Reagan Run 5K: The only cure for tired runners is more cowbell

Why the cowbell? Every year, the Reagan Run 5K race is lined with spectators. There is one spectator ringing a cowbell. This person, some say a real ding-a-ling, always offers encouragement like, “Excellent job!” and “You can make it!”

So why the cowbell?

There is, in fact, a story behind it.

Every February the Birkebeiner (or Birkie), the largest cross-country skiing race in North America, takes place. The race is a 55-kilometer (34-mile) ski race from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin. During this 55-kilometer race, spectators line the course and offer encouragement by ringing their cowbells. It is cold and all the spectators are wearing gloves, and clapping is muffled and muted – so, the ringing of the cowbells, which can be heard a mile or so away.

This particular cowbell got its ringing start in 1992 when this Reagan Run spectator’s son, Ryan Reed, started racing in the Birkie. The location of the Reagan Run cowbell has been at the beginning of the hill into the woods for years. The hill was removed, so the cowbell has moved down the raceway to the new entry into the woods.

Listen for it as you run the course in this year’s Reagan Run 5K, or even as you watch the race. It’ll be hard to miss.

And hopefully it will spur you on and give you a much-needed jolt of energy to finish the race strong.