Teach the Children 5K

May 15: Some of our very good friends Dickson and Heather Senkunda have a non-profit called Teach the Children and they hold book drives locally and ship the donated books to Uganda for libraries and schools that benefit children over there. They also run/support literacy programs in Uganda. Full information for Teach the Children is located at their website.

Fund raising for the non-profit is partially done through an annual 5K race that they stage. I have run a couple 5K's but it has been a while (like pre-mission) so I decided to participate. Erica wanted to help so she volunteered doing registration and she also did timing for the finishers.

With Erica doing the heavy lifting I got to actually use our stroller for it's intended purpose and ran the race with both boys in the stroller. I figured the stroller weighs 32 lbs. Benson weighs 33 lbs. Andrew weighs 28 lbs. I pushed 90+ pounds while I ran 3 miles! What am I nuts?! The BOB is a GREAT stroller, the course was along the Jordan River Parkway with smooth pavement and flat land so most of the time I couldn't tell I was pushing them. The uphills were a little struggle and the downhills were like Whoa Horsey!

Here's me coming across the finish line with Benson and Andrew in full action. It was actually really fun to run with the boys. They were well behaved. At about mile two Andrew started to scream a little. I was wishing for this at the start so people would've known I was coming up behind them! Benson would say, "Run faster dad! Go FASTER!" Talk about putting me to task.

My time. Not bad for only 1 practice run.

Andrew was a good passenger.
Benson getting into the running game. He has been asking to "run a marathon" ever since. Both the boys looked quite handsome in their track suits. They can thank Erica for their sporty apparel.

Final Note: I joined the board of Teach the Children in June. If you are interested in donating books, making a financial endorsement, or volunteering time you can contact me, we'd love any help you can provide.