Submitted by The Thurston County Chamber
She is 32.8 years old and is highly educated, with a yearly household income of more than $75,000. She considers herself an athlete and trains year-round. She reports running an average of 208 days a year, and logs nearly 1,165 miles annually. She is motivated to run in order to stay in shape, stay healthy, relieve stress, and to have fun.
Who is this wonder-woman, you may ask. “Jessica” is a composite sketch based on a yearly survey conducted by Running USA, and is a profile of an “average runner”.
Enter the Puddle Jump, an event created by the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce, getting ready for its fourth annual 5k/10k event, and meet our oldest registered runner. This will be his fourth year running the Puddle Jump, and he just celebrated his 80th birthday.
“The Puddle Jump was created to promote a healthy community and to get everyone out there moving,” said Alisha Blain, the Chamber’s event coordinator. “I love this event and so does the community because we view all of our participants as athletes, and there are categories for just about everyone. In fact, we just created a new category for individuals 80 years and older,” she said with a smile.
This year the Chamber has added two new categories to the event: Wheel Chair and Stroller. “We have a wounded warrior registered this year. He is a very serious competitor, but at the same time we encourage families and less serious competitors to join. Last year we had a lot of children compete as well as people running and walking with their dogs,” she said.
If you are more like the “average runner” profile that was first mentioned, you’ll be thrilled with the event too. Meet Robin, who said, “I ran the Puddle Jump for the 1st time last year
and really enjoyed it and came in 1st in the 10K within 6 days of running a 1/2 marathon in CA. I’ve run a lot of races in Tacoma but did not like the atmosphere and the snobbery of the runners. It is a joy to do a run with such down to earth participants, sponsors and race event staff.”
Some participants are serious runners, but really want to run a race that truly is fun and low stress, like Mike. He said, “Last year was my second year running this event and second year I have taken first in my age group. The Puddle Jump is attracting the more competitive runners that will use this run to go all out yet have a lot of fun doing it. I run triathlons, marathons, bike events, but look forward to this fun run just to relax in my sport and really have fun.”
So, whether you fit the profile of an “average” runner, or are an 80-year-old looking to jump in the puddles, join the Chamber for the fourth annual Puddle Jump.
Saturday November 2, 2013
Chehalis-Western 67th St (Horizon’s Elementary) Trailhead
Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.
Full event information can be found online here or by calling the Chamber at 360.357.3362.
