So we walked, shuffled, jogged, huffed and puffed our way through The Lindfield Fun Run this morning.
50% of the kids came along, Rusty Rocket aged almost 6 and Dexbox who is 12.
This is my third short fun run and Dexbox’s second. (I did a post about The Sun Run here, Five Great Things About Fun Runs.)
Dex went off like a rocket and he ran the whole way, in about 35 minutes. Legend!!
I’d expected Rusty Rocket to move fast too. He started with Dexter but peaked too early and at about 2km the whinging began.
Family Fun Runs – What I Learned Today
1. Fun run genuinely are more fun with the family.
2. Other families will lap you, mums pushing twins in prams will overtake you, and old chaps with walking sticks too… it really doesn’t matter!
3. A young child will slow you down. I’m seeing that as a positive!
4. A younger child can also help your fitness efforts enormously by insisting you give them piggy backs for half the race. This will be bloody exhausting BUT think of how good it is for your heart. At least that 27kg extra load hops off at the end of the race.
5. The 5km you walk, hobble, shuffle, jog or run today may not get you to the Olympics, but the alternative was probably flopping about in your pjs wishing you were still in bed… so all good.
Please don’t have the impression we’re a super healthy family who never let an iceblock pass their lips. Not true! I must confess that yesterday there was a staggering amount of junk food and heavily packaged food consumed by the kids.
Even I was quite horrified and I’m the one who bought most of it. Bugger!
Ah well, one day at a time. I need to do a bit of food planning. But that will have to wait as now I have to hop off to collect Minnie the Minx from her sleepover.
I’ll never be a legendary runner and that’s so, so fine by me.
But a little expedition with the family is a good laugh.
Have you got any top tips yourself for other families?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like an awesome time! Well maybe aside from the piggyback factor
I’m sad I’ve had to pull out of my first planned fun run, but the logistics of leaving home around 5.30am on a Sunday morning with four kids in tow make me suspect it may not be all that much fun at all!
Ah well, I’m sure there will be local events that I can try in time
Discretion definitely the better part of valour when it comes to 5.30am departures with kids in tow. But the day will come when you can sneak out of the house that early, and be back before they’re really realised… hot and sweaty. Your running machine is such a good idea in the meantime.
I am starting to get nervous about my first 5K run coming up, wondering whether I will be
able to do it. Your last point about what I would be doing instead has made me realise I will be out in the fresh air enjoying the challenge rather than sitting on my bum doing nothing. Thank you for the motivation!
Delighted to hear from you Skyelee, I know for sure that if I hadn’t done that 5k I’d have been pretty sedentary at home with the family, bit of playing in the garden but not much. Am a firm believer in doing things, but at the pace that suits, so as not to put myself off. It’s a long-term thing, this exercise malarkey and it needs to be enjoyable enough to keep going with it.
Wow! Dexbox is certainly faster than me (for him, that is not actually ground breaking
)) – very impressed! What a fab way of instilling exercise as a normal habit for your family. Don’t know if I could handle the piggybacks though 
)
All the lifting weights made the piggyback OK, was quite surprised! Got my heart going though!