The 2nd Annual JPM 5k & Musik Festival

It is that magical time of the year again when I turn my attention to the annual JPM 5k & Musik Festival.

Yay.

To be honest, I have been thinking about this festival since last year’s event. I really enjoyed the first annual JPM 5k & Musik Festival but I already had several ideas of how to improve the event. So I started planning last September for the event coming up this September.

That’s just how I roll.

Two of the biggest shortcomings from last year’s event include:

1. The Musik Festival started too late! Half of the runners grew weary of waiting around and took off before the music ever began.
2. The manual timing was a bit too hectic for my liking.

Changing the start time of the Musik Festival portion was simple enough, so I Moved it from 11am to 10am. I am also planning to have music playing from the stage around 9:30so that people can make their way to the stage on their way back from the Family Fun Walk.

Next was to line up a timing company. This will be a huge improvement and will make the whole event more enjoyable.
It turns out that I am not the only one who thinks a timing company is a great idea when planning a 5k.

Around mid-July I received a phone call from someone who was helping to plan a 5k in Winesburg, OH… on the same day that the JPM 5k was scheduled to be held in Fredericksburg, OH. The Winesburg run is called “The Great Grape Race” and it takes place every 5 years in conjunction with a big Winesburg anniversary celebration. They just do the race for fun, but they want to do it well. They contacted the same timing company that I had already booked and were told about the JPM event happening on the same day only a couple of towns away. So they contacted me to see if I would be willing to join them.

I certainly did not want to “compete” with them and was intrigued by the thought of possibly having the 5k on a new course, but for me it became a no-brainer when they said that all of the proceeds would go towards JPM. Since the 5k is my one official fund-raiser of the year, this all just seemed to make sense. So we went for it.

I am excited to announce that the 2nd annual JPM 5k & Musik Festival will be held in Winesburg, OH on Saturday, September 19 in partnership with the Great Grape Race. Registration is open now. I hope to see you all there!