We Ran as a Family in the 9th Robinsons Fit & Fun Wellness Buddy Run!

One of the top things that make me happy is doing activities with the people I care most about in this world -- my family. Thus, it gives me joy when I get to bond with my husband and second son during practice runs and actual races. 

excited to run together!

Most times, though, we leave our special child with one of his brothers at home when we have to join races. When we found out that there'll be another Robinsons Buddy Run this July, I told my husband that I'd love to push James' wheelchair while I team up with our youngest son as my running partner for the 5k category. Thankfully, Daniel has also took up running every now and then with his friends. (Read his blog entry about it, here.)

thank you so much to all the kind people who made way for us
at the starting line

And so there we were, the whole family minus one (our eldest is on night shift at the office) at 4AM traveling to Bonifacio Global City and praying it won't rain. Our friends at Stratworks thankfully offered us a ride along with fellow bloggers who also live in the South.

my handsome running buddy
I can't believe he's now taller than I am!

We arrived at the venue while many were already doing warm up exercises. People milled about, checking out the many interesting booths scattered around the race village. Us? We happily took groufies to preserve memories. 

my barefoot running boys

Hubby (read his blog post, here) and Gab (read his blog post, here) went ahead to join the 10k runners while we waited for the 5k gun start. James was already getting sleepy but came wide awake once we started moving. I think he was fascinated to soak in the sights around BGC while also seeing hundreds of people wearing the same colored singlets running or walking in one direction.

that's the smile of a really happy mommy :)

Daniel and I took turns pushing James' wheelchair. We alternately walked and ran with me huffing and puffing after my son who turned out to be a fast runner! No wonder we finished the route in about half an hour despite my usual personal time for 5k runs averaging 40 minutes.

lots of groceries in the runners' "loot bag"

Upon reaching the finish line, runners were given a huge bag of grocery items each. Talk about motivation! Thank you so much Robinsons Supermarket and partner sponsors for being so generous! I hope this will jumpstart many of the participants to continue running with or without freebies and instead focus more on the sports' health benefits :) Like one quote I've recently read, "One run can change your day, but many runs will change your life."

one of us was already really sleepy by the time the run ended :)

I am truly grateful for this chance to bond with my family in a new way. The 9th Robinsons Fit & Fun Wellness Buddy Run was James' and Daniel's first official fun run and I sincerely hope it will not be the last. Here's to better health for our families!

 * Sincerest thanks to the Running Photographers for the great shots!