LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: Jenny Lytle

  • Local Charity Race Wins Big at Cincy Magazine’s Best of the East

    Local Charity Race Wins Big at Cincy Magazine’s Best of the East

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – With Spring just around the corner, competitive races and obstacle courses will soon be in full swing! Although it may seem that your local 5k’s, 10k’s and tough mudders are, all the same, there is in fact, one race that will be taking place right along the Little Miami Bike Trail that is anything but ordinary! The Amazing Charity Race is not only taking Loveland by storm but has now officially been named the “Best Charitable Race” in Cincinnati, according to Cincy Magazine’s annual Best of the East competition!

    For those who are unfamiliar with The Amazing Charity Race, the race itself was created in 2006 with a goal of giving 100 percent of its proceeds to charity! The ACR, which is set for Saturday, June 20th at 8 A.M. beginning at Fifty West Brewing Company, is a day full of fun challenges that venture along the Little Miami Bike Trail! This race is made to challenge contestant’s agility, balance, coordination, strength, intelligence, problem-solving skills, fine motor skills, and most importantly their sense of humor! This year teams of 2 can run, walk and ride through 20 strange, fun, and crazy challenges. But don’t worry you don’t have to be an extreme athlete to participate! All you have to have is the drive to challenge yourself and of course, be willing to push yourself for charity! Teens 13 to 16 can team up with a parent or teens 16 and up can team up with other teens over 16.

    Jenny Lytle, Tom Grome and Kevin McMillian standing by ACR’s well thought out slide show and flyers at Cincy Magazine’s Best of the East event!

    This year representatives from The Amazing Charity Race Board attended the Best of the East event on January 23rd hosted by Cincy Magazine at the Holiday Inn Suites on Eastgate Blvd. ACR’s committee put on quite a spread for the community at the Best of the East event, which included an excellent slide show and well thought out flyers. Kevin McMillian, Tom Grome, and Jenny Lytle pictured to the left represented ACR with pride at the prestigious event!

    Shortly after Cincy Magazine’s annual event, ACR ‘s Board was informed that the ACR was selected by the Cincinnati community to be this year’s Best in the East “Best Charitable Race!” One of the ACR’s loyal board members, Tom Grome, was beyond the moon when he received the news!

    “The Best of the East award is so important to the Amazing Charity Race,” Grome explained, “Receiving this award recognizes our effort to provide donations to other local charities and validates our approach to helping other local charities! We strive to make our event a positive experience for the racers and volunteers. Charitable giving has never been so much fun!,” Grome added. 

    Check out the crowd at Cincy Magazine’s Best of the East event at the Holiday Inn Eastgate!

    Thus far The Amazing Charity Race is now in its 15th year and has already given over $700,000 to local charities including more than 50 nonprofit organizations in the following areas: Teen and Youth Programs (e.g., scouting, music, sports), Church Groups, Community Groups (e.g., food pantries, land conservation, theatre, arts) and Health-related Groups (e.g., cancer awareness and research, programs for the disabled).

    Doug Portmann, co-founder and race director of the ACR, said the award meant so much to him “because of all the volunteer groups that put time and effort into making it such a great event! The community really appreciates it. If it was not for the almost 500 volunteers each year the event would not run like clockwork year in and year out,” Portmann added. 

    Kevin McMillian, the ACR’s marketing guru who represented the race at the Best of the East competition couldn’t agree more with Portmann!

    “Being at the Best of the East was an amazing experience. Getting to experience other nonprofits and businesses at this event, was a great way to network and make new relationships to further impact the community,” McMillian explained, “As for winning one of the Best of the East awards, it was rewarding to see the impact Amazing Charity Race has on this community and makes us more motivated to put on a fun event and to continue helping charities that need it,” McMillian said.

    Marjorie Blair, who is also on the ACR board, could barely contain her excitement when she found out ACR had one a Best of the East award!

    “It’s an honor to work with so many different people with the common goal of giving back and seeing the positive impact on our local community. Through the years, putting on the race has become a well-oiled machine,” Blair said, “We are constantly learning and always trying to improve to keep racers, volunteers, & sponsors coming back. The combined effort for the greater good is truly appreciated.”

    The Amazing Charity Race Board also includes Dustan Bray, Jenny Lytle, Terrie Puckett, Brian Garry, Scott Thompson, Michelle Ripperger, and ME, Cassie Mattia!

    With this big win, ACR will be featured in Cincy Magazine’s Best of the East 2020 issue.

    If you would like to join the best charity race in Cincinnati visit the race’s website at https://www.amazingcharityrace.com/ or follow the ACR’s Facebook page @LovelandsAmazingRace.

    Read this story from last year’s race…

    I may have volunteered at the most exciting and fun challenge station at this year’s Amazing Charity Race

    Loveland Magazine is extremely proud to be one of the many sponsors of the Amazing Charity Race!

    Learn more about the Amazing Charity Race, how your group can volunteer, how you can be a corporate sponsor so even more money is raised, or to register for the 2020 race.

  • I may have volunteered at the most exciting and fun challenge station at this year’s Amazing Charity Race

    I may have volunteered at the most exciting and fun challenge station at this year’s Amazing Charity Race

    The Amazing Charity Race is always held on the Saturday of Fathers Day weekend and there are always a lot of dads teamed up with their children. In the photo above, Kailey Hammer is leading her dad Matt through the swim-fin Jimmy Buffett Paradise bungee-cord-course. They crossed the finish line together, holding hands celebrating their morning together.

    Olivia Smith is a student at Loveland High School

    by Olivia Smith

    Miami Township and Loveland, Ohio – I volunteered at the most exciting and fun challenge station at this year’s Amazing Charity Race… the Jimmy Buffett “We are the people our parents warned us about” station and it was the last one racers had to complete before crossing the finish line. Let me tell you about what your friends and neighbors had to do before they were allowed to cross the finish line after a two-hour grueling race that took them to many parts of Loveland and Miami Township.

    The 14th annual Race was held on Saturday, June 15th. It was a cool day outside, at about 67 degrees. It was very cloudy and rained often but it was a light rain. Just about perfect for everyone who worked so hard, including the many hundreds who volunteered. The start and finish line were at Grailville, the 300-acre retreat center just on the outskirts of Loveland on O’Bannon Avenue. This year there were  20 “Challenge Stations” and about 1,100 people in teams of two, participated.

    A team only feet from the finish line of the Amazing Charity Race after completing the Jimmy Buffett challenge.

    About 50 local charities benefited from this year’s race and it has raised about $700,000 over the last 14 years. The money paid when participants register goes towards those different charities, so when you run in the race, it is for a very good cause. At the end of the race, participants get a chance to vote for their favorite “Challenge Station” or the one they thought had the most pep and the winning station gets an extra $500 towards the charity of their choice.

    The challenges can be anything, but they are all made to be fun, physically or mentally. To get to the next station, teams either ran, biked, or “tubed” (tubing was on the Little Miami River). This year there was about 5-½ miles of biking and racing, so it was about equal. If you would like to register for the next Amazing Charity Race, you can do so by clicking on this LINK.

    Teammates taking on the swim-fin Jimmy Buffett Paradise bungee-cord-course.

    Another way you can participate in the race is by volunteering as I did for the second time. This year I volunteered at the last challenge in the race. This challenge was Jimmy Buffett themed. It took about 60 volunteers for the challenge to run smoothly.

    The first thing participants had to do when they got to the challenge was to put a pair of swim fins and goggles on, and step over and through a series of bungee cords. Then, because of the fins, they would waddle over to a series of baby pools filled with colored water and poker chips. There they had to find 5 clear chips and get them checked by a volunteer.

    The odds are in your favor at the Margaritaville Casino!

    After they succeeded with that, they would continue waddling over to some pool floaties. These floaties were tall flamingos and palm trees. Participants would have to throw 3 hula hoops onto those floaties. After that, they would waddle over to some more baby pools but this time, they were inflatable pools. They would have to walk, or jump into the pool and make their way through them. Then they would continue waddling as fast as they could to the finish line, where they got to see their loved ones, brag to each other, and have food and refreshments while listening to the local band, Counting Skeletons – fins free!

    The swim-fin Jimmy Buffett Paradise bungee-cord-course

    The last station’s charity was the Karen Carns Foundation. I interviewed Tom Carns, the husband of Karen Carns, who founded the Karen Carns Foundation and asked him to tell me a little bit about the foundation and why it’s important to him. He said, “The main purpose is to assist grieving kids so they can stay in their schools with their teachers and friends. I get to know these kids and families who are going through the same things my kids did.” The money the organization gets goes directly to the students and families for them to use towards school tuition. Other funds are used to purchase winter coats for students. One thing Tom really likes about the race is that it is a lot of fun and it brings everyone together.

    Next, I interviewed Jenny Lytle. She is on both the Race Board and the Karen Carns Foundation Board. The Race Board Members have the hard job of coming up with new ideas every year. “We start coming up with ideas the day after the race. My favorite thing about the race is all the wacky challenges and making it fun for everyone.”

    Would you like to learn more or donate to the Karen Carns Foundation?

    Primary focus of Foundation:

    A child will never be removed from his or her environment of a private elementary or high school education due to a life-changing event that affects the family’s financial situation.

    Secondary:

    Embrace the true meaning of Christmas, by involving children in the charity of providing new winter coats to those less fortunate.

    After Lytle, I interviewed Ed Driscoll who was in his 10th year of being involved with the race. The Karen Carns Foundation is also important to him is because he experienced very similar issues that those kids are going through when at age 9 he lost his own dad. He feels very strongly about education so the Foundation means a lot to him.  I asked Ed what his favorite part of the last challenge was. “The fun part is watching groups trying to get the hula hoops around the floaties while the wind is blowing and hearing them sing Cheeseburger in Paradise.”.

    Lynn Oury on the left and Cynthia Tait on the right also volunteered at the Amazing Charity Race on behalf of the Karen Carns Foundation.

    I also interviewed two volunteers; Lynn Oury and Cynthia Tait. They had run the race together the first year it was held. They both love being a part of the community and it was a great way for them to do that. Tait said laughing, “I wanna be involved but I’m getting older and I can’t run the race anymore.” Oury said, “I love seeing everybody like you and people that I know, so it’s awesome.”

    This short video is some clips of racers heading to the finish line after waddling, some falling, some being pushed through the waiting, wading pool.

    Loveland Magazine is extremely proud to be one of the many sponsors of the Amazing Charity Race!

    Learn more about the Amazing Charity Race, how your group can volunteer, how you can be a corporate sponsor so even more money is raised, or to register for the 2020 race.