Hull of a Race Tid Bits for the Sake of Having a Historical Background
How do you spell Hull? HULL. Where's that? Oh, it's a little spot in the road just off of interstate 72 just across the river from Hannibal, MO. So why would anyone want to start 5K or 1OK races there?
Way back in 2006, Lori, a physical therapist, was working with 2 ladies from Hull who had Parkinson's Disease. Add 2 husbands and you have a relatively unlikely group to establish a race. Lori had participated in some races, and the rest of us had never even been to one. We didn't have a clue as to what we were supposed to do.
After one year under our belts with Lori, we became experts! We were ready for 2007. We moved up the ladder of progress and hung up our stopwatch and put away the clip boards. We went for professional help - Alan Avery, a professional timer, rescued us.
We were headed for 2008. We went into the field of amenities for our racers - we had Scottie Potties brought in. But a dark cloud moved in - our leader, Lori, was leaving us. Jim and Marilyn took over as directors in 2008.
2009 brought us a wonderful surprise --an unintended "crashing" of a West Pike class reunion produced 6 new people to help put Hull of a Race on each year. Hats off for the class of 1999 from West Pike. We also picked up several older West Pike alumni, so we have about 16 on our Hull of a Race committee.
We lost 1 of our original founders, Sam in 2010. We carry on - that's what he would have wanted. We brought the world of technology into the picture, we started using the internet to pre register.
2011 finds us turning our web site over to a web master. The bright spot for this race was we sent a check for $10,000 to the St. Louis Area Parkinson's Association for research. Another loss was endured - we lost another founder, Mable. We celebrated their passing by stating "Sam and Mable have crossed the finish line".
We were getting the hang of this project, and we were tired of just being called "the committee". We wanted some identity. Races need a "pit crew." So in 2012 we became "The Pit Crew." We added a food court for the racers at the finish line and sent in another check for $10,000 - just the same old "ho-hum."
The best thing that happened in 2013 was the Hull of a Race sending in another check for $10,000. That was three years in a row!
Then 2014 rolled in (or should we say "rained" in.) It poured all through the night and was still raining during the race. We didn't have room for people to take shelter. It was very difficult to register runners, and it hurt us financially, as many people did not come. Look at the bright side - only 1 bad weather year out of eight years. The check was sent but it was for only $9,000. Mother Nature is permanently in charge, and don't you forget it.
2015 through 2019 have been successful years for Hull of s Race. Each year we have sent $10,000 or more to the St. Louis Area Parkinson's Association with all of that money going toward research.
We now tout a Flat and Fast Certified Course with 3 rehydration stations along the 5k course and 6 rehydration stations along the 10k course. We encourage people pushing strollers or wheelchairs to participate. The race is now professionally chip timed by Elvish Consulting. In May of 2018 we received our 501(c)(3) status.
2019 marked the passing from Parkinson's disease of one of our original members, Donetta "Sue" Moore. In her memory we are even more committed to improve our event to raise money for Parkinson's research.
We were disappointed that we had to cancel the Hull of a Race in 2020 due to Covid but continued to plan to revitalize the race in 2021.
We were excited to hold the Hull of a Race again in 2021 and were thrilled to send a record $14000.00 to the St. Louis Parkinson's Association. Hull of a Race recognized several participants with Parkinson's that completed the 5K walk and hope more will attend in the future.
In 2022, Hull of a Race was able to donate $14,000 to the St. Louis Chapter of the American Parkinson’s Disease Association for the second year in a row, and we had a record number of runners, 204, participate in the race. For the first time we offered stickers for runners to wear with the names of people affected by Parkinson’s. We continued our recognition of those with Parkinson’s attending the race prior to the start of the race and were please that several completed the 5K walk.
2023 was our first Hull of a Race since our founder, Marilyn White, passed away in October of 2022 from Parkinson’s disease. Marilyn had been the driving force behind Hull of a Race since its inception in 2006. Marilyn is deeply missed by her Hull of a Race Pit Crew. But we know Marilyn was smiling down on us this year at Hull of a Race as we raised a record $18,000 for Parkinson’s Research ($4,000 more than last year) and had a record 250 runners participate in the race! People fighting Parkinson's along with their families and friends attended or participated in Hull of a Race in greater numbers this year. We appreciated their support of Hull of a Race. Our increased connection with the Quincy Area Parkinson's Area Support Group has been a plus for both organizations.
We are pleased that 100% of the donations that Hull of a Race makes to the American Parkinson’s Disease Association goes toward research. We hope to hold Hull of a Race for many years to come and to continue to give people the opportunity to support the fight against Parkinson’s disease. Please choose to help Hull of a Race raise money by running in our race, by making a donation, or by joining our Pit Crew.
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