2009 News Video
Photos on Facebook 2009
Photo courtesy of Run for Hope on Facebook
The Sawyer Report & 2009 Photos see Below
On Sunday, (09-13-2009), Charles & Paula Sawyer drove 1 hour north on Route 95 to run the “Race For Hope” which took place at the White House Inn in Hampden, a suburb a few miles west of Bangor. Paula tells us “”We ran the race last year and really were impressed with its organization, the participants, the food and the prizes. The event did not disappoint us this year. When we arrived at the hotel, we picked up our bib numbers and requested the bathroom facilities and the hotel manager gave us the key to the hot tub room where we were able to get ready for the race. The NBC affiliate (WLBZ, Channel 2 from Bangor) was there interviewing athletic teams from the University of Maine at Orono and we spotted the women’s hockey team, the women’s basketball team and the men’s cross country team and football teams all gathered in groups getting ready to run the race as well. Traditionally, the University of Maine athletic dept. also supports the cancer -fund raising event and this year all proceeds from the race were raised for the new cancer center which has been built and is part of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
It was a hot, sunny day and the race began at 11:30. Just before the gun was fired and the race began, the organizer presented plaques to three Bangor area cancer survivors. Each of the cancer survivors also spoke to the crowds about their experiences and thanked us for our participation in this event which was first initiated in 1994. Organizers of “Run for Hope” were inspired by Terry Fox, a cancer survivor in Canada, who lost his leg to the disease and walked the entire distance of Canada raising millions of dollars for cancer reserach. Since 1994, the race has been held every year and many notables have participated. This year, two area physicians, one a Bangor oncologist, ran the race and another female physician also walked the course.
The course has a good three hills in it and part of it was on an ascending cross-country path and the other parts were alongside highways and then through country paths and over railroad tracks. Charlie ran in the 23’s and came in first in his age and I ran 30.24 and came in first in my age. The field of men in his age category was huge because a lot of guys in their 60’s turned out for this event. Not so for the women in their 60’s. After the race, the awards ceremony took place in the parking lot of the hotel.
This hotel is beautiful and architecturally is patterned after the back portion of the White House in DC! There is an outdoor, heated swimming pool and all of the U. Maine/Orono college athletes cooled off after the event by throwing themselves into the pool! And yes, again, I had to take lots and lots of photos! I even took a photo of the WLBZ Channel 2 photographer who was photographing the college kids!:) The food was great and included Mrs. Field’s white and dark chocolate chip cookies, bananas, sliced oranges, low-cal sports drinks, orange juices, muffins, bananas and other pastries. At the awards ceremony, they presented blue, red and yellow ribbons for first, second and third in each category and then they announced at least 10-15 extraordinary door prizes all of which were overnight stays to hotels in Maine. The last name drawn was mine and I received an overnight stay to one of four hotels of my choice, one of which was the White House Inn. Another choice was the Black Bear Inn in Orono, Maine, another was the hotel next door to the Casino in Bangor and the fourth was the Fairfield Inn at Waterville. Right now, I am leaning toward the White House Inn! The food at the race yesterday was super. ”
See Paula Sawyer’s photo report below. All of these photos Paula Sawyer took at the White House Inn at the awards ceremony after the Run for Hope 5K was completed.
Past Year Photos
Past Year Results