This past Saturday I volunteered at the Howell Conference and Nature Center’s ‘Save The Wildlife’ 5K. It was a beautiful morning for the runners and walkers, cool and crisp at the start, then sunny and warming as the race concluded. It was also perfect weather for the volunteers, who sometimes struggle to stay warm without the assistance of generating a little extra body heat via exercise.
The 5K course traversed the trails on the property with a decent uphill on both of the first two miles, but the runners had the benefit of a good downhill on the last mile. It was great to see so many ages participating in the run and walks. Excellent support, smooth operation of the race and all of the athletes that I spoke with indicated they’ll be back next year.
The race staff has really become super organized in this third year of the event. This year the organizers went to full ‘chip’ results – start and finish timing – with the B-tag technology. A B-tag is where an RFID device is part of the runner’s bib (number) that they wear. It records their time from when they cross the start mat till the time they cross the mat at the finish line for an accurate event interval. This is different than ‘gun time’ where everybody has the same starting time, even if you’re the last person to cross the start line. Competitive runners certainly prefer a chip-timed event.
The Center has a lot of great activities - a Wild Wonders Wildlife Park, summer camps, a ropes course and zip line and Michigan’s tallest climbing tower. There’s also the new Nature Zone Center, periodic wildlife photo workshops, special events and don’t miss the new courtyard. The families of the participants had plenty to do while they waited for the athletes to finish their event.
The race started promptly at 10am with the first 5K runner coming across the finish line with a time of 19:29. Awards were wrapped up by 11:40am, leaving plenty of Saturday left for other things. Funds from the race will be used for the wildlife rehabilitation center
The Howell Conference and Nature Center is one of the area’s jewels. Great family activities, environmental education, and they are generally the ones called when an injured animal is found. If possible, they’re rehabbed and put back into the wild. They do accept general donations, donations of needed supplies for the infirmary, or gifts through the animal adoption program. You can visit their web site at http://www.howellnaturecenter.org/index.htm, or better yet, drop in for a visit.
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