This year marks my daughter's second year at her school, and now that we're more settled into school life, I've decided to join the Parents' Association. I was pretty psyched to join, because one of my goals was to become more involved in the school community. And involved I am! Last week was the school's Terry Fox Run Day. I believe that many of the schools in Toronto (perhaps even in Canada) had their runs on that day. I, of course, being the ever-eager parent, decided to volunteer to help out with the run. I volunteered to be event photographer, and I also provided orange slices for the runners. Yum!

The whole school participated. The older kindergarten kids and elementary kids got to run. The younger kids (pre-school and younger kindergarten kids) were lined up along the road with their respective classes, and served as cheerleaders. Below is a shot of the parents, as they congregated at a local park, which served as a starting point for the race.

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And while they wanted, the younger kiddies made their way from the school to their cheering stations along the run route. I am still amazed by how well these kids get around. They are very obedient when they walk outside the school with their teachers.

IMG_4434 And they're off! Some of these kids were as young as 4.5. One lap of the route couldn't have been more than somewhere between 300 and 500m, and these kids were real champs.

IMG_4581 IMG_4575 Staff and parents were around at every turn to ensure that the children followed the correct run route. And some parents and teachers even ran alongside the children!
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One of my favorite things about the run was the enthusiasm. Both children and staff alike were rooting for each other. A few teachers and parents clustered around the finish line to high-five the children as they finished a lap or finished the run. Even some of the children got into the spirit of things. This is one of my favorite captures of the day.

IMG_4898-2 Such genuine enthusiasm!

Here I am hard at work. You'll probably get a good laugh when I tell you that my butt was seriously sore from all the time that I spent squatting. Seriously. Plus, in having to chase the children around to make sure that I got good shots of them running, I also worked up quite a sweat. Who says that photography isn't a sport? :)

Here's a photo of an onlooker. She had finished running a little earlier on and was now watching the other children finish their respective runs. I love the intensity of her look, even though you can't see her face.

IMG_4804 After the race, the runners enjoyed some drinks and orange slices. It was a well-deserved break.

IMG_4917 It was a tremendous event, which really brought the school community together. I took well over 500 photos of this event alone, and it was so hard to narrow down which pictures to present to the school for their photo album keepsake of the event. I look forward to being able to capture the next school event!