Jackson County newcomer starts next chapter of his life in All-American fashion at Firecracker Run

Alex Ralston’s first weekend as a Jackson County resident was the perfect all-American anecdote for the Fourth of July holiday.

On Friday, the 2011 Hillsdale College graduate relocated to Jackson for a job with Alro Steel.

On Monday, he used a swift dash to the finish to capture $100 in prize money and a homemade pie with a first place finish in the annual 5-mile Firecracker Run /Walk in Hanover.

“I was looking for a race that could keep shoes on my feet — gotta keep that prize money flowing,” Ralston said with a grin. “Either new shoes or going to the bar.”

Passing runner-up Kyle Mena on the final straightaway, Ralston crossed the finish line on the revamped Firecracker course that was a time warp back to the 1970s.

This marked the first time in more than three decades that the event wasn’t a point-to-point race from the Horton Fire Station to the Hanover Fire Station. Instead it was a circular route that began and ended at the Hanover station, almost identical to the course used by runners more than a generation ago.

“It was challenging, very hilly,” Ralston said. “Kyle annihilated me, but then I was like, ‘It’s 100 bucks’, those last 100 yards.”

Mena, a 2009 Eastern Michigan University graduate who ran for the Eagles, said he thought he had a good chance to hold off Ralston, but fatigue got the best of him.

“Those hills in the last mile took it out of me — I pushed pretty hard up them and it just got me at the end,” he said.

Lauren Quaintance, 21, won the women's 5k in 30 minutes, 7.8 seconds.

Meegan Freeland, a 2009 Western High School graduate who runs for Michigan State University, finished second in 30:34.1.

Freeland was a past winner of the event but was forced to sit out last year’s run because of an injury.

“I think I had control of the race the whole time until the last half mile when I slowed a bit,” she said. “It was different than running from town to town and the last mile was a little more difficult.”

Race director Jeff Heath said he decided to change the course from its traditional route to the retro loop because it made sense for the long-term health of the race.

“Every 10 years you need your course re-certified, and with all the budget cuts with the school, I couldn’t expect free buses forever, so I decided it would be better to change it on my own terms instead of them at their June meeting saying I don’t have buses,” he said.
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As published in the Jackson Citizen Patriot on July 5, 2011