Running Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward Virtual 5k With My Daughter

Thank you to WWP Carry Forward 5k for sponsoring this conversation. As always, all opinion are my own.

As a parent there are lots of things I want to instill in my child. One is to unplug and be active. If you follow along on the blog you know I always give tips on how to get your family more active. Another thing I think is important is to talk to my daughter about the sacrifices our military makes for our country. This is why when the opportunity came to run the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5k I knew I wanted my 10 year daughter to run it with me.

My daughter has ran 5ks with me before, but I feel like this was a very teachable moment. We have friends and family who have served in the military and I wanted to take this race as a way to talk about the courage and sacrifice that it takes to be in the military. I told her about Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and how I first learned about the organization at a marathon 10 years ago. I saw someone running for the charity and along the course, while running, had a discussion with them about it. I told my daughter that Wounded Warrior Project’s  mission is honoring and empowering wounded warriors. She was happy and honored that I asked her to run this virtual 5k with me to honor them. While we have had a tough few months, this was an important lesson on the huge sacrifices others make to serve our country and how lucky we are that we have these amazing friends and family who have made that sacrifice. I was able to register her as a child because they offer that option on both their virtual and in person events.

There are several “in-person” race options, but the virtual option is what we registered for. You can too! We have been planning to run this virtual race for 6 weeks, but with bad air quality we had to wait until today.

I encourage you to participate in the WWP Carry Forward 5k with your family. Here are some tips on ways to get your kids involved:

• Do a relay! If 3.1 miles it a little far for your kids, have one run the first half with you, pass off the baton and have the other run the other half!
• If they are little, put them in a jogging stroller and have them carry a flag, while talking about what that means.
• Run/Walk/Run- you don’t have to run all 3.1 miles. Try running for 1 minute and walking for 2 minutes. This will help the time go by fast and the whole family can participate together.

Here are ways to participate in the WWP Carry Forward 5k:

Register for the virtual race here. You can run around your neighborhood on whatever day works for your family! If you want to join my “Squad” for the virtual race the name is HalfCrazy. Your virtual registration includes:

• Runners bib
• Participant medal
• WWP supporter wristband (same as the on-site event wristband)
• Eye blacks that say honor and empower
• And a Carry Forward flag

Check out the events they have scheduled around the country.

Can’t make the run work? That is ok! You can make a donation to help support this amazing cause. 

Want to come back to this? Pin it for later.