Dear Bolt Family,
Its truly hard to believe this year’s race will be the 10th year of the Bolt for the Heart 5K! It has been a humbling, eye opening, educational and wonderful life experience for our family, friends and all who have supported us. Those of you who know me know that I cannot let an opportunity like this to go by without expressing my gratitude towards many.
First, thank you to my home support network. Susan, Ashley, Erika, Libby, Adam and Mitch, you have allowed me to pursue this passion / mission and have endured my “over the top moments” at times, but have also assisted us in the planning and building of Bolt. Also thank you to the two Germans who have been at the finish line for each of the ten years to hand you your finishing medal, a job they take very seriously! Thank you, Omi and Opi. I love you.
I cannot say enough about the Bolt board of directors. We have the best, most energetic, action producing meetings filled with laughter and a directive of making our community better. Thank you to our original and dedicated members: Joe Muldoon, Michael Highum, Greg Elsner, Tim Thoman, Greg Dedinsky and to our recently added members of Nina Criscuolo, Jeff Utzinger and Mark Fisch. I so appreciate you volunteering your time and mental muscle. Bolt is not where it is without you. Thank you.
The story of Bolt starts with our first run at Carmel Dads Club and Badger field. It was the best run no one knew about, we had 42 registered runners. The next year we set a goal of growing the event, we succeeded and had 62 runners. There no doubt were some concerns about our marketing skills! Truth be told, we had the wrong day. The goal all along was to have a Thanksgiving morning event however we were told this was not advisable because of the great event in Broad Ripple on the same day. It wasn’t until we talked to the City of Carmel and Mayor Brainard who thought that a Thanksgiving morning was a tremendous idea and granted us approval. That year our registrations exceeded a thousand runners. Before the pandemic, we had over 3500 participants at our 2019 Bolt run, making us the second largest Thanksgiving run in Indiana. It has been so gratifying to give people an option to run in beautiful downtown Carmel that morning enjoying the Monon trail, Carter Green Center, Mid Town, the festive lights, Chriskindlmarkt, while creating a family tradition. It humbles me when people talk about their new Thanksgiving morning tradition of putting the turkey in the oven, going for a 5K run with all of their family and then sharing a great day back home with their families.
This 10-year journey has been filled the distinct honor of meeting some of the finest people in our state, our law enforcement Hometown Heroes, including: The Indiana State Police, Westfield, Carmel, Sheridan, Fishers, Cicero Police departments, to name a few. In the last few years we have turned our focus to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police and the Indiana Sheriffs Association. These men and woman have embraced our mission from day one, which has resulted in well over 20 lives saved on the roads and governmental buildings here in Indiana. Integrity, class and “citizens first” describe these heroes and it has been a pleasure to work with them. Through these relationships with the agency leaders, we have been honored by Governor Holcomb’s proclamation on February 13th as Bolt for the Heart Day. Additionally, Governor Pence honored us in 2016 by attending our Indiana State Police Day at the Fairground where we donated 95 AED’s.
“I personally want to express my appreciation if you have ever done one of these 10 Bolt races. Every dollar of your registration has gone to putting on the race and buying AED’s. Please know that YOU are part of this success. Thank you!”
Pierre Twer, President of Bolt for the Heart
Finally, we have had great partners with us providing support in so many ways. Our presenting sponsors have been IU Health and Performance Services. Thank you! McGowan Insurance, the Current Newspaper and many significant personal donors have helped us as well. All together, we have donated nearly 1200 AED’s or $1,700,000 back into our community. Its been a great journey that will continued with the same enthusiasm, passion and success we had in our first ten years.
Humbled and motivated,
Pierre M. Twer
President – Bolt for the Heart