Santa Shuffle Recap

On Saturday morning we had the chance to do a race as a family, the 2013 Santa Shuffle.  I use the word "race" in the loosest sense of the word possible…it was a 5K run that was untimed, and you were supposed to do 7 laps of the half-mile track (yes, that is 5.6K) or whatever you felt like.  The goal of this run is to raise money for the local Salvation Army and it sure seemed like they were a success!  There were approximately 400 people taking part at our local race and many more across the country at similar events.  The fundraising this time of year goes towards Christmas Hampers that help out local families during the Christmas season with toys and food.

Michelle, the kids and I jumped in the car and set off to the Fairgrounds where the race was being held, picking up our fellow Cheap Runner along the way.  It was a frigid morning with the temperature stuck at 19°F and feeling like 9°F with the wind…COLD!  We were all bundled up as best as we could and were determined to make the most of it.

The race was held out on the horse track which isn't the most fun surface to run on with it being loose dirt and banked…thankfully it wasn't too loose today as the ground was frozen solid!  We set off at 10:00 to begin our 7-loop tour of the track.  All five of us ran pretty much together…I tried to snap some pictures and was also playing some Christmas songs on my phone (as performed by the Muppets).

And They're Off!

Mandatory Selfie

Jackson thought this was the North Pole

Flying down the back stretch

Think Kennedy was having fun?

After two laps I was frozen and decided to get in a "hot" lap…I took off to do a quick lap to warm up a bit and ended up catching back up to our crew after a lap and a half.  I was feeling warmer and we all decided that my extra lap should be counted as a team lap…so we had now completed four of our seven laps.

Jackson was beginning to struggle a bit and little walk breaks just weren't doing it for him anymore, so I spent the next lap like this…

He thought it was fun to ride his horse around the track…oh boy, lots of fun ;)

Rhoda decided that she would do her part for the team and put in a hot lap of her own and that put us on our final lap.  I had Jackson get down off my shoulders and finish like a champ

We crossed the line to high fives from Santa himself and headed inside to collect our medals and warm up with some hot chocolate and cookies.

Jackson was thrilled with his very FIRST medal and has insisted on wearing it for the last couple days…they were nice medals though, so it is completely understandable.

All in all it was a fun race to do with the family…no one there was taking it seriously, which is nice at a fun run.  We did this race last year and we will probably do it again next year…just a good time for everyone!

Are there any "fun runs" that you like to do every year?

Do you enjoy untimed, just-for-fun races?