Anchorage kids’ fun run a gateway to a healthy future

There may be no other person as jazzed about encouraging healthy kids as Wally Wilson. Coordinator of the Anchorage Runfest Kids 2K, Wilson has been a driving force behind the concept that "fun runs" should be exactly that. Fun. All fun, and for all kinds of kids.

A race that has its roots deep within the framework of Anchorage's summer running season, Runfest is a series of races formerly known first as the Humpy's Marathon and then as Big Wild Life Runs. In 2017, it will be a two-day celebration of running, walking, wheeling, or dashing around flat and fast courses in Alaska's largest city.

Wilson, a physical therapist and dad of two girls, has spearheaded the Runfest Kids 2K and subsequent expo since its inception as a way to usher kids and adults toward a lifetime of healthy living and exercise. I volunteered on the committee with Wilson back at the inception, and watched his enthusiasm with envy as he brought forth partner after partner, including The Children's Hospital at Providence and Healthy Futures, both staunch supporters of youth and family fitness in Alaska.

"Those first years we had maybe 75 to 100 kids and held the race in the middle of all the others," he said. "But then we started thinking about a kid-centric run with other things for families to do."

Sharron Fisherman, race director for Anchorage Runfest, took the idea and along with Wilson presented a "festival" concept to then-Mayor Dan Sullivan with the hope that the city would jump on board. The resulting combination of race and party was an immediate hit with local families, ours included.

Now its own event on Saturday before all the hoopla of the other races, the Runfest Kids 2K takes over the Delaney Park Strip with a flat race course of about 1.2 miles that winds around the grassy block between E and I Streets before looping through the carnival-like atmosphere to an official finish line.

"We see kids sprinting, walking, in wagons and wheelchairs," said Wilson, emphasizing the no-pressure, non-timed appeal for families who might be new to the fun run idea, or just want to get out and enjoy a Saturday morning in the great Alaska outdoors. The course is simple, well-marked, and lined with enthusiastic grownups waving and snapping photos of their young runners.

The Kids 2K is also free, thanks to The Children's Hospital at Providence. After the race, families can wander the booths at the Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center-sponsored Family Health and Safety Day, continuing the message of healthy living through good choices. Games, prizes, and music help round out a morning that feels perfectly in tune with a community dedicated to its children.

In 2016, Wilson told me, barriers were broken, both in participation and demographics. More than 1,000 kids signed up, including a wheelchair participant. Wilson says he hopes by 2018 there will be a dedicated "wheel" heat.

Fun runs have a long history as tagalong events to other races, but rarely do they have as much clout for carrying forth a kid-friendly message of why exercise is good for you.

It is well-documented that children need regular and frequent exercise to prevent a host of issues ranging from obesity to inattention at school. Alaska kids are no different. A Department of Health and Human Services report from 2014 identifies nutrition, technology, and information-sharing as factors directly related to the amount of fitness activities people decide to choose. Wilson and the Kids 2K committee intend to purposefully target kids and caregivers on the weekend before school starts with the message that staying active is easier than they might think.

Before the starter's gun fires at 10 a.m. on Aug. 19, race participants will warm up with what Wilson has dubbed the "Healthy Heroes," Alaska's most popular and successful athletes from a variety of sports. Among them: four-time Olympian and mother Kikkan Randall, handcyclist Andrew Kurka, and runner Hallidie Wilt. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., they'll lead stretches and encourage kids, hoping to propel not just their legs, but their passion for fitness once they leave the race course.

With motivation like that, and with continued RunFest commitment, I expect some Anchorage kids will start school in a few weeks as fired up as Wilson. At least, we can hope so.

Anchorage RunFest Kids 2K and Family Health and Safety Day

*When: Saturday, August 19, 2017, 9:30 a.m.

*Where: Delaney Park Strip, between E and I Streets (one block south of Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center

*Who: All kids 0-12 are welcome to participate. Parents may walk or jog alongside children, and strollers, wheelchairs or other wheeled modes of transportation are acceptable. Please leave pets at home.

*Registration: Every child must be registered and pick up a bib number before the start of the race. No child will be accepted to race without registration. Sign up in person on race day at the Dena'ina Center (location of the RunFest Expo) or online: http://www.anchoragerunfest.org/index.html

All kids who race will receive a hat, finisher's medal, and snacks at the finish line.

Erin Kirkland is author of the Alaska On the Go guidebook series and publisher of AKontheGO.com, a website dedicated to Alaska travel and outdoor recreation.