Spirit of Giving warms chilly air in downtown Modesto

About 1,700 runners and walkers, plus hundreds of supporters, braved the frosty air to take part in the sixth annual Spirit of Giving Jingle Bell 5K Run & Walk in downtown Modesto on Saturday morning.

As the fun run started about 8:30, the temperature had barely broken 40 degrees, and there were snow flurries. (OK, the snow was from the machines above the crowd on Tenth Street Plaza. Still, it was pretty chilly.)

Some runners wore just T-shirts and shorts, but others kept a bit warmer in festive costumes from snowman sweat shirts to elf leggings and caps to Santa suits.

All registered runners received commemorative participation medals, and the top finishers in each age group earned medals for placing.

But at least a couple of other runners deserved special-category medals. Denise Olivera, a student in the Teens Run Modesto program at Ceres High, would have been Best Runner in a Box. The 14-year-old had just her arms, legs and head sticking out from the wrapped gift box she ran in.

“It was a very uncomfortable costume,” she said, enjoying a post-run cup of cocoa. “My shoulders were compressed the whole time. But it was fun, and a lot of people told me it was inspiring to them.”

And Brian McClay of Modesto would have been top Four in One Runner. Toward the end of the race, he was jogging along with sons Connor, 6, and Michael, 7, in the double stroller he pushed, while daughter Maya, 3, bobbed along on Dad’s shoulders.

Maya spent a little time running and walking, he said, but was most happy just to give him orders from above. “She’d say, ‘Run, Dad, those people are passing us,’ ” he said.

McClay said he brought his “crew” on the run because he “wanted to get the kids exposed to helping people.”

As the Spirit of Giving name indicates, philanthropy is a key part of the seasonal event. Three-fourths of the proceeds go to the Modesto Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Department’s Leisure Bucks program, which helps give low-income children, seniors and individuals with disabilities access to recreational activities.

Spirit of Giving also partners each year with a nonprofit in the city. This year, the Modesto Gospel Mission will receive 25 percent of the run/walk proceeds, plus all the cans collected in the event’s food drive. Mike Araiza of the ShadowChase Running Club, one of the event organizers said a group from Ustach Middle School alone contributed 1,500 cans.

That really impressed him, he said, and next year the event may include a food-drive challenge to school groups that are running.

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 12:40 PM with the headline "Spirit of Giving warms chilly air in downtown Modesto."