I’m still on a lingering high from a local race that my family, some good friends, and I ran recently which was awesome for so many reasons! It was family-oriented, it was fun, and there were donuts – Bill’s Donuts at the end!
A Special Wish Super Hero Donut Run.
I have always looked for fun, 5K races to run to make my exercise routine more interesting. But, now that I’m a mom, I have an added incentive to make exercise more appealing to my children so as to improve the likelihood that they will want to live a healthy lifestyle as they grow older. I have small kids, though – three girls under the age of five. So, I have to take them with me in a jogging stroller or have someone watch after them during a race. This race was a little different in that there was a kid fun run prior to the 5K/10K race. So, I signed up my 4-year-old and my 3-year-old and we all started on the Centerville HS track. I pushed my baby in a jogging stroller while my big girls ran a mile race on the track! My 4-year-old actually completed all 4 laps! I was shocked and so proud! My little girl who acts as though she can’t take another step on a short walk around our neighborhood and insists on sitting in the stroller next to the baby, completed a full mile race! Plus, my little 3-year-old completed 3 laps of the race! I’d say that’s another win! Along with cute packets complete with t-shirts and puzzles, they each received adorable medals at the end of the race and were proud as peacocks. I have never thought my little ones were old enough to run such a long race as a full mile, but now that they have proved me wrong and are super eager to run another race, a kid fun run is a new race requirement.
That’s not all. I specifically filter out vanilla races and choose races that are fun. This race was super hero themed! What could be more fun than running a race dressed as a super hero?!?! I mean, there were so many cute kids dressed as Batman, Wonder Woman, and even Captain Underpants. Adults were dressed up too, which made it even more fun for the kids. It was like they were running next to real-life super heroes!
Another requirement of a particularly awesome race is delightful refreshments upon race completion. There is no comparison to Bill’s Donuts after running a kid fun run and 5K with the family. I highly recommend this race and intend to run it again next year!
I’m always on the lookout for local races! What are your top picks? Any recommendations that fit my specs: Family-oriented (kid run), fun theme, and great food???