Do you remember in Forrest Gump when Forrest decides that he is just going to start running? He takes off from his house in Greenbow, Alabama and starts running. He gets to the end of the street and keeps going. He gets to the edge of the town and keeps going. State line, of course, he keeps going, until he runs clear across the country and back again. His reason for doing it? He just felt like running. 

I never feel that way. I love hiking and backpacking. I’ll run if I’m playing soccer or football. I enjoy biking and mountain climbing, too, but I just don’t usually feel like running. However, when you’ve got a good reason, you get out and run.

This past weekend, Maddy and I met up with our friends for the annual Girls on the Run 5K over in St. Petersburg. Even though I don’t like running, I’ve been trying to encourage Maddy to train with me a little bit over the last few weeks. A 5K is about 3.2 miles. That’s not a small amount of running (at least to us…). We probably didn’t get in as much practice as we should have, but we still did pretty well through the run.

The girls were so funny. We were lined up in the very front, right at the starting line, and as the countdown began, they crouched down like they were about to sprint. And sprint they did, just like Forrest Gump out of town.

We dads tried to convince them to take it slow and start at a nice easy pace. They didn’t listen. In an instant they were off. And about 60 seconds later, they’d started walking because they’d tired themselves out. But with a little encouragement, we all made it to the finish line, got our medals, and celebrated with a peppermint mocha.

Even though I don’t always feel like running, we had a great time enjoying a brisk early-morning run and a little daddy-daughter time. I still prefer my shovel to my running shoes, but Maddy had so much fun she’s already planning our next 5K. Guess I’ll have to take a page out of Forrest’s book and just keep on running.