The sitcom “Seinfeld” lasted nine seasons from 1989 and 1998, but the Festivus 5K Run for Autism is on track to make its 12th race in Salem on Sunday, Dec. 10.
“We’ve kind of outdone Seinfeld at this point, in terms of longevity,” added the race’s founder and president of the Friends of the Northshore Education Consortium Cindy Johnson.
The race itself is expected to draw 500 runners, the kind of turnout Johnson said it has seen since it began in 2011. She and her husband Rick founded the race after their son entered the Northshore Education Consortium as a seventh grader.
“Our son was diagnosed on the spectrum when he was about five, and like most parents who have a child going through a health issue, we looked for ways to help others by giving back to the community,” Johnson told MassLive. “So what we did is we started this road race, we’re both runners and that’s a passion of ours.”
Their son’s experience was transformative, she added. Johnson credits the consortium “for where he is now in life, in a good place” and about to graduate from St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt.
With all the help they received, they wanted to give back to the consortium’s children, with a race that has in 12 years raised $204,000 to purchase “much-needed technologies to assist and educate children with autism,” the consortium’s website said.
That includes treadmills, sensory devices, assisted communication tech, Chromebooks, iPads, switches for children with physical disabilities, and cardio equipment, the consortium’s director of development Sarah Seiler told MassLive.
When it comes to the “Seinfeld” influence, Johnson said she and her family are big fans, with her daughter being “pretty good with ‘Seinfeld’ trivia, while her son is more of a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fan.
That show’s creator and star, Larry David, co-created “Seinfeld” with… who else, Jerry Seinfeld.
“A lot of people love ‘Seinfeld,’ a lot of people love holiday runs,” she said. “This is something that’s a holiday run but it’s like an anti-holiday run. Sometimes the holidays aren’t exactly what you want them to be, and this is a Festivus for the rest of us, as they say.”
Festivus as a concept debuted in the Dec. 18, 1997 episode “The Strike,” where George Costanza’s father Frank explains to Kramer why he created his own holiday. The customs include a bare aluminum pole — “I find tinsel distracting,” Frank said — the airing of grievances and the feats of strength. Suffice it to say, it doesn’t end well for George when he sees his parents for Festivus.
The theming ties in with several aspects of the race. Johnson said she would end emails about the race with “Happy Festivus!” or “Giddy up!” a refrain commonly said by Kramer. Working with sponsors, even the backstory Frank says in the episode involving a doll George wanted for Christmas as a child, is incorporated.
“Even our sponsor plugs — they usually try to find a hook with the sitcom to sponsor the race,” she said. “Like, ‘Were you able to get that doll your son wanted? There’s another way to sign up for the race! You don’t need to rain blows upon a stranger.’”
Runners have even gone dressed as recurring “Seinfeld” characters, including trainer Izzy Mandelbaum, David Putty in his New Jersey Devils face paint and the Soup Nazi. Johnson recalled one year a runner dressed as a sponge, a reference to Elaine Benes and her “spongeworthy” suitors. That costume “was kind of interesting. Not sure everyone was a fan of that one, but I thought it was funny,” Johnson laughed.
Runners in 2019 dressed as various “Seinfeld” characters and references, including the Soup Nazi, George’s fiancee Susan with the deadly envelopes, a Frogger arcade game, Sue Ellen Mischke, the woman who Jerry steals a marble rye from, David Putty in his New Jersey Devils makeup and the electrical outlet to Kenny Rogers Roasters. Courtesy of Deborah Gardner-Walker.Deborah Gardner-Walker
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The race also allows a chance for the consortium’s students to learn job skills, along with screenprinting shirts for the race, printing flyers and, in a reference to the show, making muffin tops.
The race itself starts and ends on Derby Street, followed by an after-party held by longtime sponsor Finz Seafood & Grill. At that point after the race, they have a grievance contest where people write down things that have ailed them in the last year. The top 10 of those written slips result in prizes for those runners.
“Someone’s grievance was, ‘There is no federal funding for bigfoot research,’ and I always thought that was funny,” Johnson said. “One runner said, ‘The way my sister looks and stares at me all the time.’”
The race would not exactly be Festivus without the pole, but Johnson said there is indeed a 6-foot-tall aluminum pole that runners enjoy taking pictures with. At one point, she considered getting the winner’s names engraved on the pole but the durability of the pole made that impossible.
Weather has only once impacted the race when snowfall resulted in the race being rescheduled. Johnson said that “was a grievance for us, so we made the most of it. It came up a lot in the grievances that the date on the race shirt no longer matched the date of the race.”
Even the COVID-19 pandemic did not slow down the race, with sponsors still wanting to support the Northshore Education Consortium. The race shirts in 2020 did not say the race was in Salem but rather Anytown, USA, a reference to Kramer once turning his apartment front door into a faux porch with plants, windchimes, a rocking chair and sparklers.
The only person to work on “Seinfeld” who Johnson knows is aware of the race is Dan O’Keefe, who wrote “The Strike.” Johnson said she found this out while on a podcast with author Mark Nelson, who wrote “Festivus The Book: A Complete Guide to the Holiday for the Rest of Us.” Part of the book even focuses on the run. Knowing O’Keefe was aware of the race “was a very cool moment,” Johnson said.
Festivus pole trophies made by students in the NEC’s Vocational Academy go to Festivus run winners. Courtesy of Deborah Gardner-Walker.Deborah Gardner-Walker
Awards, including Festivus pole trophies, go out to the winners. This includes the top three finishers in several age categories, best costumes and team awards for groups running together. With the proceeds, Johnson said the race’s goal is to “just go above and beyond so (the students) get a lot more from going to school there.”
The advance entry price is $30, $35 on the day of the race. The 5K run begins at 10 a.m. For more information, visit the race’s website at the link here.
