Oak Apple Run a Community Affair

The Oak Apple run may be 34 years old, but it isn’t ready to settle into middle age any time soon.

This year, the annual event – which takes place Saturday in downtown Royal Oak -– grows with the addition of new 2 mile and 10K race walk categories and continues last year’s switch from trophies as prizes to U.S. savings bonds.

“The Y here in Royal Oak asked us to add the race walking category,” Jay Dunstan of Royal Oak, the volunteer who organizes the day’s activities. “We don’t have enough volunteers to watch the whole course, but that’s OK, they’ll kind of police it (the rules) themselves.”

The day’s events include:

7:30 a.m.: 10K race

8:45a.m.: 2 mile run run/walk

9:30a.m.: 1/4 mile kids run

The Oak Apple Run is open to all ages of individuals as well as groups and families as well as wheelchair racers.

“What’s great about this event is for some it’ll be the only race they run all year,” Dunstan said. “For others, because it’s certified, they can use their times to qualify for other races.”

The Royal Oak Optimist Club and put on the 2011 Oak Apple Run to benefit the .

“This was never intended to be a competitive thing,” Dunstan said. “It’s always been a family thing. The whole point is it’s a community event.”

In fact, Dunstan’s favorite part of the day is the kids race (sprint, run or walk) – an enclosed quarter-mile loop that starts and ends at Main and Fourth streets. Kids 12 and younger get the full treatment, including a water stop and volunteers lining the course and cheering on the kids.

At the finish line each child receives a "Winner's Bag," a backpack from McDonald’s filled with goodies and special awards as well as a trophy.  Race organizers send the kids out in age groups at short intervals.

Winners of other races and categories earn U.S. saving bonds. The first person to beat the 10K course record – “about 30 minutes,” Dunstan said – wins a $500 savings bond. The record has stood for at least eight years, Dunstan said.

Click here for a course map .

The 10K race and 2 mile fun run/walk are timed using a computer timing system. Each participant wears a chip on their shoe and as the runner crosses the finish line the time and place are automatically tabulated.

The races are run in and around downtown streets before traffic is an issue and Royal Oak police supervise the course.

There is no limit to the number of the registrants and runners can register online until 8 p.m. Friday or in person on race day in the Center Street garage.

For those already registered, packet pickup continues Saturday from 6 a.m. to race time at race day headquarters at the parking structure at Second and Center.

“We have about 1,400 registered so far,” Dunstan said Thursday afternoon. “I'm hoping for 1,800-2,000."

To register online, entry forms, teams, sponsorship, volunteering and more, visit the official race headquarters at www.oakapplerun.org.