Fun Run

ENDING WORLD hunger is a lofty goal, maybe one that can only be attained one step at a time.ESCAPE Ministries Inc. will hold its annual CROP Walk to aid in that battle at 2 p.m. Sunday.Under the auspices of Church World Service, CROP walks strive to combat hunger while raising awareness of food shortages. Twenty-five percent of the funds raised during a walk are returned to the local sponsoring organization.ESCAPE hopes to raise more than $5,000 and will use its portion to aid needy families throughout the county with emergency housing, food and utility needs.

FUND RAISING is never easy, as everyone knows. You can sell only so many candy bars or raffle tickets, persuade your friends to consume so much pizza or slap together so many subs.So the PTA at Bodkin Elementary School has adopted a more healthy approach, a five-kilometer race and one-mile fun run, to raise $10,000 to cover the costs of new reading materials and supplemental classroom supplies for the school's 600 students.Race day is Oct. 11. The 5K course runs through Ventnor, along the access drives to the parking lots at Chesapeake Bay Middle and Chesapeake High schools and finishes at Bodkin Elementary.

WHAT DO YOU get when you unite a lovestruck pair from different backgrounds? You could get a social disaster or the hit comedy "You Can't Take It With You."The Drama Club at Liberty High School will present the three-act show at 7: 30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and April 25 and 26 in the school auditorium.The play, written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, tells the story of two families -- the wacky Sycamores and the wealthy Kirbys. When Alice Sycamore and Tony Kirby fall in love, they must come to terms with a variety of family differences.

There's good news for runners who coordinate their schedules with baseball's Opening Day.The Oriole Advocates Home Run, which will be held March 31 at Camden Yards, has been changed from an 8-kilometer race to a 5K and will have an accompanying 1-mile fun run.In addition, "for the first time since 1992 we're going to be finishing the fun run and the 5K on the warning track," said Oriole Advocates spokesman Tom Howser.The decision to add a fun run is aimed at making the day more of a family-oriented adventure.

SPRINGFIELD HOSPITAL CENTER continues its celebration of its centennial year with a beautification project.The new central corridor of the hospital property in Sykesville will be enhanced with 16 oak trees and 20 disease-resistant elms. They will be planted along Fourth Street. As the hospital has changed in recent years, this street has become the new center of the campus.County Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown and members of the hospital's Centennial Committee will attend the planting JTC ceremony at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

Carrolltowne Elementary School will have a Cardinal Fun Run fund-raiser tomorrow during students' gym classes.Students will walk, jog or run a designated course during gym for up to 30 minutes to earn money pledged by relatives, friends and neighbors. The fun run is the school's major fund-raiser during the academic year.All students participate in the program and receive prizes, regardless of the money collected.Last year, students earned $16,000, which benefited literacy programs, school improvements, teacher appreciation, school equipment and PTA-funded activities.

The sirens sounded, the red warning lights flashed and nearly all the equipment exited Sykesville Freedom District Fire Company Friday night.This was a fun run, not a race to an emergency call.The firefighters made their way leisurely down Freedom Avenue and into Piney Run Village, first stop on the 1994 Santa Detail.Volunteers take the two weekends before Christmas to make the annual good will tour through all South Carroll neighborhoods."We hit every street in every development, even though sometimes we have to double back," said Lt. Steve Anske.

When sunlight pours over Mount Airy's carnival grounds tomorrow morning, a vibrant octet of hot air balloons will ascend, one by one, into the October sky to herald the beginning of the town's Fall Festival.Weather permitting, the Centennial Balloon Launch, which was postponed from Aug. 21, will feature eight entries in the race and rally that begins at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at Route 27 and Twin Arch Road.A more grounded kickoff for the annual two-day Fall Festival will follow at 9 a.m. when students from Mount Airy and Twin Ridge elementary schools and their families gather at the municipal parking lot near Park Avenue to enjoy a one-mile Fun Run.Everyone is welcome to participate in the rain-or-shine event; walk, stroll, jog or run to complete the course.

For her first time in the Women's Distance Festival Midnight Fun Run, Catherine Hann walked her way through the 5-kilometer race.Next year, the 70-year-old Sparks woman said she plans to run to the finish line.Mrs. Hann joined 490 other women who participated in the annual race around The Mall in Columbia that started Friday at midnight and finished in the wee hours of Saturday. This year, the number of participants set a record, organizers said."I think it's marvelous," said Mrs. Hann, who completed the race along with her 42-year-old daughter and 15-year-old granddaughter.

The pitter-patter of hundreds of tennis shoes tomorrow morning will herald the beginning of the ninth annual Mount Airy Fall Festival.Eager children, accompanied by their parents, will gather at the town's municipal parking lot for the Fun Run, which has served as the festival's kickoff event since 1985.This year's mile-long family walk-jog-stroll is sponsored by the Mount Airy Elementary School PTA, Mount Airy Middle PTSO and Twin Ridge Elementary School PTA.The Fun Run, which begins at 9 a.m., will benefit Mount Airy's flood-relief effort for Alexandria, Mo. The route begins and ends at the town parking lot off Park Avenue.

More than 30 years ago, physical-education teachers at Bel Air Middle School started a Turkey Trot, a fun run held around Thanksgiving. The program has grown each year, with more than 1,250 students participating. Unlike other Turkey Trots, which are designed to raise money for a charitable cause, the Bel Air Middle event is a fun run to promote fitness, said Jeff Eaton, the physical-education department chairman who heads the program. Five other teachers at the school also work with Eaton on the program.

Despite threatening skies, the Centennial Fun Run began its 29th season Tuesday with 140 participants, said organizer Arleen Dinneen. "It was great. We were worried that we might not be able to hold it because of the weather. But we did, and it was a wonderful crowd," Dinneen said. The one-mile run though the neighborhood across from Centennial High School begins and ends in front of Dinneen's house, on Colonial Drive. Dinneen said the summer tradition is a "Howard County Striders' event.

Connor Bryce Smith had tried his hand at karate and a couple seasons of soccer, but the 6-year-old truly loved to run. On Wednesday, the Glenelg kindergartner was running in Westminster with his mother, Donna, in his fourth Fun Run, when he collapsed and died of what apparently was an undiagnosed heart abnormality. The police were alerted shortly after 7 p.m. and found Connor undergoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the tailgate of a pickup truck at East Main and North Court streets, said Maj. Ronald Stevens of the Westminster Police Department.

MLS New England Revolution@D.C. United Where -- RFK Stadium, Washington When -- Sunday, 4 p.m. What for -- The United is one win away from reaching the Major League Soccer title game for the sixth time. Online -- dcunited.mlsnet.com Running Downs Park 5-Miler Where -- 8311 John Downs Loop, Pasadena When -- Tomorrow, 8 a.m. What for -- Includes a fun run and children's race in addition to the main 5-mile run. Online -- www.annapolisstriders.org Dog show Colonial Dog Show Where -- 19 Maryland Ave., Annapolis When -- Tomorrow, 11 a.m. What for -- Name the dog, it's likely to be there.

Dazzle Dash -- The Dazzle Dash, a family run and walk in Symphony Woods to kick off the 13th Symphony of Lights, will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 19 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia. This year's event includes Kids Helping Kids, a fun run (or walk) through the light display. Runners and walkers collect donations from friends, family, neighbors and classmates; proceeds will help support the hospital's Maternal Child Services. Kids Helping Kids (1.5M) is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.; runners are to start their course (3M)

The Mount Hebron Viking Backers are accepting registrations for the 14th Annual Viking 5K and one-mile Fun Run. The race is to start at 9 a.m. April 30 at Mount Hebron High School and will wind through the surrounding neighborhood. Awards will be given to the top three finishers overall and in five age groups, the top three Mount Hebron students, top parent and faculty member and first middle and elementary school participants. Everyone will get a T-shirt and a chance to win one of more than 50 random prizes.

An unusual mix of athletes is warming up in front of Arleen Dinneen's split-level suburban Ellicott City home. Young children and their parents, teens, college students and older adults are stretching on Dinneen's lawn, in her driveway and in the middle of the street. The runners -- about 120 of them -- take their marks, eyes on the slim, gray-haired grandmother dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and running shoes. "Set! Go!" Dinneen yells as she starts the timer. And with that, the pack begins the mile-long "fun run" that begins and ends in front of Dinneen's home on Colonial Drive, a Tuesday evening affair that has grown into a weekly tradition in this neighborhood over 27 summers.

MEMO TO the committee that will choose members of that proposed Howard County Sports Hall of Fame: Just a note to give y'all an example of a problem you'll face, deciding who's made a lasting impact on sports in this county. Arlene Dinneen's name isn't likely to leap into everyone's mind as one of the greatest athletes in county history. She hasn't won an Olympic medal or been a pro or even that much of a standout in her sport, running, even though she can document having covered more than 20,000 miles during her 61 years.

Kim Saddic's main goal was to bring Mike Mislay of Tanzania and Gabriel Muchiri of Kenya from the Philadelphia area to yesterday's races in Baltimore. Entering the five-kilometer event was an afterthought, but the 33-year-old former NCAA champion at 10,000 meters won the women's race easily in 17:40, beating Marjorie Boyd, 42, of Annapolis and 9-year-old Brittany Rooks of Baltimore, who finished tied for second in 20:39. David Kipngetich, a 28-year-old Kenyan running out of Durham, N.C., won the men's race in 14:27, edging Ethiopia's Araya Haregot by two seconds, with Mislay finishing third in 14:37.

Parodying politics and more "Clinton and Bush Rock 'n Roll Party," "Larry King Live in Highlandtown" and "Springtime for Ehrlich" are just a few of the comedic sketches you'll see at Creative Alliance's "Loyal Opposition" show at 8 p.m. tomorrow. "Loyal Opposition" aims to combine political humor, impressions, satire, improv and music. Four-time Emmy Award-winning comic Bob Heck impersonates Bill Clinton, Larry King, Regis Philbin and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. The show takes place at Creative Alliance, 413 S. Conkling St. Tickets are $10; $8 for Creative Alliance members.