By David Freeze

We have been fortunate over the years with rain. I remember lots of forecasts for big rain that fizzled out. I remember only one that had worse conditions that what happened at the Wipe Out Colorectal Cancer 5K this past Saturday. That popular race benefited the fire department and was held at the J.F. Hurley YMCA. The finish was on the track behind the Y and all finishers had to run through 6-8 inches of standing water near the finish.

On Saturday, May 9, we heard the forecast all week calling for 95-100% chances of rain. Prayers for a better day didn’t work out this time. The 5K start was set near the dugouts at the Catawba softball field, with a quick run out that sidewalk over the bridge and a hard right on the greenway headed for the Crescent.

In an area where water often stands, recent rains made the situation worse. Water was already across the sidewalk before the early Saturday rains. Six inches of standing water again, and this would have been at the start of the race, not a good thing for shoes. We moved the start up on Forestdale Street, just outside the greenway entrance. A quickly painted S in the middle of the road made a brand new start line.

We didn’t expect a whole lot of the 172 registered runners to show up as the steady rain continued to fall. Volunteers to man the course intersections were missing too, another victim of the rain. But quick work by a shorthanded cone crew marked the course through the Crescent development and we were ready for a race.

Cars started to arrive and kept coming. All with wipers and lights on. Most of the runners and walkers got out seriously dressed for the rain. Race organizers from Rowan Diagnostic Clinic gave out free ponchos to all who wanted one. Headgear was varied and interesting as the rain got harder.

The finish line had to be shortened as standing water began to rise near the softball field. Participants were alerted at the last minute to drive to 1111 Forestdale, the new start. Suddenly the street was packed with cars as runners and walkers hustled to begin the race.

The race began on time at 9 a.m., just as the rain became a steady downpour. They ran and walked the greenway and toured the Crescent before heading back toward Catawba. In the meantime, SRR’s finish line volunteers had established a scaled down finish area with cones and a clock, which then quickly drowned out. The first runners back had to slow down to keep from running into the water.

I’ve seen few races with such a large number of the biggest smiles I have ever seen at a finish line. Finish line volunteers greeted the participants with more smiles, knowing that this was an unusual race, not just for the rain but for its purpose. It’s likely a race that few will forget, and Rowan Diagnostic Clinic organizers are already looking toward next year.

Race director Lauren Britt said, “The CheckIt4Andretti Foundation helped provide the connections and the funding to deliver colonoscopies to low-income, high-risk patients that are either uninsured or too young for their insurance to cover the procedure. Nancy Andretti is the founder of the foundation, and she created the movement after her husband, John Andretti (who is Mario Andretti’s nephew and a former NASCAR driver for Richard Petty), passed away from colon cancer at the age of 56. Nancy got in contact with our Digestive Health Associates office and our two GI doctors agreed to partner with the foundation to provide those colonoscopies for people in Rowan County. As of right now, we’ve raised just over $8,000 to donate to their foundation but we are expecting more donations to continue to come in, specifically from some of our doctors here.” Nancy, son Jarrett and daughters, Olivia and Amelia, all completed the race.

Britt continued, “One of RDC’s owners, Dr. Sean Malone, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2022 and is still battling it so this race and fundraiser was also to honor him and to get awareness out about early detection.” Contact Britt at lbritt@rowandiagnostic.com

For information on other upcoming events, see www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.