Almost a New Year! #Run1 with Run With Me Kids

It's almost 2015!  As I sneak in just a few minutes here in between family and friend visits in Portland, I'm realizing more than anything how excited I am for a NEW YEAR!  A fresh start!  A time to get more serious with training and goals! Yes, January 1st is just another day and it's not like my old goals and plans disappear, but there's something about finishing up with the holidays and seeing a new year on the calendar that just makes everything feel like a clean slate!  One of the things I'm most excited about for the new year is to continue working with Tia from Arkansas Runner Mom as we kick off the Run with Me Kids community online (www.runwithmekids.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) as well as keep going with our research/writing on building healthy life habits with kids and encouraging families to stay healthy and active together!  

One way we are spreading the word about Run with Me Kids (RWMK) and promoting kids and parents being active and healthy together is to kick off the new year with a virtual fun run: #Run1!  Please join us and help spread the word!  We'd love to see families from all over the globe participating! Here's more info:  

#Run1 is a combination of two things: family & fitness.  We are encouraging everyone to spend time with their family and commit to running or walking one mile together on January 1st.  There is no fee for this virtual run.  You don't need to register or raise money for anything.  Our main goal is to promote kids being active and healthy, and who better than to teach them this than their parents?

We would love for everyone who participates to tag a picture of you with your runners on social media with #Run1 or #RunwithMeKids.  We are on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  The Run with Me Kids community will vote on a winning photo and the winner will receive a new pair of running shoes for their child!  The winner will be announced on 1/15/15.

Thank you to those who have helped us spread the word about RWMK and Run 1!  Thank you also to Cassie from Run with My Girl for helping us spread the word and sharing our vision for happy active families!  It's been so great to read about what she has done in her community when it comes to empowering parents and kids to get active together with running and life habits!  We look forward to working with you more Cassie!  She also set up a Facebook event for Run1 where she says:

"Mom, Dads, teens, tweens, kids, stroller kids, babes...Kick off 2015 together! On January 1 join us with @runninghood @arrunningmom and @runwithmekids in creating a coast to coast movement with our kids, young, old and in between! 1....that's all it takes! Run/walk 1 or more miles on January 1 and post them with the tag #run1 , #runwithmygirl or #runwithmekids. Post and tag your photos to motivate the active family movement and be entered to win running shoes!"

You can read more about Run 1 on www.RunwithMeKids.com!  

Hope everyone has had such a good winter break/holiday!  We just escaped a big winter snow storm in Bend, OR and are enjoying sunshine and blue skies in Portland (rare for winter here)!  Maybe the sunshine will stick around so we can all Run 1 together as a family before heading back home to winter wonderland!  Even if it does return to typical rain and gray...what's one mile in the rain?!  

Will you join in this virtual fun run and #Run1 with your family?  

Amanda