Kids’ 5K short on volunteers

Runners pass the starting line during Cordova Family Resource Center’s Girls on the Run Costume 5K event. (Oct. 26, 2019) Photo by Zachary Snowdon Smith/The Cordova Times
Runners pass the starting line during Cordova Family Resource Center’s Girls on the Run Costume 5K event in 2019. (Oct. 26, 2019) Photo by Zachary Snowdon Smith/The Cordova Times

A kids’ 5K run scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 30 is still in need of 19 volunteers, organizers said Tuesday, Oct. 26.

Participants in Cordova Family Resource Center’s Girls on the Run program and boys’ Let Me Run program will run clad in superhero costumes, starting at 9:45 a.m. on Oct. 30. However, about two more volunteers are needed to record running times at the finish line outside Mt. Eccles Elementary School, said ​​CFRC victim service/prevention program support Jessica Wray. Additionally, 17 volunteers are needed to run “spooky game” booths inside the school, where kids will participate in Halloween-themed activities such as face-painting and wearing “monster feet.”

“It’s fun and all the kids love it so much because they’ve finished the race and because of how far they’ve come through the season,” Wray said. “That’s where we really need volunteers. We have a lot of booths.”

Volunteering to help with the event can be counted as “community give-back hours” for high schoolers, Wray said.

Since the programs kicked off in August, kids have learned how to improve their physical health and increase their perseverance through team activities and through studying the examples of inspirational figures like Michael Jordan. Boys participating in Let Me Run had an opportunity to demonstrate perseverance when, one afternoon, their practice was interrupted by a hailstorm.

“At the beginning, the boys were like, ‘Oh my gosh, my eyes! It hurts!’” Wray said. “But then, afterwards, they started getting pumped up and were like, ‘Oh yeah! Let’s do this!’ … Even though the circumstances weren’t great, they were still powering through.”

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During 2020, Girls on the Run was operated entirely online, using tablets to conduct group exercise over video chat. This year, the programs have included both online and in-person activities.

“The kids love to see each other,” Wray said. “That’s the whole thing with COVID: a lot of kids don’t like a lot of screen time, so having that practice really helps get the kids working together as a team, bonding, talking with each other… In virtual, they see each other, but they can’t have those little sidebar conversations which can be important sometimes.”

CFRC can be contacted by phone at 907-424-5674 or by email at cfrcprevention@ctcak.net.

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