Jack Evans a staple at Fifth Season races, Cedar Rapids’ Fourth of July ‘treat’

CEDAR RAPIDS — Jack Evans can count on one hand how many times he has missed the Fifth Season Races in 39 years.

Apart from a couple of family vacations and the one year he had a pesky twinge in his back, the 75-year-old Cedar Rapids resident has been a fixture at the annual Fourth of July running events in downtown Cedar Rapids since they began in 1986.

“I’ve got a lot of T-shirts,” Evans said with a laugh. “When you say ‘runner,’ I treat that as a compliment because I refer to myself as a ‘jogger.’ I have been a jogger forever. I find it very refreshing. I usually do it in the morning and three times a week. I just find it a good way to plan your day and your week. ‘Therapeutic’ is the word I would use.”

Thursday’s events — staged by Corridor Running of Cedar Rapids — include a youth mile run, a kid’s fun run, a 5K run/walk race and the day’s feature event, an 8K run that begins at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Third Avenue SE and Fifth Street.

Evans always participates in the 8K.

“I have just found it a kind of a treat for the Fourth of July,” Evans said. “You get up and go down and get that out of the way and come home and take a good shower and then enjoy more fellowship. I have had a lot of friends participate and the average age has gone down. I’d have to say I have brought it up.”

Evans — who classifies himself as “pretty much retired” but still serves as Chairman of the Board at The Hall-Perrine Foundation — was never a runner in high school or college. When Evans and his wife Nancy spent 34 years living next to Bever Park, he began jogging for two miles in the park three times a week. Even after the couple moved six blocks away from Bever, Evans kept up his routine.

“I don’t run very fast,” Evans said.

Jack and Nancy Evans will celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary later this month. On Thursday, Nancy can be found waiting for Jack at the 8K halfway point in her customary spot.

“She can walk over there and I give her a kiss,” Jack said. “She enjoys it because all of the neighbors are out. It’s a fun time.”

Corridor Running will award prize money to the top seven overall finishers in both the male and female divisions of the 8K. For participants like Evans, the objective has never been a monetary one.

“I’ve finished every (8K),” Evans said. “I don’t set any records on the time, that’s for sure. But I’ve finished every one. I’ve taken this on as an objective because it forces you not only to get in shape, but stay in shape and I feel better. I hope I can do it as long as I can.”

Evans has seen a lot of iterations in 39 years of Fifth Season Races, including the days in which it was a 10K. Above all, the sense of community that has endured through the years is what stands out.

“People have great pride in it,” Evans said. “There has been all sorts of costumes over the years. I had a good friend who pushed his young son in a stroller the whole way and had a flag on the stroller. … Families still come down. You’re at the corner there by the art museum. There are a lot of families there. Then the kids run, the guys and gals will run with their youngsters. … It’s just kind of mom and apple pie, you know. It’s kind of wholesome.”

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