Fun Run

Our school decided to get rid of the cookie dough and pretzels this year and opt for a fundraiser that involved less junk and more action.  I was in love with our fun run.  Except for the part where the people came in and told the kids they could win an iPad mini if they managed to talk their family members into sponsoring them to the tune of $1,500.  But I digress. . .

Once I convinced the kids they weren't going to get the iPad, they settled their sights on a much more attainable goal -- the flying monkey -- which meant they each had to find 3 people to sponsor them for $1 a lap.

Sadie tried to earn her money without giving the full information.  Fundraising went something like this:

Sadie: Grandpa, would you like to sponsor me in my fun run?  You can pledge $1, $5 or $10 per lap.
Grandpa: How many laps do you think you will run?
Sadie: I don't know, maybe 3??
Me (shouting in the background): 26 to 36 laps!

Sadie: Aunt Lola, would you like to sponsor me in my fun run?  You can pledge $1, $5, $10 or $20.
Me (shouting in the background): PER LAP!!

I have seen my kids at running club.  There was no way they were going to run the maximum amount of laps, so I felt pretty confident committing to $1 a lap per kid. I failed to account for the fact that my kids inherited my uber-competitive gene.

Sadie's race was first.  She was very very serious.  I had actually not signed up to help because I had planned to run with her, but no other parents looked like they were going to run, so I ended up marking off laps on their backs.  This involved a large amount of bending and squatting and also sweeping aside large amounts of long hair every 2 seconds.  The laps were 1/16 of a mile with a water station and a huge blow up tunnel, so the kids felt very accomplished every little lap they ran.

The kindergarteners ran their little hearts out.  Just look at those faces!  Sadie ran 31 laps, so just under 2 miles.  I think we were all shocked, but that girl was determined.

Nate's race was next and once again I marked laps off on their back.  Nate actually ran more than the 36 laps and I doubt he even stopped for water.  He was on a mission!

I had so much fun with the kids -- the Fun Run company may have offered me a job because I was so enthusiastic.  Please notice how great I am at the YMCA:

I am sure those kids are looking at me like I'm crazy.

Ellie's was in the afternoon and the sun was out by this point.  They had also widened and lengthened the course in order to fit the giants that now pass for upper elementary kids (seriously, some of those kids are taller than me).  Their size was actually nice, since it made for less bending over to mark off backs, but there were twice as many of them and they ran twice as fast. Remember when you were a kid and you played too much Dr. Mario or Tetris and all you could see when you went to bed was a never ending game of rotating shapes? When I closed my eyes to go to bed that night, I envisioned making check marks in circles on kids' backs until I finally fell asleep.

The 4th-6th graders were intense.  They had class chants and some even had banners. I think I even saw pacers out there.  Kids literally sprint the lap and cut someone slower off to get ahead in line to get their backs marked.  A couple of times I had to chase them down because they didn't stop long enough for me to get the check mark on there.

Ellie ran over 36 laps as well and had a beet red face to prove it. And in typical tween girl fashion -- they saw a picture being taken and had to squish into it.

All said and done, my kids earned $309 for their school.  One of the best parts of the fundraiser were the class incentives. Between my kids, they earned a free dress day, a read-a-thon, dodge ball, no shoe day, electronic day, lunch with teacher, no homework passes (all 3 woo hoo). . .  I would highly recommend this fund raiser if you're looking to switch over.