This is not my normal post, but I had to share a funny from my three year old. My son has recently learned what Pinterest is due to me leaving my iPad open to Disney Car pins when getting a cup of coffee.  He thought he was heaven. He started saying we need to “pin” this for Ho, Ho (a.k.a. Santa Claus in our house) or this is what he wants for his birthday.  I think Pinterest to him is like Sears catalog shopping was to me. When I was young, my parent would go to holiday parties and hand us the big Sears catalog and say write your Christmas list. I am not sure if my parents ever bought me anything for that list, but boy did my siblings and I have fun dreaming and hoping. So, on Friday while at dinner my son was looking at Pinterest and this is what he was pinning. Yes, women’s underwear. Not just any women’s underwear, but running inspired underwear. He thought the picture was of an umbrella. I could not stop laughing and my husband was so proud that he was pinning women’s underwear.  He was so upset because I was laughing, but in the end I just let him believe it was an umbrella. Heck, my son also has good taste, so I kept it on my Pinterest board, Running...

By Cheryl Rushing As a race director, your contact information is your most important asset.  Many times while updating our Stroller Friendly Race Calendar we have run into the same problem as many participants: the race listing or website doesn’t indicate whether a race is stroller friendly and after searching there is no contact information, either.  In that case, we can’t add the race to our calendar or let our readers know who to contact. Activity websites like one of the most popular sites Active.com are debuting a new look that takes the “less is more” approach. You provide the race name, location and date and they register your runners.  It’s an easy way to get your race out to a wide variety of people, but what if those people have questions?  How can they contact you? They can’t contact you. A race is a race is a race unless you want to bring your dog,  your kids, or a friend in a wheelchair.  Sometimes location information isn’t clear to an out of town guest or maybe your event listing or registration page doesn’t give the time of the race start.  Having contact information to answer questions is essential to maximizing participation in your race! Contact information doesn’t just mean an address or phone number.  It can happen in many ways: An email address.  This can be the race director’s email or even a Gmail (or other web-mail) address set up specifically for the race. Just make sure someone checks the email address on a regular basis. A Facebook page.  We love race Facebook pages.  Questions and answers can be posted on your wall and other interested races have the information they need without asking the same question over and over.  You can setup...

By Stephanie Maziejka Last month I introduced the idea of healthy touch and creating a foundation for a healthy lifestyle through Infant Massage, but if you want to set the groundwork, you need to begin while the baby is in utero with a prenatal massage. Newborns are just that, new! It’s up to us as parents and guardians to nurture and guide these little babies towards healthy growth and development. A baby is born with up to 40 weeks of development in the womb already behind them; therefore, Mamas treat yourself and your body to a healthy, therapeutic, and relaxing prenatal massage. Pregnancy can be a scary time, it’s a whole new world and there are a lot of physical and emotional changes that occur on a daily basis. Aside from the hormones, part of the emotional roller coaster of pregnancy comes from the utter discomfort that can be caused by our changing, growing, and leaking bodies. Pregnancy remains a wonderful and beautiful experience because of the miracle of life growing inside, HOWEVER getting to that bundle of joy is not always 9 months of sunshine and rainbows. The first trimester (and for some unfortunate individuals all three trimesters) offers retching sickness and fatigue. Trimester two is a bit of a reprieve from both sickness and fatigue and it’s when the first real positive signs of pregnancy begin, the first signs of the baby bump, the first sounds of heartbeat, the first flutter of little feet. Towards the end of the second trimester into the third trimester there is tremendous growth-of everything. As the body grows, the center of gravity changes and so that we don’t face plant every time we stand up the body’s lordotic curve increases, that lower back arch that is...

What is a stroller friendly race?  I hear this question all the time since I started Run Stroller Run. A stroller friendly race is a running race that allows parents to walk, jog or race with a stroller. No, these races are not specific races for strollers to race one another or have specific categories for “strollers” like age group categories, but just allow running parents to participate with their child in a stroller. Most race directors I speak with are often open to stroller participants as long as the strollers start in the back. And no, they do not require you to stay in the back the entire duration of the race. For safety purposes, they want you to respect the other racers that run a faster pace or hope to do so without initial distractions. For me, I run at a slower pace with my stroller and I am not generally “racing”, I want to be able to participate in a race atmosphere and do not require a babysitter, especially since both my husband and I train for running races and triathlons. Since I started Run Stroller Run, I have discovered most race directors do not even consider or think about stroller participants until I ask them. So, when searching for a race, you most likely will not find on the race website or on their race registration page whether they allow strollers. Hence the reason, I started Run Stroller Run, so running, active parents and families could go to one resource and find all races throughout the United States that allow strollers.  At Run Stroller Run, we contact all race directors and verify that strollers are allowed. If strollers are allowed, then what are their safety requirements? If you know of...

Packing for a race is always challenging.  You never want to leave home without your favorite socks, or your watch or your lucky shorts.  As a parent, I have found it increasing difficult to pack for a race, especially when I am running with my jog stroller and kids.  I find that I am more concerned about their needs and then inevitably I forget the essential race gear I need to race.  In order to avoid forgetting crucial race gear and my kid’s necessary items, I created a Racing with a Stroller – Race Day Checklist. Now, you can pack for a stroller friendly race and feel confident you have all the essential race and children gear needed with the Racing with a Stroller – Race Day Checklist....