I run because my 10 year old daughter loves it but is too young to run races on her own. So I decided I better step up and get running so I could keep up with her.
It all started when my daughter Addison was in grade 3. Her teacher, who is an avid runner (Boston Marathon finisher), challenged her class to participate in a local 5 km race to benefit youth mental health. Addison really wanted to enter, so with hesitation on my part (I wasn’t a runner), we both signed up. From that first race she was hooked and wanted to to every local race we could find, and I wanted to keep doing this activity with her as it was a nice way to spend time together. That’s how we found the VR Pro Santa 5k last year. It was close by and you got to dress up like Santa and run with other Santas. Nothing but fun! When this years race date was announced we knew we would sign up. My son Nathan wanted to run too, but he wasn’t sure, as this would be his first 5 km race. He was worried if would he finish. Would he hold back my daughter and I. He also doesn’t like large crowds of people. When I saw this race was being offered as a virtual race, I knew then he could be a part of it. So we signed up, chose our route and planned a day to do our run. We dressed up and ran. We enjoyed this virtual race, the first ever for any of us. It was great, I got to run with my kids for fun, no big crowds to worry about and we could just do something we enjoyed together. My son loved it.
For us running keeps us active and races allow us to set goals and accomplish them. We find runners are so willing to help each other out and give advice. On race day, they always cheer each other on. Now that my son has completed the virtual Santa run, he thinks he would like to try it again next year with the thousands of other Santas. But, if the time comes and he finds it too daunting to be with that many Santas, we know there is always a virtual race he can participate in.
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