Hosted by: The Vision Clinic, Springfield
Timing service: ActNow Racing
Weather: sunny, warm (shorts, tank top)
Route: neighborhoods inside city limits
If you’re familiar with the Vision Clinic race, you might better know it as, “the sunglasses run.” They give out awesome designer sunglasses to the first place winners in each age group! This year they had Courtney Frerichs, an American middle-distance runner from Nixa, Missouri, as a special guest. Proceeds benefit Optometry Giving Sight, an organization that has a mission to globally do fundraising that specifically targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to the need for an eye exam and a pair of glasses.
The cause is awesome, the team is great, the course is pretty…if you can stay on it. The past two years the volunteers have been in the wrong place and misdirected runners. This year the lead cyclist was unclear of the loop and took several of the 10K runners so far off course that many yielded 7 miles or more instead of the 6.2 miles. While frustrating, coordinators were quick to correct the issue in time for the second lap and honorably apologized for the confusion during the post-race events.
A good race to train for the upcoming Panther Run and Bass Pro Fitness Series events. If you aren’t concerned about a perfect PR and enjoy an early fall race in the Ozarks, it’s worth a try. Happy running! ~trvw