Run Resources
Below you’ll find additional details about the Run for you and your new Rooftop student, so you know more what to expect on the day of the Run, particularly the beginning of the race, which can be very exciting and sometimes a bit overwhelming for some very young runners.
Timeline
11:00am – 12:00pm Registration
12:00pm – 1:00pm Running
1:00pm – 2:00pm Pot Luck Picnic
Details
11:00 – 12:00 Registration
An hour seems like a lot of time, but this allows you plenty of time to arrive, drop your potluck dish off at the center field picnic area, find a spot for your blanket & sunscreen and head to the grade registration to register your child. After that, you’ll have additional time to mingle and meet other families, teachers and friends.
12:00 – 1:00 Running
At about ten minutes before noon, the Run Coordinator will walk around the site with a bullhorn to announce it’s time for families to assemble at the starting line. Once the very large group is at the race start, the coordinator will stand in front of the big crowd and ask all of the kindergartners to take five big steps forward.
Once all the kindergartners are in front and separated from the other runners, the coordinator will remind the big running group that the kindergartner runners will be released first. Volunteers hold a yellow plastic caution tape in front of the big group to hold the eager beavers back.
Additional volunteers hold a separate tape in front of the kindergartners, until race start. Because the running group is so large and the kinders so small, the groups are separated to maintain some order during this very exciting time.
We then all out Kong, our event mascot (a volunteer in a gorilla suit). The kinders all know Kong by now, since he has been previously made many appearances at the school, as a way of introducing and promoting the Run. The kids go absolutely crazy over Kong! Once we do a Kong cheer, we count down and release the kinders, who proceed to chase Kong around the track. Once they hit the first bend, we release the rest of the runners!
Kinder parents are welcome to stand near the front, off the track; once the kinder runners leave the start line and are well on their way, parents may join them in their running. (Kong only runs one lap). All runners complete as many laps as they can in an hour, from 12:00 to 1:00.
If you are volunteering at the Run, you may leave your post to see the Run begin, but please resume your volunteer duties after watching the start.
1:00 – 2:00 Pot Luck Picnic
You may wish to bring snacks for your very young family members, in case they can’t wait until 1:00 to eat. Families are asked to please not start the picnic until the running is finished.
And finally … HAVE FUN!
