Staff Reports news@times-journal.com
If you noticed a wild bunch of runners Friday morning – or Saturday morning, or Sunday morning -- somewhere in DeKalb County, consider yourself lucky.
You got a glimpse of participants in the Crazies Trifecta – a series of three half-marathons that take to various streets in DeKalb County each March, as a way to raise more money and bring more attention to an even bigger run: the Rainsville Freedom Run.
RFR creator Jerry Clifton is behind the Crazies Trifecta, too. He said a record number of runners signed up this year and he’s thankful for everyone who takes a three-day weekend and devotes it to this event. The CT is a 501(c) non-profit that raises money for the Rainsville Freedom Run, which raises money for a host of charities in the area.
For Clifton, that’s what it’s all about.
“It’s all about being able to raise more money for the Freedom Run, and giving more to charities,” he said. He appreciates all those who make that possible – such as the City of Rainsville. City leaders made a donation at their last meeting, he said.
“That just means we can five more through the Freedom Run,” Clifton explained.
The first race in the trifecta started off at Mentone Inn.
While organizers have noticed the locations they’ll be running in, to, and through, they don’t publicize the route they run, and they change up routes every year.
It’s all part of making the runs fun.
Clifton, who has been a runner for more than 20 years, said his running partner and co-director of RFR, Pam Willingham, came up with the idea of doing the trifecta. Willingham and Clifton have been running partners for 13 years.
The first year the CT drew 35 runners. The group has steadily grown since then. The CT has local runners along with out-of-town and out-of-state participants. This year participants are registered from Florida, all over northeast Alabama, and southeast Tennessee, Clifton said.
Clifton said the CT is different from RFR. "In the freedom run there is a wide range of ages and abilities. Some run it and some walk it," said Clifton. "It takes a seasoned runner to do three half-marathons in three days in the Crazies Trifecta."
