Marathon & 5K banners to promote the event.
• Waterstop Sponsors: Not only did they all donate cash to the cause, they also recruited their own employees and family members to staff the water stops around the course. Thanks to Angela Duggan for organizing and communicating to them in the weeks prior to the event. Jones Orthodontics, Geist Harbours Property Owners Association, Wagner & Associates, Old National Bank, Finance Center Federal Credit Union, Integrity Metals, Geist Watershed Alliance,and Geist Patrol were all great examples of local businesses getting involved.
• Papa Johns Pizza: Ty Despain commandeered over 200 pizzas for us to use throughout the year. Most pizzas went to feeding volunteers during the week of the race; others went to local schools for their after school programs.
• Steve Nagy: A neighbor of mine that does some great design work. Steve donated all his time to help develop several marketing pieces, applications and logos.
• Glenn & Cheryl Troyer: Our first registered volunteers put in countless hours during race weekend. If the name Cheryl doesn’t sound familiar, it’s probably because we all called her “Matt’s Mom.” (Mother of Geist Half Board Member Matt Troyer)
• Kent Duckwall and the Marina Limited Partnership: Alan Rosenberg, Rob Bussell and Kent Duckwall were all very supportive. Besides making room for the post-race party and providing boat shuttles on race day morning, Kent really championed this event with the Geist Marina Village merchants.
• Heather Whitaker: Mt. Vernon Intermediate School PE teacher that called me one morning in December on her way to school excited about the Geist Half Marathon & 5K. She went on to organize and recruit over 200 students from Mt. Vernon schools.
• David Ayers: Hamilton Southeastern Foundation board member that organized the shuttle system, packet pickup, parking and everything else that was connected to HSE Schools.
• Jaleen Royer: PE teacher at Crawfordsville Middle School that not only trained her students but figured out a way for them to make the two-hour trip to get here.
• Pam Day: Teacher at Indian Creek Elementary in Lawrence Township that orchestrated the “Up and Running Program,” netting over 700 Lawrence kids for our first race.
• Christie Love: Executive Director of the Lawrence Township Foundation that helped promote the race throughout the Lawrence schools. If you know Christie, you know this wasn’t hard for her to do.
• Shannyn Miller: PE teacher at Hoosier Road Elementary that inspires her students everyday to exercise.
• Jim White: HSE’s Director of Transportation recruited the best bus drivers and masterminded a shuttle system that had never been done before.
• Runners Forum: Sponsored the Month of May Marathon Club, giving away over 400 technical shirts to runners that endured our half marathon and another sanctioned 13.1 mile race in May.
• WIBC 93.1 FM: Provided over $10,000 worth of airtime promoting the race.
• Bella Vita Ristorante: Henri and Shelley Najem (Cambridge residents) provided box lunches for race-day volunteers, food for the pasta dinner, a great venue for the post-race festivities, and all the fruit, drinks and food at the finish line.
• Geist Jewelers: Dennis and Beth Morton (Gray Eagle residents) designed the finishers’ medals and stamped out over 4,500 of them, including the gold, silver and bronze medals for the top three winners of the half marathon.
• Allegra Printing: John and Doreen Long (Cambridge residents) took an early leap of faith and donated over $10,000 of printing for race applications and posters.
• Comcast: LTSF Board Member and Geist resident Mark Apple was responsible for initiating over $40,000 in commercials throughout the Comcast network in Indiana. Thanks to their generous sponsorship, people from all over the state of Indiana learned about our race and signed up.
• Community Health Network: Not only did they donate $20,000, Community donated thousands of hours from their employees and family members. Setting up a mobile hospital at the finish line and providing medical assistance along a 13.1 mile race is not easy. John Zartman, Dan Hodgkins, Sue Reimbold, Miles Collins, Sue Sandberg, Todd Williams, Andrea Brown and Chelsea Vargas were internal champions for the inaugural race. We also owe a great debt of gratitude to Barb Summers, President of Community North, and Mark Dixon, President and CEO of Community Hospitals of Indiana, for evangelizing our cause from their email pulpits.
• Chad Antcliff: He ran point on everything from logistics to port-o-lets during the last three months leading up to the race. His leadership and time commitment was second to none.
• And last, but certainly not least, the Geist Half Marathon board of directors: Josh Carter, Matt Troyer, Michael Turik, Vince Auten, Jeff Graves and Marty Day. I can’t say enough about this group of neighbors and race professionals that donated countless hours to this event. To think that all of them (except Matt, he came to the board after founding board member Rennie Brissenden was transferred) were in that board room at Burd Ford from the very beginning is remarkable. We would also be remiss if we didn’t thank our spouses and families, who helped in many ways behind the scenes. Your contributions to the Geist Half Marathon Inc., and more importantly, the Geist Community, make us all proud.

We set out to put on a showcase community event that would make us all proud. To the entire Geist Community and extended family: Mission accomplished. I can’t wait until next May.

HSE Schools Helped Host Geist Half Marathon & 5K, Will Benefit from Race Proceeds

While Lawrence Township rallied more student runners, the Geist Half Marathon & 5K would not have happened without the support of Hamilton Southeastern Schools and their many volunteers.

Dave Ayers of the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation (HSEF) coordinated use of HSE facilities, along with 32 buses and drivers for shuttling runners and spectators to and from the start and finish lines. Ayers credits HSE Transportation Director Jim White and Charlie Hoover, the Assistant Principal at HSE High, for spearheading those efforts.

“They did an awesome job, and we are very proud of the results of their efforts,” Ayers said. “Even the drivers earned rave reviews from all 3,700 runners who showed up and rode a school bus.”

About 200 HSE students ran the 5K, with a large and enthusiastic group coming from Hoosier Road Elementary.

HSE Schools boasted a huge number of volunteers who served in a variety of ways, including 43 HSE High students, nine HSE Foundation board members and five teachers who worked either at the package pick up, the start line or the finish line. Even Sandra Hollingshead, HSE’s interim superintendent, volunteered on race day.

“We will use our share of race proceeds to promote health, wellness and fitness initiatives like teacher grants in this area, and possibly consider scholarship help for graduating seniors pursuing higher education in these areas,” Ayers said.

What a great community effort!

Finish Line Video From Geist Half & 5K

Here is some video at the finish line of the Geist Half Marathon & 5K. This clip captures the men’s winner of the Geist Half Marathon, Chris Swisher.