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M

ost races, runners have one thing in mind: how to get across the finish line first.

In this year’s Croaker Relay, the 50 participants had another issue to ponder as they ran their mile-long-legs through town: How can we best dance to a Michael Jackson song after the finish line?

Feet ready to run with a fish.. and later, maybe to moonwalk.

For the uninitiated, the Croaker Relay is a race. Sort of. Teams of four members don’t pass the usual stick baton, but rather, a brightly-painted plywood croaker. They carry the croaker on the one-mile route that runs through the village of Oriental and along the banks of the Neuse River.

With contestants at the starting line, organizer Turtle Midyette explains the rules, and holds up artwork by Sue Henry, who was the honoree of this year’s race, and whose work would be the prize.

The foot-race starts out and ends up at Lupton Park. It’s a one mile route, unless your team opts for the look-the-other-way short-cut down Mildred Street. (And if you don’t know the way, no fear. A volunteer will show the way…)

The object is to carry this fish 4 miles. (Or less, if shortcuts are employed.)

But crossing the finish line first does not decide this race. As organizer Turtle Midyette has done in other years, and agian on Saturday, what decides the Croaker Relay is how the croaker crosses a more subjective finish line after all the relayers returned to the playground.

In other years, the race has been determined by how far a Croaker has been tossed.

This year, contestants had to show their flair for interpretation.

As Turtle explained to the contestants, the bragging rights to the 2009 Croaker Relay would go to the team that got the most applause dancing to a Michael Jackson song.

Grab a croaker, pick a tune. As a prompt, a Michael Jackson song list was displayed alongside a pile of the plywood croakers.

It was something to think about as the relayers made their way — running or walking or skating or biking — along the 4×1-mile course.

With the participants ready to run, bike, roller blade and stroll, Turtle tends to one final detail. The starting gun has to be fired. Instead of a pistol, a fire hydrant is opened, creating the liquid start/finish line.

And they’re off!

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Some young competitors never did run the course, deciding instead to linger in the arc of the hydrant.

As the relayers were making their way down and up the streets of town, Croaker Relay organizer Turtle Midyette explained this year’s theme and why those Awl-gripped croakers making their way thru the streets of Oriental were named “Sue”. The Sue being honored this year is Oriental artist and resident, Sue Henry.

Other parts of the course were drier.

In the past year, while undergoing a bone-marrow transplant to tackle multiple-myeloma, Sue has continued to paint. A print of one of her paintings would be the first prize in the 2009 Croaker Relay.

Teammates Selva Staub, Bora Staub and Don Staub and Scott Russett .

When Turtle moved to Oriental 28 years ago at the age of 22, he says that he was “looking for a role model” and found one in Sue, who was a sign-maker and an artist. One year, he says, “Sue made a wooden fish.” It would become the pattern for the Croaker Relay fish when Turtle organized the first Croaker Relay in 1998.

This year Sue was there, riding her bike in the relay.

Artist Sue Henry displaying her art and the plywood fish named in her honor.

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As for the other theme of this year’s Croaker Relay – the dance contest honoring the pop-star who died at the age of 50 last week? Turtle had an even more personal explanation: “Because I turn 50 this year”.

The competitors did not disappoint:

Organizer Turtle Midyette demonstrating Jackson’s “The Girl is Mine”

Team Rhudy interpreting that lesser-known Jackson tune, “Touch The One You Love”

Selva and Bora Staub going for “Bad.”

Team Twins goes for the operatic dip-‘em-low style that Michael Jackson never wrote a song for.

The crowd was treated to some moon-walking and one-gloved gestures. (It should be reported that in these improv performaces, sailing and biking gloves outnumbered sequined gloves, though one purple glove made an appearance.)

The crowd reacted and a first runner-up was determined:

First runners up: Team Twins – Derrick Wong, Jessica Arraya, Mary Barnard and Marcia Webster

And finally, to make up for a winnerless Croaker Relay 2008, a winner to the 2009 Croaker Relay was named: Team Rhudy.

Team Rhudy showing the spoils: Jessica Baluss, Ty Rhudy, Shelley Rhudy, Evett Rhudy and artist Sue Henry

This came as no surprise to stander-by (and Shelly Rhudy’s father) Greg Piner who says Jessica and Shelley “have been doing Jackson moves since growing up in the 80s….”

Posted Monday July 6, 2009 by Bernie Harberts