It was an interesting day at the Pirate Toy Fund 5K, run in beautiful Powder Mill Park in Perinton, NY. I have been training my hearty band of 5th graders for 9 weeks and today was the payoff for our program. This was the first time that I have tried this and it turned into a day of firsts. We originally had 12 students in the program. Students had to show up for the training sessions, be a good citizen in school by following rules and getting homework done, and had to "qualify" for the actual race by being able to run non-stop for 15 minutes. 9 made it to the starting line yesterday along with DW, my teaching partner, and myself. The kids running abilities made a natural 3 group split. DW ran with the top group, my fellow teacher with the middle group and me with the back of the packers. This was the first time any of the students had run a 5K and they were all excited. The day started out with the temperature at 50 and ready to drop and a steady rain. Only one student decided not to run because of the conditions. They were all excited to get their race numbers and t-shirts. They proved that they learned their lessons well, not one of them put on the race t-shirt to run in the race. For the fashion report: I was dressed in a long sleeve nike drifit shirt in carolina blue with 2 horizontal black stripes, black nike shorts with a carolina blue stripe down the side, a white nike hat and my black nike zoom running shoes. The horn went off and we were away. The race started on a downhill. Between their excitement and the downhill my back of the packers went out too fast and were chatting way too much, but it was a learning experience. We kept contact with the back of the pack for about a mile, then they disappeared. It was just the 4 of us, the road and the rain. We did a fair amount of walking, but as we went we cut down our walking times. The highlight of the day was the excitement at the water stop. I have never seen people so soaked who wanted water so badly. When were nearing the finish line the one student I have written about before really wanted to walk, even though it was downhill to the finish. Many of the other students had come back to encourage her. I told her we were the last 2 people on the course and I was going to run the rest of the way. She started running again and held her pace to many cheers at the finish. 9 kids and 3 adults started and we all finished. All of the students finished with a big smile on their faces (I have seen the pictures). For me, at the awards, a bottle of wine for finishing last. It is the only time I have ever won anything at a race and well worth it. I finished with exactly 15:00/mile pace but wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. All but one said they want to do it again, and so we will. http://www.yellowjacketracing.com/PirateToyFundAgeGroupResults2008.htm

Awesome, Craneium! You've been such an inspiration to these kids. It's caring teachers like you that really make a difference in kids' lives. Do you think you have any future Olympians in the bunch?

this was a great report!!! Thanks Craneium!

Great job for you, your wife, your coworker, and your girls. Everyone did well. You're doing a good thing, craneium. Congratulations. TomS

Hmm - I'd be tempted to come in last if I knew there was a bottle of wine involved!!

Me too me too!! That was a great report. I love how you have inspired these kids and hopefully they can take away something from the experience....that running can be fun! And that they can probably do more than they expected.

Craneium, Wonderful, wonderful. (channeling Lawrence Welk.) I'm sure the students gained so much more than physical fitness. I loved how you accompanied and encouraged the slowest runner. It will be neat if some of the students repeat the prep and race next time. Does the Pirate Toy Fund buy Pirate toys? If so you should hit up. He's the Chief Pirate at KR.

Nice racing Craneium and wonderful results for a lucky group of kids. I wish there were more programs like this. Kudos to you. Powder Mill Park is a great place to run and I try to find races there when I visit the in-laws. I can just picture all of you. Thanks for sharing this and more importantly, thanks for all you do to encourage the kids to get moving. I am sure it builds confidence and gives them a sense of accomplishment. A bottle of wine and priceless smiles.....a grand day. Karin

That's just great, Craneium. (BTW, is it really "Tut"?) It's wonderful that you did this and introduced the kids to this new experience. Sounds like a fun day for everyone.