Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race - a new tradition

Several years ago after running in the Labor Day road race in New Haven, I ran across a Derby childhood neighbor, Glenn Gaetano, who also ran in the race and who had just moved back to the Valley. During the course of our conversation, the subject of a road race in the Valley came up, and we both thought it would be a great idea to think about a new event for the Valley.Several months later, we sat down along with Glenn's friend Tom Wilson of the Wilson Agency at his office in Shelton and did some brainstorming. Out of that meeting came the idea for a new community event to be held on Thanksgiving morning that would highlight the history of the Valley and celebrate the rebirth of the downtown areas of Shelton and Derby through a 5K road race which is now in its eighth year and is known as the Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race.

For those who don't know, Commodore Isaac Hull is one of the greatest naval heroes in U.S. history. He was in command of the U.S.S. Constitution during the War of 1812 when she earned the nickname "Old Ironsides" with a spectacular victory over the British ship, Guerriere. Since Hull was born in derby and lived in both Shelton and Derby, a race through the streets of his two native towns would be a perfect way to keep his name alive in our Valley. Of course the Rt. 8 bridge over the Housatonic River also bears his name, but this would be an interactive connection with this great hero.

What we wanted was not just a race, but a community event. Along the way, we hoped to raise some money for a worthwhile charity, and we chose the Boys & Girls Club for its close proximity to the starting line at the Farmers Market on Canal Street. Securing Grece & Haines as our major sponsor - and they still are today - guaranteed that the race would go on and be successful. We hoped to get about 150 runners and to get the race off in time for people to get to the morning high school football games. To our surprise we got over 300 runners in the first year, and a new tradition was born.

Now in its eighth year, the race has been a major success. In fact, it is a sell out! We have wonderful sponsors and volunteers (We can always use a few more - especially on race day!), but we have limited resources and have determined that our capacity to run a quality event is 625 runners. This year, we sold out all the spots by November 3. We would love to accommodate everyone who wants to run - and there were hundreds more this year - but we are more concerned with quality than quantity, and 625 is about all that we can handle.

The event starts and ends on Canal Street near the Farmers Market and winds along Howe Avenue, across Bridge Street to Derby, along Main Street to Elizabeth Street to the Derby Public Library and then reverses course back to Canal Street. It 's a great site to see such activity on the streets, and we invite everyone out to cheer on the runners.

One last thing - in addition to turning into a great community event, it has become a successful fund raiser as well with approximately $50,000 raised for the Boys & Girls Club. That's a tribute to all our sponsors, an incredibly dedicated group of volunteers and our runners. To learn more about the race click here.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.