Ready to run ... again
Erickson family keeps Heart of Holladay racing into its 20th year of 5K runs
By Aimee Loveless
Close-Up Correspondent
Holladay families can get their hearts racing this weekend.
The Heart of Holladay 5K takes place Saturday.
The race has been a way for the Erickson family to celebrate its love of running, a passion held for more than two decades.
Kris Erickson and her husband, John Erickson, started the Heart of Holladay 5K race 20 years ago. The Holladay Merchants Association, of which John was a part, decided it wanted to host a race to promote local businesses. When the association dissolved, John Erickson decided to keep the race going on his own.
In the early days, only the merchants' friends participated because the merchants didn't advertise. Liane Stillman was the mayor of Holladay at the time and wanted to support the race. It is now held the same weekend as the city's Summerfest, though the city does not give any monetary support.
Organizing the race becomes a full-time job for Kris Erickson in the month before the race. She enlists her "PTA buddy moms" to help, because she "didn't have enough hours in the day."
Now, she has a committee of four who help with refreshments, a prize drawing, putting registration packets together and calling local businesses to ask for sponsorship.
Everything, from the NordicTrack T-shirts, runners' goody bags, prize money and race insurance comes directly out of the Ericksons' pockets.
"Making money is not the goal," said Kris Erickson. "We lost several thousand dollars for many years. If we have around 400 participants we figure we're pretty close to covering our costs."
The race makes a loop that begins and ends at City Hall. The Ericksons work with the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department to close roads, as well as Brighton Ski Resort's Volunteer Patrol, which supplies 20 volunteers who help with race course management.
Bill Cobler and his family have been participating for several years. Cobler ran during high school, but hadn't raced since starting his family. His daughter, then 9, saw a sign for the race and asked Cobler if he would race with her. Now 16, she is on the cross country team at East High, and the whole family now avidly runs.
"Heart of Holladay kicked that off," Cobler said. "The nice thing about it is the heart of it. It's a race that has tradition. It has a family atmosphere."
The Heart of Holladay is a family event. In addition to the 5K, there is also a one-quarter mile kids' run. The age categories are 7 and younger and 8 to 12 years. Preregistration has ended, but youngsters can still sign up for $15 on Saturday. Children receive a cotton shirt, finishers ribbon, coupon for free ice cream, cookies and more.
"The Ericksons think of a lot of the little details that make a race like this fun," said Dave Dellenbach, who has participated for several years. "They seem to have made it into a great little Saturday morning race. They have a lot of drawings and giveaways, even if you're nowhere near first place."
For the Ericksons, the race is all about giving back to the running community.
"We're a family of runners," Kris Erickson said. "We run 5Ks almost every weekend, this is our way of giving back by hosting one."
Time to get your shoes on and go race
* Cost for the 5K race is $25 on Saturday. Included in the cost is a NordicTrack long-sleeve performance T-shirt, goody bag, refreshments and registration for the raffle.
* Registration is at 7 a.m., race starts at 8 a.m.
* Preregistered runners will be able to pick up their T-shirt on race day, otherwise shirts will be available one week later at City Hall.
* This year there will be $750 in prize money, spread among the top three men and women, as well as the top three men and women in the 40-plus category.
* For more information, visit www.heartofholladay.com.