While pushing yourself to your physical and mental limits at a Spartan, Tough Mudder or other extreme obstacle race can be a great time, it’s important to remember to kick back and have fun with your runs sometimes too! A great way to do so is to participate in a fun run.
Not only are fun runs a good time for more serious athletes, but also a great way for beginning runners to start out in a lower pressure environment.
Fun runs come in many shapes and sizes, from colour runs to zombie runs (where people dressed as zombies chase you), and everything in between.
One fun run that caught my eye this year was the Kingston Symphony Association’s Beat Beethoven Run. It was featured in Best Health Magazine as one of the Ten Must-Run Races in Canada. http://www.besthealthmag.ca/slide/beat-beethoven-run-kingston-ont. It was also named one of Ontario’s top ten wacky fun runs and races, and one of irun.ca’s 16 Unique Races in Canada http://irun.ca/issues/article.php?id=385&intIssueID=28.
In the Beat Beethoven Run, competitors are challenged to run an 8km course around downtown Kingston and get back to the central Confederation Park before the Kingston Symphony finishes playing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, which is 50 minutes in length.
This race is especially attractive for spectators, because in addition to supporting family and friends running the race, they get to see a performance by the Kingston Symphony free of charge!
It’s also an attractive route for runners, especially those visiting Kingston from out of town. You’ll get to see Canada’s oldest and most notorious penitentiary and you’ll also run through picturesque ivy-covered and limestone-clad Queen’s University campus. It also holds local charm with the town crier announcing the beginning of the race, and a soldier from Kingston’s Historic Fort Henry firing a 19th century gun at the starting line. Rumor has it that runners may even be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Beethoven himself running the race alongside them!
For those who are at a higher level of competition fun runs like this can be an awesome way to spice up your routine work outs – do a run like Beat Beethoven to try to improve your race pace.
Fun runs also provide a set date for people who are just starting to work on endurance to reach a certain distance. Races like Beat Beethoven are even better for this kind of goal because runners have a set time limit they’re trying to get 8km done in.
If you’re not up for an 8km race, a 4 km fun run is also available, so no pressure to take on that long of a course if you’re not able to yet.
These races also have the added bonus of supporting a good cause. Proceeds from Beat Beethoven, for instance, go to support the Kingston Symphony Association, which is a non-profit organization.
Andrea Haughton, General Manager of the Kingston Symphony Association, says they’re aiming for 1,000 participants for Beat Beethoven Race 2014.
So whether you’re an elite obstacle racer or just getting started, check out some cool fun runs like Beat Beethoven in your area!
Author Bio:
My name is Ashley, and I am a graduate student in English at Queen’s University of Canada. Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, I grew up spending a lot of time outdoors hiking and playing in the dirt. Last year I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon in June. I began training and ended up hitting the 13 mile mark in January, so I aimed higher and signed up for a Spartan Race in June instead.
My name is Tyler, and I’m a third year law student at Queen’s University of Canada. I am also from Winnipeg but I grew up on a farm. I helped out with chores on the farm, played rugby, and was pretty active generally. As I entered my 20’s, I found myself slipping out of shape as I didn’t keep up my physical activity. When I learned about obstacle races, I decided the time for denial was over and I had to get back in shape and start racing.
Together we completed the Spartan Trifecta in our first year racing. We are running a Colour Run in Montreal this August and a Tough Mudder in Toronto this September. We currently live in Kingston, Ontario with our four cats (Princess Jazmin, Milt Stegall, Zevran and Krios) and our new puppy (Byron). When we’re not reading, writing, studying, training, or taking care of our little zoo, we try to save the world through environmental sustainability initiatives like urban gardening.
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