by Ashley Murphy

My summers usually consist of...work. If I'm not at work, I prefer to be out on the river or laying by a swimming pool. But this year, I'm willing to give up a couple of those days to move my life in an ever so slightly different direction. For those with the same set of goals, or if you're just bored looking for something new to do, how about...running?!

I know, it sounds crazy. Spend your spare time running? But I'm warming up to the idea. Very slowly. I have finally convinced someone (my poor sister) to do a 5K with me. It will be the first time for the both of us, but we are both looking forward to it.

It's not only a standard 5K run, but will be laden with mud and has 13 obstacles throughout the 3.1 miles. The Great American Mud Run makes several stops throughout the country, but it will making one here in Tennessee in Manchester at the end of July. That gives me ample time to prepare, I just have to stick to the program. That's going to be the difficult part...

I hope to be doing another 5K with a friend sometime in the next couple of months also. What we are looking into will not have obstacles this go around. But we will be bombarded with colored paint and powder during our trek through the course. By the end, we will most likely be covered head to toe in neon paint splatters.

There is another race I'd like to do if I could do some major convincing. A zombie run. Another 5K that includes man-made and natural obstacles, along with hoards of zombies that chase you throughout the course. This particular race almost acts as flag football. You wear 3 flags around your waste and the goal is to make it the "safe zone" with all 3 of your flags.

The race lengths will vary. As will the age requirements. Find some fun mud, color, costume or obstacle runs that allow people of all ages and this will be a fun way to keep your kids active and boredom free during the summer months.

The majority of races do not allow pets, but there are a few that are pet friendly and allow you to run/walk the race with your furry, four-legged friend.

Most of these organized races take place all over the country, so doing a general Internet search for upcoming races in your area is a good start. Branch out from there if you don't mind going a little farther from home. I've found a couple of sites with some good information for the Chattanooga area that could be looked at.

http://www.roadracerunner.com/races/runningcalendar.aspx?state=tn&page=3

The following site will allow you create a center point then choose how many miles out from there you would like to look for upcoming events:

http://www.runningintheusa.com/Race/ListByCityRadius.aspx?Rank=All&State=TN&City=Chattanooga&Radius=25

If something catches your eye, click on the link and it should take you to the race site itself or an additional information page with a direct site link. There you should be able to find the actual race location, date, time, age requirements, obstacle information and registration information. Most races will include a souvenir or 2 in your registration price.

I will admit, race prices aren't cheap. I've found the earlier you sign up the cheaper it will be. The longer you wait and the closer you get to the race, the price will go up. Most start around $35-$45, but can reach up to $90-$100 the week of the race.

Most of you are probably thinking, "This girl is nuts." You may be right. Because I'm not a runner, by any means. I've just started a "program" called C25K, which means Couch to 5K. That's for people, like me, who have never ran a day in their life, but want to work up to being able to run a 5K (3.1 mile) race within a few weeks. I'm only in the first week, but actually felt really good after the first session. And you can have right on your smart device. Mine in particular was downloaded from the Apple App Store, but I'm sure they have an Android version, as well.

I just have to make sure I stick to it.

It would seem easier to just not worry about any of this and spend my summer days off lounging by the water catching the rays of the sun. So why am I going through all of this trouble?

I was out for someone's birthday this past Fall and it got brought up that several guys and their girlfriends were going to start doing these adventure-type races. When I was asked if I would be participating, also, I had this someone answer for me, in front of a few of his friends and coworkers, and even staff of the restaurant that we were at this particular night, that I couldn't do such a thing. That I was out of shape and a smoker (I have since quit!) and I couldn't do something like this because I was too lazy and I wouldn't be able to finish. I took this to mean he was embarrassed of me and no way did he want me to be apart of these teams.

I may only be starting out on the 5K, the shortest of races, but it is a start. And I hope someday soon I can go beyond the 5K. With that being said, I have now made it a personal challenge to prove this person wrong. To let him know that I'm capable of so much more than he ever gave me credit for.

And I don't plan to fail.

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