You don’t need to be a serious runner to help the Montville Lions Club raise money to benefit a local family that is dealing with their young son’s rare muscular condition. If fact, you don’t even need to walk. If you like a good cookout and might enjoy a beer with it, this is your kind of sport.
The Montville Lions are hosting the Up Against the Wall 5K Road Race on Sunday, June 1. The race starts at 10 a.m. at the Montville Polish Club Lower Pavilion on Maple Avenue. The road race is being timed by SNERRO, formerly known as the Southern New England Road Race Officials.
Runners and walkers of all levels are welcome to join. A short kids’ fun run will be held after the race. The public also is invited to the Lions Club picnic and cookout from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be live music, a cash raffle for donated gifts, and other activities going on throughout the event.
The local Lions chapter is raising funds to help the family of Kyle Tempesta, age 8, the son of Michelle and Joe Tempesta of Montville. Kyle is struggling with LCHAD, or Long-Chain Co-acetyl-A Dehydrogenase deficiency, a condition that affects body muscle tissue, including the eyes. His condition includes retinitus pigmentosa, which can lead to blindness.
The Up Against the Wall races started in New London in 1998 as a St. Bernard’s alumni run and fund-raiser, according to Kevin Gallerani, who organized the first races with fellow alum Doug Sharples. The race went on for a number of years before they took a break and moved on to other things.
Gallerani and his wife, Allison, both avid marathon runners, went to the Montville Lions to pick out their Christmas tree in 2006. He struck up a conversation with Shaun Tine of Montville Hardware, who serves on the local Lions Club’s board of directors.
“We sat down in the trailer, had a glass of wine, he was looking for a vehicle to do a fund-raiser, and I was looking for a vehicle to do a road race,” Gallerani said. “So we kind of met and married up with each other.”
“Our motto is ‘We raise money to give away,’” said Tine. Lions International makes donations to any worthy cause, he said, including natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. and the recent devastating earthquakes in China. The organization also is known for its support of eye research and blindness prevention.
One of the unique things about Lions is that the organization’s bylaws don’t allow any of the chapters to use donations received for their operating expenses, Tine said. The local group has about 40 members.
The first reconstituted Lions Club Up Against the Wall race last year drew about 150 runners and raised $3,000 to benefit the family of Montville policeman Dennis Monahan, who succumbed to cancer a few months before last year’s race.
Gallerani said that’s when the organizers realized it also was a good marriage of hot dogs, hamburgers, and cold beverages with exercise, never mind how many people who showed up to actually break a sweat.
The cost for the run and picnic are the same: $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and kids covers food and beverages. In addition, adults can purchase $5 beer and wine wrist bands.
“We have everything set up,” Tine said. “We’re ready to sell some tickets.”
For more information, contact the Montville Lions, P.O. Box 18 Uncasville, CT 06382. During the day, call Shaun Tine at 848-3616; nights and weekends, call 848-2262 or stop by Montville Hardware, 807 Norwich New London Tpke., Uncasville, to purchase advance tickets. Cash donations also accepted to assist the Tempesta family.