"I've always wanted to do that," is one of the most common phrases I hear. And it is oft repeated. I heard it again and again as I asked friends to accompany me to the Eighth Annual George Bailey 5K last night. Alas, they still feel that way.

The GB5K is the brainchild of local filmmaker Matt Ehlers. A tribute to the Frank Capra classic "It's A Wonderful Life," it is an absurd charity event involving people of all ages dressing up as their favorite characters in the film (or not), and romping through the East End singing carols and shouting out "Merry Christmas!" in like manner to the final scene of the movie.

The non-race begins at Mex on A-Street. Finding a free parking space in that area is always a challenge, so as I parallel parked directly in front of the building I truly felt like it was a wonderful life. As I made my way through the shoveled path from curb to sidewalk, I seconded it.

I pushed my way past the costumed and not-costumed crowd to the registration desk and got my race tag, No. 4. They had started at 100, so I was near last to register. Then I had a shot of whiskey to brace myself against the cold outside.

At 8 o'clock we gathered on the front steps and received our instructions via megaphone from Mike Koldan. It is not a race, but a slow trot. Spread Christmas cheer by shouting out Merry Christmas whenever the mood moves you. We will stop here and here and here to sing carols. Pass the lyric sheets around. We then sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (I think) to get the party started and as we finished, a saxophone began to play a la Lisa Simpson. She ended with the race song "Horses to the Gate" and we were off!

We all trotted and slipped down the sidewalk until we got to the first church. There we huddled onto the steps and sang the first carol. From there we filed up over the inner loop over pass (Merry Christmas, Inner Loop! Merry Christmas, Arena's!) and stopped across from Spot Coffee. Christmas miracles of miracles, there was a horn quartet playing outside. Asked if they knew "Joy to the World," we then had an impromptu jam with the temporarily named Coffee All-Stars, the street between us becoming a magical awning for the cars that slowed down to watch. The wee Zuzu's in front were an angelic spin.

We commenced trotting and shouting (Merry Christmas, Little Theatre! Merry Christmas, Channel 10! Merry Christmas, Hi-Fi!) and then curved around the courtyard of the church beside RoCo (or whatever it's called these days). There was then a vote between singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas," with my holly jolly vote losing out. I guess "Hark" is more befitting a church courtyard, but I thought "Holly" would be jolly.

From there we crossed the street and gathered at Metro Salon for eggnog, a final carol ("Auld Lang Syne"), the announcement of the official count (115!) and door prizes. I didn't win any (boo-hoo), but some people are probably eating an Italian meal or getting their nails done today.

Prior to this year, I was in the "I've always wanted to do that" camp. Now it will become one of my holiday traditions. It's hilarious, absurd, ridiculous, and way fun. It IS a wonderful life, and if someone finds a more silly charity, Ehlers says he'll buy it.

Next up: Trains at Edgerton CC