Another perspective on Cougar

I hope everyone is enjoying Sara Malcolm’s pictures of the SRC’s 5-Mile race at Cougar Mountain. They’re great … and yet they don’t capture the aspect of the Cougar races that has been most important to me over the last 2 years. So here’s one more image — a supplement to the previous batch.

That’s my son Phil sitting in front of a stick house that he made with three other kids that he met for the first time at the race.

As someone who is not currently racing, I’m grateful that I can bring Phil to Cougar and find a sand hill where he can play, other kids to play with, volunteers who happily let him help at the refreshment table (even though he doesn’t really speed up the work), and nice weather — at least some of the time — that make it a pleasure to be outside. It’s a healthy, kid-friendly environment that I’m glad to visit even when I’m not running.

Thanks to SRC and Northwest Trail Runs for continuing to make these events inclusive and fun.