Get ready to run (or walk!) in the second annual Medway Police Chase, a glow run, set to take place at the very end of August, from 7 – 11 p.m. on Saturday, August 31st, 2019 at Medway High School, 88 Summer Street, Medway. The event will feature a 5K road race and a kids’ fun run, and it benefits the Medway Police Association.
Medway Police Officer Lauren Swarthout, who is organizing the event with Sgt. Jason Brennan, says that last year’s event, which was put together very quickly, had a surprising turnout of about 200 people, twice the number she had expected.
“We were shocked,” says Swarthout. “It’s our biggest fundraiser, and it’ll probably end up being the only one we do. Last year was the perfect day. It could not have been better.”
She hopes that this year, with more time to plan, that the nighttime fundraiser is even more successful.
This Kids Fun Run will take place at 8:30 p.m. and is one mile long. The 5K run will start at 9 p.m.
Registration on site begins at 7:30 p.m., but you can register online at https://runsignup.com/Race/MA/Medway/MedwayPoliceChase5K. More information is also available at http://firstmile-fitness.com/medway-police-chase-5k/. The first 100 registrants will receive a free t-shirt. Swarthout says runners and walkers are encouraged to wear glow-in-the-dark attire to make the event more festive. T-shirts will also be available for purchase.
The Medway Police Association, says Swarthout, is a nonprofit group that raises money to help various groups in town.
“We usually work with the football team, the hockey team, Scouts, MABA, the Lions Club, and we also do a winter present drive,” says the officer. The group donates to two local scholarships as well as to causes in Medway,” she says.
As for the evening race, Swarthout says last year’s worked out well. “Most races are early Saturday morning. I think a lot of people are turned off by that. Night was something different. We wanted to do the glow thing and didn’t want to do a basic 5K that’s so common in Medway.”
Because it’s a run organized by the police, she says, the event has the resources it needs.
“We have 20 people to control traffic, cruisers and the lighting, and all the bike officers ride around,” she says. “We can control safety pretty well, and we just all do it for free, and obviously, everyone (all police officers) goes.”
There will be refreshments available, says Swarthout, although not all of the food trucks had yet been confirmed at press time. “Last year we had Pangea, out of Medway,” she says, and there will likely be an ice cream truck and shaved ice. Local businesses donated water for the runners at last year’s event as well.
Swarthout says that now, with more planning, the Medway Police Association will be able to give folks more notice, which will be useful for residents of Adams, Winthrop, Lovering and Summer Streets. Some of those residents, she says, would have liked a bit more notice last year, a request Swarthout hopes to accommodate this year with media notice and flyers.
Overall, though, the Police Chase was well received.
“We got really good feedback last year, and I hope people come back and do it again, and I just hope we can do it for many years. It was such a good feeling, stressful because it was so quick getting it together, but seeing how much everyone enjoyed it, I was on a high for a few days. It was awesome.”
With Medway Schools beginning the following week, the Medway Police Chase might just be a great way to end the summer.
Entrance fees for the Medway Police Chase are $20 online/$25 day-of for the 5K for adults 25+ (free for seniors 70+) and $15 online and $20 the day of for kids. Find out more at www.medwaypolicechase.com, or simply look for Medway, or simply check out the Medway Police Facebook page for more details.
Issue Date:
August, 2019
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