Sometimes, running is about working – speedwork, hill repeats, fartleks, long runs.
But other times, it’s about fun. Getting out there to run, play and explore.
Such was the case Friday, at the beginning of the Fourth of July weekend, when perhaps as many as 100 runners from across Greater Cincinnati decided to do what one running group called a Magical Mustache Run. It wasn’t a coordinated effort – at least four different groups had the same idea during the same time, and it sometimes turned into a friendly competition as to who could get to the most mustaches over the course of the morning.
For the uninitiated, the mustaches are statues in Cincinnati, Newport and Covington to celebrate the Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, which will be held in the home of America’s first professional baseball team on July 14 at Great American Ballpark. Each statue – about 2 1/2 feet high, 8 feet wide and weighing some 850 pounds – is a large handlebar mustache, a reference to the styles of the 1869 Reds. Each is painted to show a connection to local baseball history.
The statues are placed throughout the downtown area, bleeding over to Covington and Newport. So what better way to see them all than on foot, in the early morning rain, with a group of similarly loopy running friends?
“This was a run suggested by Stephanie Erskine Rath,” said Jim White, who coordinates some of the Friday morning fun runs for the running group, Pain By Numbers.
“That’s what I love about our Friday runs – someone makes a great observation or suggestion, and the next run it becomes reality. After years of Friday runs, we keep finding different ways to experience our running environment to keep it fresh and fun. Some destinations are staples, but even we get to a mustache now and then. If we aren’t laughing, we aren’t running.”
For her part, Rath said the Friday runs help her get to know the city she’s lived in for three decades.
“We care more about the sights and stories than the running, and we learn about our hometown and each other along the way,” she said. “This Friday’s mustache run added the excitement of zigzagging, splitting up, and keeping our eyes peeled to find each ‘stache along the way. I couldn’t love our city any more.”
The Pain By Numbers plan was simple: Start at the Left Bank Cafe in Covington. Find the mustache in Covington, head across the Ohio River, find the various ‘staches in Cincinnati, and head back via Newport, which also has a ‘stache.
For the record, the runners completed the approximately 10-mile course in about an hour and a half.
“This was the first Friday I was able to make the run even with a bummed hamstring,” said Charlene Silence Badenhop. “I didn’t want to miss this one. I am loving this city more each year.… There were about five guys that photo-bombed us in Findlay (Market). We joked with them. I told one of the guys that we are the running family, friends.”
Along the way, they ran into several other groups with the same idea – from Cincinnati Run ’n’ Tri, Bob Roncker’s Running Spot and the Queen City Running Club. There may have been more.
“About 60 of us started in Covington, and we ran to all of the mustaches throughout Northern Kentucky and downtown Cincinnati, for about 13 miles total,” said Maura Johnson, with the Queen City group. “It was a good time and an even better display of unity among all of the running groups.”
There was unity, and, these being runners, there was also some friendly competition. They started running from ‘stache to ‘stache to see who could get there first. Pictures from the groups show various efforts to upstage the last photo, including police officers and doing handstands.
“We got to see all the different mustaches around Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati while being chased by another running group sharing in the fun as well,” said Melanie Owen.
“It was really funny because we had 12 runners, and then about 50 runners started following us. We decided to make it a race. We lost them by the time we got to Union Terminal. It was all in good fun and everyone was smiling.”
Paul Long writes weekly for the NKyTribune about running and runners. For his daily running stories, follow him at dailymile.com or on Twitter @Pogue57