Robbie’s Run Brings Out Bigtime Runners

After most 5K races, the package does not usually include the chance to shower off, go out to a posh club and hang out with baseball and football stars. The inaugural Robbie’s Run at Lake of Isles Golf Course last Monday did just that.

Following the finish line, there was an after-party at MGM Grand’s Shrine Restaurant where guests mingled with the likes of major league pitcher Luis Tiant and NFL offensive star Joe Andruzzi. Also setting Robbie’s Run apart from most 5Ks was the price of admission: $500.

The money goes towards Grampy’s Charities, a New London-based organization, which raises money for children’s causes including the Ronald McDonald House in Providence, The Jimmy Fund, The Make a Wish Society and Christopher’s Haven, a home for children with cancer. About 40 runners from the region and many from out-of-state drove out to the area in order to race the golf course’s steep hills and sharp turns.

“It’s a fun way to help raise money,” said Tom Swim, who founded Grampy’s charities in 1987 with Jim Castle.

The race is a new fundraiser for Grampy’s, which has used charity golf tournaments, first at Mount Snow in Vermont, and then at Lake of Isles to get donations. This past weekend some players pitched in as much as $10,000 to play a game alongside celebrity players. Last year, the event created a total of $155,000 worth of donations.

Swim, who is an avid runner himself, saw his wife and son competing in the race as well. The three of them are raising money by running the Rock-and-Roll Half Marathon in Providence on Aug. 7.

Jim Castle estimates that this first race brought in about $40,000. Neither he nor anyone else who works for Grampy’s receives a salary, meaning that all the money goes to charities directly. Similarly, Grampy’s doesn’t spend money on advertising. New London’s Apache Oil picked up the cost of the golf tournament. Racecourse set-up and help at the finish line came courtesy of volunteers from SNERRO.

Many of the runners, Castle said, were able to raise more than $500 for the cause.

Some runners included former Olympian John Gregorek—whose accomplishments include a 3:51 mile and a 2:16 marathon—and his wife Christine, former men’s and women’s track coaches at Brown University. Mike Fantom, of Ronald McDonald House, was on the course as well. It was the first race for members of “Team Orange,” a group of Gulf employees from Boston who run to raise money for breast cancer.

Dan Olsen, the founder of Christopher’s Haven in Newton, MA, was also at the race as was Mike Monroe, who fired the gun at the start line. Monroe, who helps run the golf course, is the grandson of the great Tarzan Brown, famous for winning the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939, and for competing in the 1938 Olympics in Berlin—a legacy celebrated by the Tarzan Brown Race held in Mystic each fall.

Robbie’s Run is named after Robbie Cutler, a golf tournament supporter who has been diagnosed with cancer.

The course ran a loop starting on the green near the clubhouse and then wound down to a long wooden bridge which crossed the pond. After negotiating a large loop, the runners re-crossed the bridge and worked the final hill to the finish.

First across the line was Steve Turner, owner of the Riverwalk Café in Mystic. John Gregorek was second while his wife Christine followed to finish as the first-place female finisher.

Turner, who runs his own fun run series from his bar on Thursday nights, finished in a time of 22:55, slower than what he would normally run for the distance.

“It’s a rollercoaster out there,” he said, describing the tough hills.