APEX FUN RUN

When Dylan started kindergarten last fall I was so excited for all of the fun elementary school activities I remembered from childhood; the halloween parade, Christmas program and a class party for every holiday.  I found out pretty quickly that his elementary experience would be drastically different than my own.  Spoiler alert – if it’s not educational, it’s not happening.  When his school announced that their spring fundraiser would be the Apex Fun Run, I had no idea what it was or what to expect but am throughly impressed.  The lessons they learned through this program while raising money for their school are far better than selling wrapping paper or pizzas to neighbors.

For the past week and a half Dylan’s school has been participating in the Apex Fun Run.  He started the week not wanting to run but quickly changed his mind after the assembly they had to kick off the event on Monday morning.  He came home so excited and couldn’t wait to start seeking pledges for the laps he would run a week and a half later.  Each day he would wake up and be so excited to call and thank anyone who pledged to support him the night before.  He was so very grateful and proud of himself for each dollar he raised.

The Apex team met with the kids each day to teach a lesson and keep them excited.  The Apex Fun Run is so much more than just a fun run or school fundraiser.  The lessons taught throughout the week and a half to the kids are so good.  They learn about what it takes to become legendary leaders.  Just a few of the lessons the kids learned were about being engaged, being empowered, and never quitting.  The day of the never quit lesson, his teacher sent home an email with the following: Michael Jordan missed 9,000 shots (26 of those being for the game point), and lost over 300 games during his career is but he is one of the greats because he never quit.  As an adult that’s such a good reminder about how great things can happen when you don’t quit and one I am glad my son is being taught in school as well.

Today was the actual fun run and I couldn’t be more proud of Dylan for going out and running all 26 laps, which is 2.3 miles, and having time to spare.  It’s not something I could do and probably couldn’t have done at five years old either.  If you have the chance to support a student running in an Apex Fun Run, I highly recommend supporting them.  It means so much to them and the lessons they are learning are creating legendary leaders through fitness and will be with them long after the run is over.