Thousands fill Cedar Rapids streets for “Run The Flood”

Amid the pre-race stretching and the sweat from running, finding people with a story to tell about the Flood of 2008 was also not too difficult on Saturday.

“We lived on F Avenue and we were affected by the flood,” said Shelby Williams, 11. She spent her Saturday morning rooting on all of the runners and walkers, including “my cousin Jamie”, for the Second Annual Cedar Rapids Run The Flood event.

Runners along the 7-mile route dodged the raindrops as they ran past Time Check, Taylor Elementary, Czech Village and New Bohemia before closing out the run in downtown Cedar Rapids. The opening miles send the runners up 1st Avenue NW towards Ellis Park before the turn south. Runners for this year's race also encountered more green space as demolition crews have taken down flood-damaged homes in recent months.

Organizers with the race say the 2009 event raised more than $47,000 to help with flood recovery. Registration fees for the 2010 race ranged up to $30 to sign up in the days before the race. Pulling off an event of this size, throughout a city, also required the duty of hundreds of volunteers to get the water out for exhausted runners.

Robin Joens of Cedar Rapids is a mother of six but still found the time and energy to bring some of her youngest children to Czech Village. They came by to root on her oldest daughter.

“It's really neat for them to see the community's part in the whole flood and to see all of these people who are running,” said Joens. “It's a tough job.” She also shared her family's challenges with the flood as her father-in-law's business, Joens Brothers Interiors in Czech Village, had to battle back from flood damage.

As the miles got closer to seven, the packs of runners started to thin out by 16th Avenue SW, in the heart of the Czech Village. Yet Sunday Afternoon, an a capella group, filled the air to help push runners in the final miles.

Even one fan of the musical group was touched by 2008.

“I actually had a home on 5th Avenue and the water got up to our second floor and we had to move and evacuate,” said Jenny Haack of Hiawatha.

[nggallery id=244]