Rotary Unity Run

 

 

When Jacob and I ran the Kenai River Festival 5K about a month ago, we felt a little sad to see that there were lots of families doing the race together (we'd left our kids at home that day). We decided that the next opportunity we had, we'd run a race as a family. That opportunity came yesterday at the Rotary Unity Run. It's a race that the Rotary Clubs of Kenai and Soldotna put on in an effort to unite the two communities. We got up early (whewww... after living on a summer schedule, this in itself was quite a feat!) and headed to SoHi to pick up our bibs (even little Ziya got a racing bib). We also got t-shirts and wick-dry runner's socks. I then drove Jacob, Abraham and Ziya back to the starting place, drove back to SoHi, left our car and then took a bus back to the starting place (the car dealership between Kenai and Soldotna).

We took our bike trailer/stroller with us and packed it full of snacks, drinks and blankets. Jacob and I took turns pushing Ziya. She did alright until the end when she really wanted to run with the rest of us. Ammon alternately ran and walked the entire 5 kilometers (about 3.2 miles). Abraham also ran and walked but he also took a few "short rests", as he called them, in the trailer. One of Ammon's friends from his kindergarten class was near us for the entire race. He turned out to be quite an inspiration for Ammon, who refused to let himself be beat by a classmate. Every time the boy tried to pass us, Ammon mustered up the energy to sprint and stay ahead.

We finished the race in about 44 minutes (I think). Ziya beat all of us, crossing the finish line in her fancy stroller before any of the rest of us! Ammon and Abraham were a bit disappointed when they realized that we didn't "win" the race. We talked to them about how every runner out there was a winner simply because they were doing it! It was a really good and fun experience for all of us and I felt good about what we were trying to teach our family.

We hung out afterwards and ate hamburgers and chips. Then we hung out even longer and tried to win some door prizes (new tennis shoes are always nice!), but again, we didn't win! The boys were thrilled when the announcer realized that they'd forgotten to pass out the finishers' medals at the finish line. They were first in line to pick theirs up.

The pictures are of us after we'd returned home (we forgot to take our camera to the actual race). We're showing off our new t-shirts, socks and medals. Ziya had just had too much excitement... she's knocked out.