Community Event | By Jocklyn Mundy
Twenty-five years. That is how long Windermere has been getting up before dawn on a Saturday in October to host one of Central Florida's most beloved races.
The Orlando Health Town of Windermere Run Among the Lakes 5K and 10K returns Saturday, October 10.
The route needs no introduction. What deserves one is everything that has grown up around it, and the simple fact that a quarter century in, there is still a place this morning for absolutely everyone.
A Medal Twenty-Five Years in the Making
The commemorative anniversary medal started where it should have started, with the neighbors.
Janelle Bell Martin created the design, and at the center of it stands Old Glory. The heart of Windermere. Red, white, and blue, a landmark families have given directions by for years, now standing in the town square as a permanent memorial to Windermere's own 1st Lt. Evan Patrick Fitzgibbon.
The town voted on the design this summer, and one won by a wide margin. That same artwork now lives as a mural on the building at West Fifth Avenue and Main Street, painted by Martin herself in honor of America's two hundred fiftieth birthday.
There is a fitting symmetry in the choice. This race was born in the fall of 2001, started by residents looking for a way to come together after a hard September. Twenty-five years later, the medal that marks its milestone carries a tribute to a hometown hero.
Every finisher will wear one. Simon Simaan stepped up as the Anniversary Medal Sponsor to make it happen.
Something for Everyone
Here is what makes this morning different from any other race on the Central Florida calendar.
The 10K goes off first at 7:10 for the folks chasing a time. The 5K follows at 7:35, and you are just as welcome to walk it as run it, with a stroller or a friend or a neighbor you have been meaning to catch up with. The Kids Run is free for children seven and under with no registration at all, which means you can simply show up with a little one and watch them tear off down Main Street.
Not running? Even better. Ring a cowbell at the end of your driveway. Come on out to Town Square and cheer for twelve hundred people, most of whom you have never met and all of whom will be glad you came.
Every registered participant gets the custom event shirt and the anniversary medal. Sign up at windermererun.com.
The Names That Make It Possible
A morning this good does not assemble itself. It is funded entirely by businesses and organizations that live and work right here and choose to give back to the town that supports them.
Orlando Health and Orlando Health/Jewett Orthopedic return as title sponsors.
Five partners have taken the exclusive twenty-fifth-anniversary roles. Chick-fil-A has the Kids Run. Simon Simaan has the medal. Magnifica comes in as Community Impact Sponsor. Solvino is hosting the Supporters' Champagne Brunch with a hand from Pistil, Jeff's Bagel Run, and Fresco. And Windermere Brewing is handling the post-race cheers, which is exactly the job you want at the end of a morning like this one.
Rivian and Windermere Prep join as Premiere Sponsors. Lakeside Realty and West Orange Roofing are taking the hydration stations, which are always fun.
The Associate Sponsors are a roll call of the neighborhood itself: Kalos Services, Sorenson Construction, Family Church, Healthy West Orange, the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, Penelope's, Family Life Counseling Center, The Real Estate Collection, Card My Yard, DP Bounce, the Orange Observer, Dash Sports, Cookie Candy Pop, Reliable Onsite Services, United Rental, Minuteman Press, and The Law Office of Pamela Martini. And, yours truly, Neighbors of Windermere/Butler Chain Living is on the roster as well.
Read that list again, and you will notice something. It is your Neighbors, your favorite hangouts. This race is supported by the people you already know.
Twenty-five years, and the invitation has not changed a bit.
Run it. Walk it. Push a stroller through it. Hand out water. Or just come stand at the curb and cheer.
