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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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Posted Monday July 6, 2009 by Bernie Harberts