Our 1st Family Race

Kellogg's (insert copyright symbol here) holds a 5K run and 1 mile walk each year near our home for a charity food bank called Christ's Table. My father works for Kellogg's as a consultant now and prior to "retirement" in their product development scientist role. This run is fun and I have pictures from last year's race too. On Saturday we all work up early and made the hour trek out to the race. Unfortunately the skies had another plan and decided to open up with a thunderstorm of fury approximately 15 minutes prior to the gun going off. Everyone took cover in their cars and watched the light show until the storm passed. The rain took the edge off the temperature but certainly added a stickiness to the air. The race started about 25 minutes after the posted time and Al and Dad took their turn at the head of the pack. Carson knew ahead of time that he was going to run the 1 mile with me and Eli was going to walk with Gigi. As most plans go with a 4 year old running around, things changed right before the race. Eli wanted to run "just like Carson and Daddy" but insisted on me going with him. Carson is big enough to head off on his own ahead of us on a closed race course so he ran hard as I cheered him on. Eli made it about 1/4 mile running on and off and then decided his legs just couldn't make it and wanted me to carry him. The hard part was that he wanted me to "run so Carson didn't beat him". Let me tell you, hauling a 35 pound 4 year old and running a race is not a picnic. We caught up to Carson at the halfway mark and he was standing with his hands on his hips waiting on me. He was a bit nervous and had stopped until I met up with him again. Gigi agreed to walk the rest of the way with Elias and Carson and I took off. He was smiling from ear to ear and couldn't wait to run through the time gates. By-standers were urging him to run faster and we raced through the finish line together. He ran the mile in less then 10 minutes with a rest period in the middle while he was waiting on me!! Eli picked up the pace and followed his brother across the finish line with Gigi about 6 minutes later complete with a big boy grin. I couldn't be more proud of my munchkins. Gigi, the boys, and I started to watch for the big guys and Al came running in at just over 21 minutes. My 57 year old father shocked all of his co-workers by crossing the line in 29 minutes!! It was a wonderful day with good exercise for us all.


After all of the racers were in Kellogg's provided veggie burgers galore with fruit, chips, and drinks. The air was cool and the food tasted delicious. Nothing like a spicy black bean burger straight off the grill! The boys both won a free Frosty from Wendy's and I won a free meal from McDonald's. The event was beneficial to the community as well because all proceeds from the race ($10 per person entry fee) went straight to the food kitchen. What an amazing opportunity.