Bethany Fisher hurried home from school on Friday, September 7, 2018. This was an exciting day and she wanted to be where the action was. Grabbing her flip flops, she headed to the event field in the center of Bird-in-Hand on her scooter. It was the evening of the 5K Run and her whole family and many of her cousins on both sides of the family were already there. Bethany was eager to join them.
She found her mother busily working in the big tent. The runners, their families, and Bird-in-Hand locals were eating the spaghetti and pizza meal that her mother was helping to serve.
“Hi, Mom. I’m ready to run,” gasped Bethany.
Her mother turned around and immediately spied Bethany’s flip flops. “But Bethany you need sneakers for running. You can’t run in your flip flops.”
There was just enough time to scooter home and change into sneakers before the run began.
Bethany walked to the start line with five of her cousins and a neighbor friend. This was Bethany’s first run and she did not know what to expect. She was glad to be running with people she knew.
Off they went and Bethany discovered that running was invigorating for her. She kept going and after awhile, her pace made her pull ahead of her friends. Running on her own now, Bethany did not know the route the course was taking, so she followed other runners.
Twenty minutes into the race, her mother Marilyn took a break from volunteering and walked to the finish line to watch for Bethany. Ten minutes later she spotted Bethany, whose legs were getting tired as she ran down the home stretch. But the finish line was in sight!
After her own finish, Bethany eagerly watched her friends cross the line. It felt good to have completed the run. Soon the winners were announced on the public address system. Amazingly, they heard Bethany’s name. She had come in first place for girls in her age group! This was totally unexpected. Bethany’s goal had been to complete the race with no intention of winning a prize.
Bethany’s stats: Bib 712 / Age 10/ Gender F / Place 1 / Age Group 10-12 / Chip Time 30.08.56 / Pace 9.43 m
What a wonderful surprise! Bethany received a plaque for her first place win. Overall she finished 224 out of 662 runners.
The Fire Company loves when local residents join the 5K and Half-Marathon Runs. Our slogan is “The joy of running in community,” and our community is at its best when we are having fun together. Bethany’s experience is an encouragement to others to grab their sneakers and get out and run!
As brothers do, there was some good-natured teasing when the results were announced. One of her brothers asked her, “Wasn’t anybody else running?!” Of course, there were others in her age group running, but she had surprised herself and outrun them all.
Bethany is the daughter of Firefighter Dan J. Fisher, the granddaughter of Firefighter Dan S. Fisher, and the sister of Firefighter Matt Fisher.