St. Patrick's Day run to open ambitious JBLM racing season

Bob Reinert/Northwest Guardian

It’s a time for some to celebrate their Irish ancestry. Others see it as a sign that spring lies directly ahead.

At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, when St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, the ambitious race calendar gets under way.

Hundreds of service members, family members and civilians will toe the start line at Cowan Stadium at 9 a.m. March 13 for the annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K and 10K Fun Run. For many, it will mark their athletic coming-out party after a long off-season.

“I would say most of them are coming back from the winter,” said Dale Eichhorst, sports programmer with JBLM Sports, Fitness and Aquatics. “We’ve got a whole lot of 5K (entries).”

That’s not to say that the 10K will lack elite runners. Leading the way will be Shannon Swords, a former All-Army selection who shook off a cold to win last year’s race in 37 minutes, 15 seconds while sporting a green wig.

“That was just trying to keep in the (St. Patrick’s Day) spirit,” said Swords of the hairpiece after the race.

If that performance made others green with envy, they have another chance at Swords this year on the flat, fast course that begins and ends at Cowan. Earlier this week, Eichhorst already had received 247 registrations — including dozens from McChord Field — and expected the total to push past 300.

“I would say it’s probably about 30 percent civilians,” Eichhorst said. “The rest are military and military family members.”

All will receive free race T-shirts, and first- through third-place medals will go to the top three men and women in each of the following age groups: 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79 and 80-plus.