Run for the Law

Saturday, March 15, 2014

On this particular Saturday, I had registered to be in the SOS (Securing Our Safety) St. Patrick’s Day Run for the Law 5K/10K Walk/Run, but I didn’t actually walk or run the course.  I was after the litter in and around the staging area, Club Northwest. 

I was a bit late for the start of the race, but in a way, just in time.  I found a parking space a good block away and had put on my tunic and set up my sign when the runners started coming down the road toward me, a bright, colorful mass with their mix of clothing colors highlighted by apple green race T-shirts, the same color as my tunic. I quickly got out my camera phone and started taking pictures until they were mostly passed, which took a long time.  They just kept on coming.  450 people showed up; 400 were in the race, which is pretty good for a race or a demonstration of support for local law enforcement.

By the time I got my leaflets folded and litter bag marked and started picking up litter along the sidewalk up to Club Northwest, there were runners returning up the sidewalk. It was downhill from a vacant lot along one stretch, and rocks had been washing down the clay-silt hillside onto the sidewalk.  The runners truly appreciated me moving the rocks off the sidewalk. 

Officer Dave Daniels was one of the early returnees, moving fast.  I shouted “Run Dave, Run!”  He ended up winning his age class, but I was talking about his run for sheriff. 

As I got to Club Northwest’s first driveway, I found about half an 18-pack of Budweiser 12-oz cans full of beer, some in their half-ruined box that was resting on the hillside below the first parking spot and above the sidewalk, with the rest scattered along the sidewalk and gutter.  After I gathered them up, I had to stop picking up other litter as my arms were full, so I brought them into the race gathering, and laid the full cans out just past the finish line.  They disappeared before the end of the prize awarding, as I picked up litter amongst and around the people.

I got lots of kudos, including another $20 donation from Doranne Long, who also wanted to take some photos of me picking up litter for publication.  I said I need a new one for GPgardener.com for spring. 

I was picking up a lot of pieces of thin white and blue plastic, which at first I thought were flaking paint, they were so fragile, but some pieces were larger and didn’t break up.  After a while, I figured out they were pieces of triangular banners strung along a few booths that were disintegrating from age.  As things were being cleaned up, I heard that they were borrowed, but had been acknowledged as being tired by the folks they were borrowed from.  

As one man started carefully folding them up to return them, I vetoed that and offered my litter bag.  He went for that instead, and I made sure that none of those banners would be spreading litter any more.  I stuck around until nearly everyone was gone and I had gotten all of the litter in the race area.  Next stop: the Fairgrounds for two more events.  

I got to thinking that this could be another service offered for sponsorships: event cleanup: before; during; and after an event, for $100 per event, to be listed on an Event Sponsors page.  The camaraderie and kudos attending an SOS event are exceptional though, and I will continue to do their events for free, just to support the group effort.