Stop, Drop, Roll (and Climb) 5K set for April 7

There’s a fair number of hills to ascend in upcoming charity footrace

By Kevin Spradlin
PiedmontPostNC.com

* Register online
* Course map
* Course records: Men – Gebre Nida (18:37, 2017); Women – Kristi Hunter (19:38, 2017)

SUMMERFIELD — The name of the event is the Stop, Drop & Roll 5K. But if the name was intended to be a series of instructions for participants, organizers might have wanted to include the word “climb.”

That’s because, depending on who you ask, there are between five and seven ascents that runners and walkers will have to navigate on Saturday, April 7 at the Summerfield Fire Station 9 in Summerfield. Through Friday morning, more than 125 people are registered for the event.

Photo by Kevin Spradlin | PiedmontPostNC.com This is the view from the bottom of the 316-foot hill 5K runners and walkers must climb before reaching flat, and the finish line, of the 3rd annual Stop, Drop & Roll 5K on April 7 in Summerfield.

Photo by Kevin Spradlin | PiedmontPostNC.com
This is the view from the bottom of the 316-foot hill 5K runners and walkers must climb before reaching flat, and the finish line, of the 3rd annual Stop, Drop & Roll 5K on April 7 in Summerfield.

The festivities get started at 8:45 a.m. with a Sparky’s Dash 100-yard fun run for children. At 9 a.m., 5K runners and walkers will begin their journey from the front of the fire hall and traverse an out-and-back route that includes a trip in front of Summerfield Elementary School and through Summerfield Community Park. Runners will enter the park on a downhill, but climb — either once or twice, depending on perspective or affection for hills — until a descent towards Schoolhouse Lake.

Participants will then climb their way from the lake’s perimeter and turn right onto Greenlawn Drive, crossing Pleasant Ridge Road and turn left onto Shadyside Drive until reaching the turnaround point just shy of Pleasant Ridge Road.

The way back starts easier – flat all the way back to behind elementary school and down towards Schoolhouse Lake. Then the “up” returns, first to a point perched above the lake and then a couple of gentle rollers in the middle of the park.

There is one last “gotcha” incline runners and walkers must navigate before reaching the flat of Trainer Drive in front of the school. That climb, unofficially measured at 316, might prove intimidating to some.

Photo by Kevin Spradlin | PiedmontPostNC.com The sign says it all. Sign up today!

Photo by Kevin Spradlin | PiedmontPostNC.com
The sign says it all. Sign up today!

Once at the top, the finish line is almost within sight. Trainer Drive leads participants back to Summerfield Road and to the finish line.

Proceeds benefit Red Dog Farm Animal Rescue Network, a 12-year-old nonprofit organization in Summerfield that focuses on the rescue and rehabilitation of neglected, abused or otherwise unwanted animals in and around Guilford County, with a particular focus on domestic farm animals.

Filed in: Latest Headlines, Outdoors, Sports

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