Thursday, December 04, 2008
A familiar race from a fresh perspective
After directing the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis for years, Paula Mitchell is ready to run in it.
Courtesy of Paula Mitchell
About 850 people participated in last year's Jingle Bell Run, which raised about $44,000.
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Next Saturday morning, as they have for the past 18 holiday seasons, Roanoke runners will don bells and festive costumes and take to the streets for the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis.
And as she has for the same number of years, Paula Mitchell will serve as chairwoman of the event's planning committee.
But this year, Mitchell said, she'll have a new sense of empathy and understanding for the athletes who run the 5-kilometer jog up and down Jefferson Street.
This year, she said, she took up running.
"I guess I felt sort of guilty. Here I was putting on this race and I'd never run," she said. "It's a little hard to run the event and actually run in it."
Still, Mitchell, an administrator at Lewis-Gale Medical Center who has training as a physical therapist, decided to get a new perspective on the rally.
Early last year, she began training with the Star City Striders, the Roanoke Valley's running and walking club. She ran with them on weekends and said they gradually increased the distance she covered. In April, she took part in a 5K race as a runner.
"Honestly, it does help to really understand the needs of the runners, to have gone through that," Mitchell said. "And I didn't die, which is good."
Although she won't be able to run in next weekend's race, her family has taken up running and will take part in the Jingle Bell Run. She'll be cheering them on.
"My husband started running this summer," she said. "It's kind of becoming a family thing now."
This could be a very good year for the event, which raises arthritis awareness and money to fight the affliction.
Jamie Fisher, vice president of community development for the Arthritis Foundation, said, "It looks like we're going to break a record in fundraising and participation."
Fisher said on Nov. 26 that 760 people were registered and more are expected to enter right up to the hour before the race. About 850 people ran last year.
"We're going to be if not at 1,000 extremely close to it," she said. "That's a very good feat considering the economic situation. We have a really good base of support in Roanoke."
Donations are up as well. The organization's goal is $40,000 -- an amount that Fisher said has nearly been reached. Last year's race brought in about $44,000.
"My goal this year is to raise $50,000 and have more than 1,000 runners, and we're certainly well on track to do that," Mitchell said.
