The Akron Half Marathon was my first half marathon. It was such a special occasion; you always remember your first, right? I had spent eight months training, learning about running, and learning about myself, and it all came down to that one moment. My coach, Sheila Avsec of the Towpath Turtles, had advised us to bring a piece of throwaway clothing because in late September Ohio temperatures can be a bit cool, especially at 6:00 am when you're waiting for the start.
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| This is the starting line of an Ohio race in September. Just kidding. |
For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about (because you live in Hawaii or something), runners need to dress as if the temperature is at least twenty degrees warmer than what it is because of rising body heat from exertion. Waiting around at the starting corral can get very chilly if you are dressed in a racing singlet and shorts in forty degree weather, so runners wear clothing they can peel off at the start of the race. Sometimes if they don't have clothing, they wear trash bags.
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| This is EXACTLY how I look waiting at the start of a race. |
I didn't want to wear a trash bag on the day of my big race, and I wanted everything about my first half marathon to be meaningful, so I searched through my old clothes to see if there was something I wanted to throw on the side of the street. Then I spotted it: an old, oversized button-down shirt from my days as a server at a chain steakhouse. I was so glad to leave that job, and I knew that this was the best way to throw off that part of my life. When the fireworks went off at the start of the race, I peeled off the shirt and threw it to the side of the street with a loud "HA!" It felt awesome.
Since then, I have run many races, and I have never had another emotional moment when it came to the throwaway. In fact, I usually forget to go to a thrift shop to buy a shirt, so I end up huddling under grungy towels I have to dig out from the trunk of my car, cursing myself for my lack of planning.
So, what does happen to all the clothing we throw to the side of the street at the beginning of a race? The story I've heard is that volunteers pick it all up and donate it to a local charity, but I've always wondered about the specifics of the throwaway. Who picks up the clothing, and what do they do with it?
This year the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon is working with Refuge of Hope Ministries in Canton, Ohio, which supplies shelter and hot meals to the homeless.
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| From their webpage: Through our Meal Ministry, we provide well balanced, hot, nutritious meals for the hungry and hurting. We serve six meals per week, the most of any such social service agency in the county. The number of meals we serve has increased dramatically, from 14,500 in 2008 to 73,322 in 2013. |
The volunteers from Refuge of Hope are going to make runners' starting-line planning much easier by offering to Rent a Throwaway at the Expo on Friday and Saturday, April 24-25. For a dollar, you can "rent" clean, donated clothing for the starting line shivers, and Refuge of Hope will even pick up the dropped clothing in the first mile and a half of the race. Think about how great that is: Most of us are still warming up for the first five minutes of a race. Now you can shed the clothing a little later than the starting line.
The Rent a Throwaway program is a way to give to the community while including all members of the community. For runners throwaways are a temporary convenience; for Refuge of Hope, throwaways are an opportunity to help those less fortunate.
Baby, it's cold outside! Don't bother agonizing over the weather and your starting line warm ups: Let the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon and Refuge of Hope Ministries take care of it for you!
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