Event Description

Spring races are around the corner and this program is designed to help walkers, walk-runners, and beginning runners who want to traverse either the 5K or 10K distance. If you've never completed a 5K (3.1 miles) or 10K (6.2 miles), this may be right for you. The timing is scheduled so that participants will be ready for a 5K by late April or a 10K by late May.

There is no obligation to register for any race, and if you choose to register for one, that is a payment to the race. We are offering an optional 5K Race Test ($7) and an optional 10K Race Test ($14) following the end of each respective program for an additional fee, including a finisher's certificate and refreshments.

Ready for 5K focuses on getting you from where you are now to three miles, just short of the 3.1 a 5K is. Ready for 10K does the same, but for six miles, just short of the 6.2 a 10K is. Both programs include a training plan (tweaked, if needed, as the participants progress), online workout log, and weekly group workouts at Greece Canal Park and nearby locations, complete with a warm-up and cool-down. The 10K program starts and trains with the 5K program and continues after the 5K participants are finished. 

The program targets three groups' goals:

• walkers who want to gradually increase the amount of mileage they do so that they can complete a 5K or 10K
• walk-runners who want to increase the speed of their walk-run to shorten their 5K or 10K times
• those who want to train to run a 5K or 10K without walking

Each workout starts at 2 p.m. on Saturdays from 3/17/18 through 4/21 for the 5K training and continues through 5/12 for 10K training. In addition to the 10-15 minutes for warming up and cooling down, the specific afternoon's workout will last for 30 minutes in the beginning and get longer as the program progresses, up to 60 minutes in the last two weeks for those who take longer to complete the final mileage for the 5K and up to two hours for the 10K. Folks who finish earlier will leave earlier unless they want to get extra distance in or work on some prescribed cross-training afterwards.

Most workouts will be at Greece Canal Park, starting at the parking lot of Millennium Lodge at the end of the entrance road. Other workouts will be nearby (within seven minutes), but not at Greece Canal Park. Participants will be given a full schedule the first day of  the program.

The 5K program cost is $45 and the 10K is $85, including the processing fee. Combined program participation is limited to 10 people. 

Meet the Instructor
Ready for 5K and Ready for 10K are designed and led by Vickey A. Beaver. She is certified by Athletics and Fitness Association of America for Group Exercise Instruction, so you are getting someone who is serious about helping others. Having been an avid walker for years, she got out of the habit of exercising altogether and didn't find her way back to it until mid-2010. Starting with just a couple of miles around a local mall by herself, a year later, she was meeting different friends there and elsewhere five days a week at varying speeds and distances, as they joined her on her training journey to walk the December 2011 Honolulu Marathon. One thing led to another and she has embraced exercise again for very different reasons than when she was first active. Now she enjoys it for how it makes her feel, the community she's become part of, and the short- and long-term health benefits she sees in her health exams and assessments.

Why choose Ready for 5K/10K for your training?

• Small program size means Vickey gets to know you well enough to tailor a program to your goals and needs.
• Vickey is an experienced walker and runner who has raced a wide range of paces, so she can relate to a variety of issues and concerns.
• You choose which 5K/10K to participate in, if you want to do an official 5K/10K at all.
• It's cost effective. Other in-person programs charge much more for a generic program designed to serve the masses, providing little or no personalization or individual attention or charge by the hour to be one-on-one or small group. This Ready for 5K/10K program comes out to less than $7/workout and essentially throws in week-to-week support via internet for free.
• All participants are welcome from people just starting out to walk to those who have been racing for years.