LANSING - Combining fitness, science and fun, more than 500 people raced to benefit a Lansing museum that reopened its doors Sunday with the eighth annual Capital City River Run and Planet Walk.
The two runs, a 10-mile and a 5K, both began in the parking lot of the Impression Five Science Center, 200 Museum Drive, and ran along the River Trail in downtown Lansing.
There was also a Planet Walk - a nearly two-mile hike which illustrated a scale model of the solar system - along the River Trail, ending in Potter Park Zoo. As the participants walked along, the museum’s director, Ellen Sprouls, taught the crowd about different features of the planets as the walkers passed each marker.
Even with the chilly weather, turnout didn’t suffer, said Dick Miles, race director for the Capital City River Run. He has been directing the run for the past five years.
“It ended up being a fairly good day, especially for a run,” Miles said. “We think Impression Five is a good cause. We love running, and we think the River Trail is a great place to promote.”
Okemos resident Jim Carter, who ran the 10-mile race, said the run was a fun experience.
“It’s a good race to support (Impression Five Science Center),” he said. “The course is challenging.”
The race is one of two big fund-raisers the center holds each year, said Sprouls.
“The UAW Region 1C and GM underwrote the cost of the race,” she said. “All of the money that comes in from registration is profit. The Capital City River runners, they do all of the work. It’s incredible what they do for us.”
Sprouls said the reason the center likes to have the race as one of its annual fund-raisers is because it’s such a healthy activity.
“Not only do we want to promote science but health, good health,” she said.
Impression Five was closed during September for about $6,000 worth of renovations to make room for new exhibits and activity centers, which include a music room and a simple-machines demonstration area.
The music room includes string instruments, chimes and bells visitors can use to expand their knowledge of music. The simple-machines area is for groups of children to work together with pulleys, wedges and wheels to move a weight from one side of the room to the other.
Also in the works is the WaterZone, an area devoted entirely to experimentation with water. That area is set to open in spring 2001, said Steve Desch, an exhibit specialist.
Desch said the children visiting have really enjoyed the new exhibits Impression Five has to offer, and the music room has been the most popular.
“Kids, they like to make noise,” he said. “Later on in life they’ll have their experience to look back on. That’s what we’re trying to do - to leave an impression on their minds.”
