Creating Family Memories Running 5K Races

At the Big A 5K

So, I’ve been working hard this past year to get in shape & my workout of choice is running 5K races. This year my kids’ charter school implemented a new requirement for PE – in order for students to earn an A they need to participate in an “above and beyond” option. There’s several things for the kids to choose from – they can do a PE log, participate in a team sport, do mileage club during recess, etc. Since I caught the running bug and I’m always looking for fun things to do as a family I decided we’d run a 5K to fulfill the requirement.

When you have 6 kids it can be expensive to have the whole family participate in a race. Many races cost $40-60 per person. That’s a nice chunk of change when you multiply it by the 8 of us. Plus, I wanted to find a race that would be fun for the kids. So, I spent a few days researching races in Southern California & looking for coupons & discounts so I didn’t break the bank.

I ended up finding two races that we signed up for – one for the 1st trimester & 1 for the second trimester requirements. Our first 5K was the Big A 5K held at Angels Stadium. This was a fun little race where the start & end of the race was inside Angels Stadium. The kids had fun running around the baseball field & outside the stadium. My oldest wasn’t thrilled with the idea of running, but she did go along & completed the race (albeit rather slowly).

My 7 year old running outside Angels Stadium

For our next 5K I found a fun themed race – the Color In Motion 5K in Temecula. My sister & her family live out in Temecula so we didn’t mind making the drive east for this race. Plus – we would get pelted with colored powder! How much fun would that be? Usually these themed races are more expensive than a basic 5K, but I found a coupon that made this race affordable for our family. This race was different as we were running on dirt instead of pavement & asphalt. Everyone got a white shirt to wear & packet of color to throw. The color started flying before the race even began.

Colorful & Happy

someone got hit with color in the head

The kids had fun throwing colors at one another and going through the various color spots where we were splattered with powdered color. You could see a cloud of color rising from each area – green, yellow, orange, purple. By the end of the race not only were our white shirts splattered, but so was our hair, our faces, and pretty much anything we had on.

The whole family actually running!

It was a great morning with the family – we all stayed pretty much together as a group & the kids all helped and encouraged one another as some got tired along the way. Everytime a new color came into view the kids would get excited & move a little faster. There’s something freeing about an event like this. Getting splattered with color & throwing it at one another isn’t something you do everyday – it was so fun to not only run and exercise as a family, but to have that freedom to be a little wacky on a Saturday morning too.

A Colorful Family

Family time is so important – and with the hectic schedules of work, school, and other commitments – sometimes we don’t have as much family time as we’d like. Exercise time is also easily pushed aside if you aren’t involved in team sports. Running 5Ks has become a fun, healthy solution to family time for us – perhaps we’ll see your family at our next race!

Julie is an OC Supermom to six beautiful children in Orange County. She is an editor with Astraea Press, active in the community and enjoys running in her free time.