After our great experience last year at the Kids 4 Kids Walk/Run, we were easily persuaded to participate in another walk/run this past weekend. And this time, the whole family participated, not just Sonny and me! Doobie and Sonny’s school highly encouraged families to register. There was even a competition between grade levels to see which one had the greatest number of registrations.

And we felt we had a personal connection to this event’s cause which made it even easier to commit to participating. Home Run for Kids was organized by Upward Bound House, an organization whose mission is to “eliminate homelessness among families with children by providing housing, supportive services and advocacy”. Sonny’s third grade class went on a field trip to Family Place, one of UBH’s projects which is a transitional housing facility for homeless families. The third graders learned about homelessness and visited an apartment at the facility. Afterwards they encouraged the school community to bring in loose change to raise funds to furnish an apartment there. They even made Valentine cards to send to Family Place.

Over 200 members of our school community participated in Home Run for Kids. I think what made it especially attractive to some families was that there was a Kiddie K. Doobie was thrilled to be running in a race just for his age group. And apparently, many other kindergartners felt the same way since Kindergarten won the school competition for the most registrations!

The boys in blue t-shirts running alongside their daddy in black as he approaches the finish line for the 10K

I have to say, the Kiddie K was the highlight of the event for me. Doobie had cheered his daddy on as he finished his 10K and watched Sonny and me complete our 5Ks. Finally, it was his turn. 

At first, he really wanted me to stay with him and run with him, but then Sonny decided he wanted to run with him even though he had just completed his 5K. I’m glad I got off because I don’t know if I would have been able to keep up with them!

After some light group stretching, the Kiddie K runners were off and they sprinted! All the adults watching were surprised that no one tripped. Some kids faded as they began to realize how far their Kiddie K actually was (1K), but apparently Doobie ran the whole way. He was very proud of his accomplishment, but he did admit 1K was about the maximum distance for him.

It was a fabulous morning of exercise and fun for a great cause. It was incredible to see so many families from our school there. And it was fun running into families from outside of our school, too. We had a great time hanging out with friends, visiting booths for samples and treats, and enjoying the entertainment. This was UBH’s inaugural Home Run for Kids so it will be interesting to see where it goes from here!

Did you notice my medal? I got fourth place in my age group (out of 36)!