Run for Russ
February 1 | Chino,
CA
The annual
Run for Russ is a 5K held by the Chino Police Department each year that contributes
to the memorial fund for Officer
Russ Miller, who was killed on the line of duty on February 1, 2000. This
year’s race was the 12th race, and held on the exact date he had
been killed.
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| Pre-race necessity. |
This race
was huge – at least in comparison to the other 5Ks we’ve done in Chino so far –
and it shows that there were nearly 800 finishers. It truly seemed like all of
Chino came out for this, which was a pretty cool sight to see. Even more than
that, two local sheriff’s training squadrons (one from Orange County, and one
from out in San Bernardino I think) were there to run the race as a squad. More
on that in a minute, because it was truly touching.
I didn’t
feel great even starting this race, but Doug apparently felt great. We chugged
along through mile 1, and somewhere between 1 and 2 we started to separate. I
felt a little more in my groove by mile 2, and followed one of the squads
alongside me. They chanted and sang the entire time – I can barely keep my
break running at a 9’ mile, let along yelling and singing the whole way. Holy
cow.
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| source. |
The
really touching part to me was when we ran by the new memorial, both sheriff
groups stopped and circled the memorial. Part of me wished I had stopped to see
what they had done, but I was so moved. It
was one of their own, whether they
knew the man or not, but wow… what a testament to the saying that officers are
all the same, they are one.
Just past
that, you turned the final corner and headed up a slight hill into mile 3 and
the finish. I stopped to walk just past the mile 3 marker – Doug told me later
that when he saw that (from behind) he thought “Sweet! I might actually pass
her!”… and then I started running again, but still finished not even a minute
before he did! He ran his first sub-30 5K! So proud!
The cool
part at the start/finish was the raised fire truck ladder that had a huge American
flag hanging over it. It reminded me a lot of Peachtree
and was a great way to mark the start and finish lines!
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| Triple Crown race #2, done and done! |
All in all,
a great race, and a great tribute. I think I’ll start doing this one every
year. It’s a such a great local, community effort, and obviously goes towards a
local purpose.
What’s
been the coolest thing you’ve run alongside in a race?
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