Our Annual Kid's Fun Run Event

Saturday was our annual Kid’s Fun Run event, co-sponsored by McDonald’s, Conoco Phillips, and The Alaska Zoo. It was a great success! Each year we just get more and more organized, so each year it just gets better and better.

We offered races in four categories: ages 3-4, ages 4-5, ages 6-7, and ages 9-10; with separate races for the boys and the girls, minimum 50 kids per race. All together, that meant we had 500 racers that day, all with their families in tow. I don’t have final numbers yet as to the overall attendance, but I know it was huge.

Registration is always chaotic, but this year seemed to be better than last. We had tables set up at the entrance for each age category, manned by at least two volunteers per table. Each child got a t-shirt (different colors for each age group) and a racing bib, and each paid their fee of $10.00.

We had a table for purchasing or renewing annual passes; also one for donations to the Capitol Funds projects. Magic 98.9 was there playing the best music, like “Sesame Street” “Hakuna Matata” and “The Bear Necessities”. Kikkan Randall was there, too; signing autographs.

Two of our volunteers dressed up in the polar bear and snow leopard costumes, and were mingling with the crowd. At one point I saw the polar bear dancing with a youngster who was laughing out loud, shouting “This is fun!”

At another point, I overheard one young girl say to her sibling, “Wait a minute: that’s a costume! Look, he has feet!” all the while pointing to the polar bear. As if that’s the only thing that gave him away!

Overall, I think everybody had a good time. I know I did!