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D StatesmanJournal.com   TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016

REACH US: Heather Rayhorn, (503) 399-6720, hrayhorn@StatesmanJournal.com

It’s that time of the year again! TheAwesome 3000 takes place May 7.That’s only eight weeks away, and nowis the perfect time to start training forthe big day.

The running world has many eventsthis year to celebrate. Did you know thestate of Oregon and Track Town USA ishosting the IAAF Track and Field WorldIndoor Championships March 17-20 atthe Oregon Convention Center in Port-land? Did you know the Olympics

Games are this summer in Rio de Janei-ro and the University of Oregon will behosting the Track and Field USA Olym-pic Team Trials in June?

Well now you know! So strap yourrunning shoes on and dedicate thisyear’s Awesome 3000 training to ourUSA Track and Field athletes who aretraining hard to represent the USA.

Keep in mind the information weoffer here is designed for the beginningto average runner of any age. Runnersof all levels are welcome at the event,which raises money for InnovationGrants.

Why would someone want to run inthe Awesome 3000? For starters, it’stradition. Think about all the kids whohave run in the past. This is the 34thyear, and we’re pretty sure some ofyour parents ran when they were kids.

Another reason to get involved isthat Olympic athletes around the worldwould say that fun runs such as theAwesome 3000 helped fuel theirdreams. The Awesome 3000 could lightthe flame leading to your Olympicdreams — or a dream of running onyour local school track or cross-countryteam.

The Awesome 3000 also supports agood cause. The entry fee helps theSalem-Keizer Education Foundationraise thousands of dollars every yearfor innovative classroom grants. Youmay have taken part in a special classproject that was m ade possible becauseof the Awesome 3000.

Those are all good reasons to partici-pate. But the best reason is you! Imag-ine how good it will feel to know youcan go the distance. You’ll be in goodphysical shape and proud of yourself.

How far is the Awesome 3000 run?Children run distances based on their

age.Kids in kindergarten through second

grade run 1,500 meters or almost amile. Grades third through fifth run2,000 meters or 1.24 miles and gradessixth through eighth go 3,000 meters.That’s 1.86 miles.

There’s also a pre-kindergartengroup for our youngest athletes to havefun and run 300 meters — three quar-ters of a lap — on the track in front ofthe crowd. These runners get a brandnew free book at the finish line withtheir medal.

My job is to help you get ready. For

the next eight weeks, you’ll get tips onhow to train for the Awesome 3000.

I’ll start you out slowly with a littlelight jogging and walking. Each week,be prepared to add a few minutes toyour training program so you becomestronger and able to run a little farther.

It won’t be long before you’ll bepinning on your Awesome 3000 numberand standing on the starting line insideWillamette University’s McCullochstadium. Best of all, you’ll know you’reready to run.

Dave Johnson is the Awesome 3000running coach and a former bronze

medalist in the Olympic decathlon. Hestill holds the World Record for thesecond day of the decathlon. He is adistrict level behavior specialist forWoodburn Public Schools.

Hey kids, it’s time to train for Awesome 3000Dave JohnsonSpecial to the Statesman Journal

BEFORE YOU START

Talk with your parents and your doctor beforestarting any exercise program. This eight-week training plan is a suggested outline andshould be followed with parental guidance.It includes three days of scheduled activities,two days of cross training, one day of familyactivity and one day of rest based on thefollowing schedule:Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays: Fol-low the training instructions in the grid.Wednesdays and Fridays: Do somethingactive that is not running. It’s called crosstraining when you do workouts outside your

main training activity. Play some basketball,go bowling, ride your bike or just go for awalk.Sundays: This is a great day to do somethingactive with your family.Monday: Make this a rest day … get aheadwith your homework and rest your legs

Readers, this ismy last column forthe StatesmanJournal. It wasamazing experi-ence to have theopportunity towrite a communitycolumn over adecade. Thank youBarbara Curtain

 for editing my first guest opinion and thank you DickHughes for a taking risk with communi-ty writers and thank you Victor Panich-kul and Heather Rayhorn for editing me

 for Life. But most importantly, I thank

the community of readers. Your energyand encouragement kept me writing.

Kathy Eustrom celebrated her 50thbirthday without ever having run amile. By her 60th, she’d ran dozens of5Ks, and by 62, she added a half mara-thon to her bucket list of accomplish-ments.

In looking back, she never reallyintended to race. She just wanted tomake sure she could remain mobile toenjoy retirement.

She was gifted growing up with aslender build that took little effort tomaintain. But that didn’t keep her fromdeveloping arthritis and bouts of de-pression by her middle ages. Yet sheassumed she’d age pretty much like hermother who’d maintained an active

lifestyle growing up in an Americawhere you worked your muscles to get

through the daily routines of life.Kathy, like many women, simply

assumed she’d enjoy the same level offitness, despite the reality that ourculture today demands much lessmovement than that of her mother’s.So, when she broke her foot on Christ-mas Eve of 2006 and lost her mobilityfor a few months, reality set in that shejust might not age as easily as her momif she didn’t do something about it.

By the spring of 2007, she foundherself flipping through a wellnessnewsletter at work and spotted an ad-vertisement for Gallagher’s Women’sWalking/Running clinics. They seemedlike what she needed to get her mobility

Woman takes up running in her 50s, 60s

ANNA REED / STATESMAN JOURNAL

Kathy Eustrom, right, her husband Jim andtheir daughter Morgan jog together at

McKinley Elementary School in Salem on Feb.23\. Kathy started to jog to improve her

Jeanine SticeLIVING WELL INTHE VALLEY

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