Sarah Guilbeau – HKRS – Chehalis WA

How many seasons have you been a Community Coordinator?

This Fall will be my third season as the Chehalis Coordinator.

What inspired you to join HKRS?

Our son, Deacon, was the inspiration to branch out and become a coordinator in our own area. We first found out about HKRS via googling “kids races” and stumbled upon the Vancouver series. Deacon ran their races for several seasons and I was happy to drive the hour and half for him to run about a minute and a half. He loved every second and that made it all worth it. My husband could not make it to all of his races due to work so we decided to open our own series closer to home instead of telling Deacon he had to give up something he loves so much. In Chehalis, we now get to encourage other children, not just our own, to do hard things, keep pushing, and never give up!

What’s your favorite part of race day and/or what’s your proudest moment as a Community Coordinator?

My favorite part of race day would have to be watching all the families come together to cheer each other on! It doesn’t matter if they are related or not, everyone out there is cheering and encouraging each of the kids to finish strong. Race day is a great reminder to me that everyone could use extra cheerleaders in their lives.

What’s something you’ve learned, whether a skill, a mindset, or a new perspective, since becoming a Community Coordinator?

As a Coordinator I have learned, and continue to learn, the skill of multitasking, especially on race day. All the prep work ahead of time takes dedication and hard work, but race day is the culmination of all the behind-the-scenes work. Multi-tasking is necessary as you have children, parents, volunteers, etc… coming to you with questions or comments all while you are trying to cheer the kids on and correctly track their times. It can seem like organized chaos at times, but I love it and wouldn’t change it for the world.

What do you like to do to make race day extra special for runners/families?

A few special things that I have enjoyed doing on race day would be giving a flower bouquet for last place finisher of the parent mile, reading a running themed book prior to race starts each week (last season I read the Tortoise and the Hare but broke it up in to chapters for the whole series), and creating “race passports” to encourage theme week participation and give the kids some added responsibility. Also, something that I love doing on race day is to invite all of my volunteers over for dinner that evening. We sit around and reminisce about the races, the kids, our favorite parts, and what we could do better for the next race. It is a huge highlight for me as a coordinator for sure.

If you could bring one guest to a race day, real or fictional, who would it be and why?

I would love to bring my only living grandparent, Grandpa Art, to our races. He would be so proud to watch his family come together as a team to make these races possible.