FUNDRAISING EVENT
Duathlon & 5K a Memorial Day tradition to benefit Saratoga Springs Lions Club
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Some locals spent their Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend running, biking and then running again in the 15th annual Memorial Duathlon & 5K.
About 400 athletes participated in the duathlon, with the choice of competing as an individual or splitting the components of the race among two or three teammates.
For many participants, the springtime Memorial Duathlon is a warm-up for upcoming triathlons.
“This kind of jump starts all the triathletes season, because they can’t get in the water yet so they use this as training,” longtime Lions member Peter Brown explained.
The event, which also features a standard 5K running race, was founded 15 years ago as a fundraiser for the Saratoga Springs Lions Club. With approximately 100 members, this local service organization is dedicated to serving community needs regarding sight, hearing, diabetes and youth development.
Since its inception the event has grown, moving several years ago to a larger location on the
grounds of the Saratoga Casino Hotel.
“It’s 100 Lion community member volunteers that help put this on every year,” Brown said at the start of the event.
The purpose of the Memorial Duathlon & 5K is “to raise funds for the lions club and recognize Memorial Day,” said Dan Kumlander, who was also volunteering at Sunday’s event. “The funds go into the community for sight and hearing and youth and diabetes.”
Money raised at this year’s Duathlon will help the club sponsor a hearing room at Saratoga Hospital’s Saratoga Community Health Center as well as the summertime Camp Abilities Saratoga. This one-week overnight developmental sports camp is held at Skidmore College for children and teens who are blind, visually impaired or deaf blind. Its slogan is “a loss of sight, never a loss of vision.” An international program, the local camp was started five years ago by the Saratoga Springs Lions Club.
Held each year on Memorial Day weekend, the event always has a patriotic atmosphere. The start line is set up underneath a giant American flag, and smaller American flags that are part of the club’s annual Honor A Vet personalised flag program are planted in the ground along the race route. In addition to being displayed at the Memorial Duathlon & 5K, the flags will also be displayed at The Wesley Community campus and the Saratoga Springs Visitor Center in coming weeks. “That’s a big thing we do, about family,” Kumlander said. “We have sponsors that are recognizing their loved ones that have served the country, demonstrated by a flag in their honor, with their name on it, displayed at the event.”
Local veteran Robert Rouse of Queensbury participated in the Memorial Duathlon for the first time on Sunday, serving as the bicyclist on a threemember team. Though he’s run in 5Ks before, this was Rouse’s first time biking in a race. In addition to working for the National Guard, Rouse is an employee at Spa City business Logistics One, one of the sponsors of the duathlon. “I’m enjoying just the whole participation of the event, plus the exercise,” Rouse said on why he chose to be a part of it. Before heading out on his bike, Rouse said, “I’m probably going to do it again next year, I’m sure. This will be my first but not my last.”
For more information about the Saratoga Springs Lions Club visit www.saratogaspringslions.com or the Saratoga Lions Facebook page.