What has 600 legs, likes to dance and glows in the dark?
About 300 runners who participated in Saturday night’s E-Glow Twilight Rave, a 5K charity run, fit the description. The race began at Lake Altoona County Park and finished at Whiskey’s Grill and Bar in Eau Claire with
a dance party.Whiskey’s owner Brad Windeshausen, along with friend James Riemer and Brian Sandy, The Leader-Telegram’s marketing and promotion manager, all collaborated on the idea of a night run.
“Safety is the most important thing, but then have fun with it too,” Riemer said. “This was a fun run … dance before hand, do some crazy stuff, paint each other.”
All participants gathered at Lake Altoona County Park for music and events prior to the beginning of the race. Then, once they finished, a black light dance party was waiting for them with food and drinks at Whiskey’s after.
Eau Claire resident Heidi Klime, 30, said she was impressed with the turnout and enjoyed the nighttime aspect because the trails were illuminated from glow sticks.
Registration was $40, which included a gift bag containing a t-shirt, drink vouchers, coupons from local businesses, a Monster energy drink and glow-in-the-dark paint.
Runners received a $5 discount if they brought a food item to donate. Whiskey’s is donating all of the food and a portion of the proceeds to The Community Table, a charitable organization in Eau Claire.
“That’s the purpose of these races,” Riemer said. “It’s fun for people to get out and do it when they know it’s something that’s important.”
Windeshausen said a committee is still counting the items of food and figuring out the expenses, but he’s confident they’ll be able to “cut them a sizeable check.”
He said he plans on organizing another E-Glow next year but won’t have it fall on Homecoming day again. It did, however, provide fun for some UW-Eau Claire students who opted out of Blugold festivities.
“There were quite a few college kids that did participate that wanted something different from the normal house party type thing,” Windeshausen said.
Amy Seeger, a Whiskey’s employee, said they tried to attract students in advance who were looking for a change of scenery.
“We still had an awesome turnout despite (Homecoming),” she said. “We kind of advertised it that way too, like ‘If you’re sick of going to house parties, here’s something else cool to do.’”
Being that it was a first-time event, Riemer said he didn’t have any specific goals or expectations going in other than doing as much aspossible for charity and the Eau Claire Community.