Tim Bentley wants Southern Arizona runners to know one thing in advance of Saturday’s Spring Cross Country Classic 5K: Fastest, slowest, it doesn’t matter. Just run.
Well, another thing: Bring a mug.
The 3.1-mile race will be followed by a potluck, egg toss and beer garden, a key selling point to thirsty runners, and is expected to draw more than 250 entrants.
The Star talked to the event’s co-director:
From the beer garden afterward and the egg toss, it seems clear that you are seeking participants from across the spectrum of ability:
A: “Regardless of where our finishers are on their journey, everyone is on the journey to better themselves. I tell people all the time, there’s only one winner of the race, but 400 or 500 finishers, sometimes 1,000 finishers. Everyone has a story about why they run the race. I love fast people; that’s fun to watch. But I’m just as inspired, if not more, by someone running in their first race, setting a goal, accomplishing it. They’ve made the decision. Those stories are just as valid as the winner who ran the fastest. Everyone invests the time to practice, run, train, get up in the morning. You can’t discount the story.”
What is the community aspect of an event like this, and how does it bring people together?
A: “The community aspect is everybody facing the same challenge, and everyone is usually running for themselves or a someone else or a cause. Getting to the starting line, the same nervousness, understanding that everyone is running the same trails, hills, and that it’s going to be hard. Fastest, slowest, everybody has to face the same challenge. There is a shared, common bond. We looked at this course, we ran it, we conquered it. We did it together. That’s what draws people to these races. There’s been such a running boom the last eight to 10 years, and 5Ks are one of the fastest growing races in the country. It’s huge. It’s because people have the desire to take care of themselves, family and community.”
You mentioned that people often run for someone or something; as a non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor, how important is it to find that thing to run for, and how much more important does it make these events?
A: “What I think that people find in themselves is that personal challenge of overcoming something in your life and how running can help. For me, personally, running gave me a lot of tools to fight that battle. That was a determined attitude, a commitment to do the hard things, the understanding that if I don’t get up and run, no one is going to do that for me. You can find that in life. If I don’t get to work, no one does it for me. This little $15 race — you can really find the meaning of life in Tucson.”
Running a marathon, even a half-marathon, can be daunting for a lot of non-runners. Does having this event be a 5K encourage people not to be scared at the distance?
A: “If you’re going to say, ‘I’m doing a marathon,’ that’s lots of preparation, time, mileage — even a half-marathon. But a 5K — if you had to, you could go out and walk 3 miles today. It might take an hour and a half, but you could do it. But if you invested five weeks into this, you might complete it in 45 minutes. That’s a goal you can set for yourself that’s achievable. ‘I’m going to run a marathon for my 40th, or 50th’ — why not make a commitment to run, and it doesn’t have to be a marathon, but just start running and incorporate it in your life?”
This is billed as the only 5K in Southern Arizona with a beer garden — you called it a picnic with a 5K. Why is that important?
A: “I’ve been the director of this for about six or seven years, and we’ve had a beer garden since then. We had UA kids do a study in 2006, 2007, and we found people were often intimidated at a race. They thought it was all fast people. We thought, let’s make it fun and inclusive so people can have a good time from start to finish. You’re done, and there’s food, beer, an egg toss, you take some pictures. For $15 you had a great time. Maybe you didn’t run the fastest, but maybe it’s your first 5K and you want to do it again. Four hours of your Saturday morning, it was a riot and now you have a good taste in your mouth about running.”
