Positive Results by Sabrina

Race Directors, Run Organizers and Friends, the Parents around you deserve better considerations. 

_{(I posted this on my IG but felt like it deserved a space to appear in whole also)}

What does it mean to say Families Welcome? Stroller’s Welcome? Stroller Friendly?

Similarly to the “all paces welcome” conversation, we want to remind you that there is a huge difference between tolerating something and truly welcoming something. 

Parents who train/race don’t just need strollers, sidewalks wide enough to accommodate or terrain smooth enough to traverse. We also need other accommodations that help make sure we can ENJOY the experience at least half as much as everyone else.

We need to plan nutrition: If we stop to dispense a snack, or pick up a discarded beanie, are we going to lose the crowd?

We need to know our littles are safe: on the terrain, with the other people around, from random flying objects

Sometimes we need someone to help with the kid while we change, take a call, clean up a mess

What does the bathroom situation look like? If it’s not stroller accessible, is there someone we trust to watch our littles while we take care of business or wash our hands after cleaning up after them. 

Jr and I have participated in a few races as a family. He’s also been the supportive partner with Amelia in the stroller, praying for me to hurry up and finish so that he could handle business. At one race, I met a stressed out mom in the port-a-potty line while Jr and I were taking turns with Amelia. Port-a-pottys are not easy for people to use. Can you imagine how hard it must be to use one with a child in your arms? This momma hadn’t connected with anyone she knew yet and was negotiating with her toddler on how they were going to enter together and she must remember to keep her hands to herself COMPLETELY. I offered for her to go ahead of me in line and leave her little in the stroller next to Amelia. We stayed within ear shot of the door so she knew her baby was safe and baby knew her momma was coming right back. The relief on Mom’s face was like a neon sign. These are things you don’t think about until you’re in that moment, praying you can keep it all together, literally.

I’m blessed to have built a community that loves my littles as much as I do. If you have friends around you with smaller children, I invite you to be a little more observant and thoughtful. It’s not your job to care for someone else’s child, but if you truly care about your community and want to see it grow with diversity in all manners, try to think about the needs of others. My friends gladly watch Amelia if I need to step away for a second and in exchange they know that if I have the stroller, they always have “bag check” options. Our community keeps their eyes on everyone’s little in the crowd so when said little is having too much fun dancing around the party or showing everyone the warm up, we parents can enjoy the experience as well with slightly less fear that our babies will get stepped on or escape our inner circle. This is not a comfort that comes at the first meeting, but it is a comfort that every parent in the running community deserves to feel. 

Larger organizations are pushing for childcare to be offered at more races. Options exist and more are coming. Training and racing for your goals does not have to mean that you have to compartmentalize your life. It means that you have to build your community and we have to invite our communities to grow around us. Speak up for what you need. Our friends are not mind-readers. Let them know when accepting that invitation to join the run might require more work on your part and also allow yourself some time to train without your littles when you need it. Honor your whole self and everything that makes you uniquely, exquisitely, fiercely, YOU!