‘We did it for the ice cream’

MONROE — Prairie City-Monroe 10th graders Noah Hirayama and Austin Simo had one goal Saturday morning — they wanted to get themselves on the front page of the paper. Despite cold, snowy temperatures, they donned a pair of Easter Bunny masks and ran the 3rd Annual Jersey Freeze Frosty Nose, Cold Toes 5K.

“We just wanted to get on the front page of the paper, we only signed up for the race yesterday,” Hirayama said Saturday.

Purchased last year at Wal-Mart during a Halloween costume closeout sale, the masks were only $5 each, but they presented a few challenges for the duo to overcome. While wearing the masks their visibility, as well as their breathing, was limited.

“Oh yeah, it was hard to breathe, I had to take mine off at times because I’m out of shape,” Simo said.

The cold weather wasn’t a challenge, Simo wore shorts on race day, and he said the temperature made it easier to run, but they’ve already got a plan to up the ante for next year’s race — they’re going to bring the bunny masks back — but this time they plan to hop the entire race.

Runners in the Jersey Freeze Frosty Nose, Cold Toes 5K faced an unusual challenge during the annual race in Monroe — they were dodging snowplows after a late winter snowstorm dumped a few inches of snow on the town before the start of race day. Cold weather may be the norm for the annual event but the snow added an additional wrinkle. Crews of volunteers salted and sanded the starting line area before early Saturday morning to make sure runners had plenty of traction. Organizer Andrea Steenhoek said the unpredictable weather is what makes the race unique.

“If the weather’s good, the weather’s good,” Steenhoek said. “We don’t call it frosty nose, cold toes for nothing.”

With 178 runners signed up for the event, Steenhoek didn’t have to worry about the snowy, slushy weather dimming runner’s spirits, most of them were running for the ice cream. The event’s biggest sponsor is the local ice cream shop, Jersey Freeze.

Jersey Freeze owner Lynn Donahue provides free ice cream for runners every year, a big draw no matter how cold it gets outside. The promise of free ice cream was enough to get Laura Clingman and her boyfriend Nolan Crossett to drive up from Knoxville for the race, even though Clingman admitted she had second thoughts when she looked out the window Saturday morning and saw snow falling.

“I didn’t want to run, I wanted the ice cream,” Clingman said. “I hate running, I’m just here for the ice cream, that’s my motivation.”

Runners weren’t the only ones bundled up for Saturday’s race, an army of volunteers worked the event as well, manning street corners to cheer on the athletes and direct traffic during the race. Steenhoek admitted the weather has “slowed us” but she said she’s just glad to see many members of the community share her love of running.

“I just have a real passion for running and walking,” Steenhoek said. “I think it brings people together.”

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com