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Mid-morning on Saturday of the
Balloons Over 66 weekend brought many families to the newly
renovated Handlin field at Lincoln Community High School for a Kids
Fun Run organized by Lincoln Park District and sponsored by Lincoln
Memorial Hospital. It was the perfect temperature for a race day and
many of the kids wore their new race shirts. Several enthusiastic
family members got a little sprint in also, running from the
starting line across the new turf field to the finish line to cheer
on their racers.
Runners were divided into categories by age. Ages 1 to 3 ran a 100
meter dash as the first race. Ages 4 to 6 ran 200 meters in the
second race, and ages 7 to 9 ran 300 meters as the final race. A
total of 76 kids participated in the races this year, the second
year for this Route 66 certified event.
Lincoln Park District Fitness Manager Jennifer Prather said, “We had
been wanting to do this event for a long time and Lincoln Memorial
Hospital gave us the donation. I was super happy with the numbers
last year [the first year] and we had even more this year.” Prather
explained that this was a way for the whole family to be involved as
the Balloons Over 66 5k for adults runs at 8 a.m. the same morning.
“It’s something for the kids to do that is active and fun. It makes
fitness fun!”
Each child received a medal as well as a T-shirt for running in a
race. This was the first official event on the new track at LCHS
other than high school P.E. classes during the school day. Prather
invited Bob Verderber to be the announcer for the races and said of
his commentary, “This is the only time you’ll hear a kid runner
compared to Secretariat!” Verderber made the comparison during the
200 meter race when the same child led the pack the whole race to
win by a comfortable margin.
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Prather went on to say that “it was
fun for friends to run together. The music was good. We look forward
to ongoing, continued support to keep this event running.” Prather
mentioned that she has had questions from families about races for
kids age 10 and older and she said that it comes down to volunteers.
They always need more volunteers to help with the event and she
would love to add a mile run for ages 10+ with enough help.
Chris Slaby, a parent of two kids who ran the Kids Fun Run, added,
“It was a good time. The kids were running and dancing. The races
are early enough in the day to beat the heat. The only heat was out
on the track.”
Balloons Over 66 Kids Fun Run photo slideshow
[Stephanie Hall]
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