I have some goals I’ve set for myself this year. One of them is to run the Challenge Obesity 5k in St. Paul, MN for a second time. It was the first 5k race I’ve ever run.

However, the most important part of this goal is that I want to get as many people as possible to run the race with me!

If you’ve never done a 5k race before {walk or run}, this is the one for you!

When I set out to run my first 5k and wanted to find a race that was not intimidating, I was recommended the Challenge Obesity 5k by Jen, a priorfatgirl.

She was right. There were people of all shape, sizes, ages and abilities. The staff was very helpful. In addition, I felt inspired. Many of the people participating were people who had lost significant amounts of weight. They had photos of themselves or the numbers of pounds they’d lost written on their backs. I honestly can’t recall seeing this at any other races I’ve done recently. Those people inspired  me. I want to give back by inspiring you!

I’m asking you to Challenge Obesity with me this year.

Whether you want to give a 5k a shot for the first time, used to run or tried to at one point and want to get back into it or are a seasoned runner who just wants to support newbies, I encourage you to join me.

And by joining me, I mean any of the following:

• Join me and we can decide to have t-shirts made for our group and/or a place to go to breakfast or brunch to celebrate post-race.
• If that isn’t your style, just sign up for the 5k and stop by to say “hi” before the race!
• Or sign up for the race {or any other race near you} on your own. If you want to remain anonymous, but are inspired by this post, by all means, just do it! Although I’d love to know about it, my true intent is to encourage and inspire as many people as possible.

If you are afraid to run a race, please know that this one is a run/walk. Also, you’ve got some time. The race date:

April 21st, 2013

I’d love to know if you are going to participate! Just email me at UncommonWine at yahoo dot com today letting me know your commitment. Then, send me another email once you’ve registered.

Still not sure?

Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you how I used the Couch to 5k program to start running. Or just look how cute this dog is running:

Isn’t (s)he cute?

In the meantime, what inspires you?

Cheers,

Carrie