Achieving the real goal - Beat the Heat 5k

I have been running for almost 5 years now. In the last 3 I have become more serious about it. Sure my goal was to run a marathon but I've always had another goal. It is not a well defined goal but the goal is to get as many people in my family and even friends involved in some sort of physical activity. Hopefully running of course. Well over the past months I finally started to make progress on this goal. It all started with my cousin Christi and her husband Brian deciding they wanted to run a 5k and get "in shape". They invited me to come to NC and run it with them. The "Beat the Heat 5K" in Winston Salem, NC. This sparked my dad and my wife to begin training for it as well. They both trained for the race. Fortunately the race also included a mile kids run which caused my oldest daughter to start training for that as well. My youngest daughter wanted to run in it too so it became a family affair.


I cannot express the joy it gave me to have all my family with me at a race and most of them running in it! I think they were all really proud of their accomplishment as well. I ran the kids race with my youngest daughter and she ran her guts out. She had to walk some of it but she would run with all her might and then get tired and walk. It's hard to teach a 5 year old to pace themself. My oldest daughter ran really well running the mile in a little over 9 minutes. They both recieved finishing ribbons and they were proud of their accomplishment.
It was a great time and I hope I can keep everyone motivated. Running is not for everyone. It is tough on the body. It can be boring, hot, and lonely. I just feel like a got a tiny bit closer to reaching my goal of getting everyone motivated.