5K races can foster a lifelong love of running

It started out as a favor for a friend. It ended up being my conversion to running for fun.

I had always viewed running as conditioning. It was a monotonous, but necessary, part of "getting in shape." It was something to be endured so you could make it up and down the basketball court or soccer field.

Then came a call from my friend, Brooke Adams. She wanted me to run a 5K race at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

"It's for a good cause," she said in an effort to persuade me to get up early to do what I considered "working out."

I would do anything for Brooke, even humiliate myself on an adult soccer team or in a two-man beach volleyball tournament, so I agreed.

"Just one condition," I said. "We can walk when we're tired, right?"

Seven years later, I smile when I recall how we did a whole lot more walking (and talking) than running in that first race. I am not sure what my time was, but I believe it was around 40 minutes. All I know is I had fallen in love with these people who gave up their Saturday morning to run for a good cause.

For that first year, all Brooke and I did was choose 5Ks to run each Saturday. It wasn't about courses or times for us, although it developed into a bit of a competition. It was about the causes.

Sadly, once I started training for marathons two years later, I had to give up running 5Ks on Saturdays so I could use the weekends for long runs. It was a difficult thing to do because you felt — at least once a week — like you were doing something good for other people.

This past couple of weeks, I had the chance to re-visit those roots. I signed up to run the First Annual Running of the Leopards at East High, as well as Running for Relief, a race hosted by Christ United Methodist Church.

The Running of the Leopards is the brainchild of some creative members of the PTSA, clearly adept at multi-tasking. They decided they would raise money while encouraging students to be active. They also hoped to create a sense of belonging, something the running community does very well.

"It was a great family event," said Katy Christiansen, the PTSA's vice-president of communications. "The course was so gentle, we had little kids running, whole families … Just the joy on those little kids faces. It was great."

The PTSA made $6,500 on the race, but the real reward was having 300 students register.

"We had about 80 kids meet at Glendale Junior High at 6:30 in the morning so they could catch the bus up to the race," she said. Christiansen said the race was "a ton of work," but it was made possible by the women of the PTSA, who provided "commitment and enthusiasm."