Column: Here’s to a great Bellin Run and a healthier, happier tomorrow – Green Bay Press Gazette
Column: Here’s to a great Bellin Run and a healthier, happier tomorrow Green Bay Press Gazette
The 43rd annual Bellin Run continues to amaze with ‘strangers building each other up, supporting and cheering for one another.’
GREEN BAY – A few years ago, a frequent Bellin Run participant wrote a wonderful blog post about how we should treat each other like it’s race day, every day — taking the incredibly supportive, encouraging atmosphere of the Bellin Run and treating each other (even strangers) accordingly year-round.
I love this concept and it’s something I had in mind throughout race weekend as I watched 11,070 runners and walkers, along with 1,000-plus volunteers and countless spectators participate in the 43rd annual Bellin Run.
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I saw it in our Friday events — in the smiles of our Back to the Road Crew walkers, the determination of our myTEAM TRIUMPH captains and angels, and in the exuberance of our youngest participants in the Children’s Run.
It continued into Saturday in the help of our volunteers, the cheer-yourself-hoarse support of our spectators and in the way everyone from our fastest elites to our most leisurely walkers shared the accomplishment of going the distance.
Our participant’s blog post — which we’ve linked to on the Bellin Run homepage — was right on. Every year, I see perfect strangers building each other up, supporting and cheering for one another regardless of age, race, size or speed. And what a powerful idea — to continue that respect and encouragement of those we don’t know long after the finish line has been dismantled and the last water cup has been swept away.
And what if we took that concept a step further? What if we took the healthy habits the Bellin Run fosters and incorporated them into our daily lives? You might not always be training for a 10K walk or run, but making physical activity a part of your life year-round can have an incredible effect on your health — both physical and mental.
As you prepared for our event, you probably took care to eat the right things, stay well-hydrated and get plenty of sleep before the big day. What if you treated these aspects of your health the same way whether or not it was race week?
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As we celebrate the 43rd annual Bellin Run, we’re not only reflecting on an amazing few days with our runners, walkers, volunteers and spectators. We’re also looking ahead to a healthier future for the people of northeast Wisconsin and upper Michigan – for each of you who helped make race weekend the incredibly successful celebration it was.
So keep running or walking. Keep fostering those social connections by participating in community events and volunteering to help others. Eat well, stay hydrated and get the sleep you need to tackle each new day. Treat each other right.
Thank you for an amazing Bellin Run. Mark your calendars for June 13, 2020. We’ll see you at the start line.
Randy Van Straten is the Bellin Run executive race director.
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