For 3 years now my family has participated in the marathon weekend in Walt Disney World. We have raised over three thousand dollars for the Scott Carter Foundation, which is an organization dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancer through research grants. I highly recommend running for this group. 

Disney vacations are about family and doing things together. Why not have everyone run a race? We have all ran in a Disney race. That's right. From age 1 through 37. While raising money for a good cause and teaching our kids about fitness and doing things together. No better souvenir than everyone having a race medal. 

Each year the kids races have been different but for the 2018 races the 100m dash we ran was on Saturday morning at 10:30. I believe two years ago they ran it 3 mornings, but I think they have decided on Friday and Saturday mornings next year. Since I ran the marathon we got there at 9:30 to pick up my number and get theirs as well. That left us plenty of time to get to the starting line which is at the ESPN sports zone.  

It's hard to tell from my daughter's photo, I literally love when true moments are captured, but she just didn't want to run that day. When my son was her age he literally ran the whole thing. She had fun at the beginning and end, but not when I tried to make her actually run and not carry her. The 100m dash is for ages 1 to 4 (they have a diaper dash as well). 200m dash for those 5 to 8. They have a mile long run for those 13 years and under. Every participate gets a medal, if your child is older they might be more interested in doing the 5k with you instead. But personally I'd rather watch my child run at 10:30. The 2019 kids races will be on Friday and Saturday starting 11th of January. Each racer gets GoGoSqueez, who is the sponsor, at the end as well as bananas and water. Characters come to the races as well, there is music and it's fun for everyone. In the 3 years we have done it we have had Mickey Mouse, Chip and Dale and this year we had Minnie. They are good about not having the same character two years running. 

I am having a mental brain fart but I believe the fee was somewhere between 20 to 25 dollars. That includes a t-shirt, medal and all those snacks at the end. For the dashes they do a staggered start. Every participant is in the starting area and they allow a certain number every two minutes to race. So it's not like your kid races against everyone all at once. The time allows for the slower ones to not get plowed over, and this allows for a photographer to capture photos of each child. Parents may run with their children, and most do. We had a wristband matching our kids when we left the finish line area. 

It brings us such joy to watch our children race and learn about fitness and doing things as a family. Also learn about how important it is to do things for others and racing for a great cause. 

Registration for next year's races can be found here and I believe they begin taking entries in April. Races do fill up! Don't hesitate.