Life Time 5K starts year off with commitment to health

Walk/run designed to get families involved in fitness.

I love the mission behind the new Commitment Day run.

It’s not just about running (or walking) a 5K on Jan. 1. It’s about setting a course for all of 2013. Organizers want to set in a motion a whole healthy year, punctuated by regular exercise and healthy eating. And they want you to get your entire family involved.

This at a time when two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and the average child spends 30 percent of his or her day in front of a screen.

Life Time Fitness is staging the run in more than 35 cities across the country, from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., as a way to take a stand against poor health. Here in Austin, the run will start at 10 a.m. at the Palmer Events Center. The course will cross the river on First Street, then head west along Cesar Chavez Boulevard before looping back to Palmer.

Entry fee is $34 for Life Time members or $39 for nonmembers at www.commitmentday. com. Kids 17 and younger are free with a paid adult. Participants get a T-shirt and a commitment journal.

Those who register can post their personal commitments on the website. Check out what others are aiming to do while you’re there — everything from running a half marathon to eating more vegetables.

Packet pickup is available at Life Time Fitness Austin North, 13725 North R.M. 620; Life Time Fitness Austin South, 7101 S. MoPac Expressway; and RunTex, 422 W. Riverside Drive, through Dec. 31. Race-day registration is available two hours before the run but must be paid in cash.