Great Amazing Race takes on Pinnacle State Park JA Kids Color Run 5K

The Great Amazing Race, a high energy, family-friendly adventure run, makes its way to Pinnacle Mountain State Park Sunday at 2 p.m.

Inspired by The Amazing Race television show, walkers, runners and even jog-runners can race as teams of two (adults and kids grades K-12) through a 1.5-mile outdoor obstacle course in competition against their peers.

This sophisticated footrace is one for the ages … all ages, that is. Kids, parents and grandparents alike are welcome to participate.

There will be six or eight challenge stations where your partner is the biggest asset. How well teammates work together is key to winning. Each task requires the cooperation of both teammates to complete.

Teammates must combine to complete a task (obstacle, game, relay) before advancing to the next challenge station. Participants are sure to get downright dirty and wet with each unexpected turn.

The race includes mental and physical challenges. Runners can choose their level of intensity: the easier, fun, Recreation Course for teams that would like to go at their own pace, or the more challenging Competitive Course for more physically active teams.

This bonding experience starts in 10-minute waves, with kids teams first and then adult.

Check-in and packet pickup will be available at 1:15 p.m. in the park fields off Arkansas 300 and Barrett Road. The park is at 11901 Pinnacle Valley Road in Roland.

Rain, sleet or snow, this course has an expected completion time of 60 minutes. Clue cards provided at each station will direct teams to perform a task. Teams that arrive at the finish line first are awarded medals.

The four race divisions are grades K-2, grade 3-5, grade 6-8, grade 9-adult. First-place medals will be awarded to each division winner.

Registration costs for basic team entry (two people) is $49.99; entry with two Tshirts or finishers medals will be $69.99, and to get both Tshirts and medals, it’s $79.99.

Runners can donate two pairs of running shoes or used sneakers to receive a 2-minute time-erasing token.

Created in 2012, this race promotes a physically active lifestyle among families and offers an activity to promote health, wellness and teamwork among family members, friends and co-workers.

The Great Amazing Race promotes the 30 Minutes-A-Day Academic initiative, a D.I.T. (Do It Together) campaign that encourages family time of healthy eating, playing or exercising, and reading books to improve students’ academic performance and the quality of family life.

Much like the popular TV competition, the 30-day Amazing Race, on which players complete a string of fun-filled outdoor challenges around the world, teams will not learn where to look for their next challenge until both of them have finished the tasks assigned at each station.

The Great Amazing Race partners with the Max Cure Foundation, which has raised more than $2 million dollars for pediatric cancer research.

“This is a great opportunity for two people to come together, whether it’s kids, grandkids or spouses. There’s something for everyone,” says Gregory Benton, president and founder of the race.

For more information, call Benton at (513) 518-0528 or email info@greatamazingrace.com

For online registration, head to greatamazingrace.com/arkansas.html.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, Junior Auxiliary of Hope teams up with the University of Arkansas Community College of Hope to host the Junior Auxiliary Color Run 5K.

A 3.1-mile fun run through campus will let people lope through stations where they will be showered in colorful powder, with all proceeds benefiting the children of Hempstead County.

The 5K will be a timed event. The Kids Fun Run is an untimed one-mile fun run in which runners get doused in color, with no cost for children up to age 12. Color runners will meet on campus at 2500 S. Main St.

Registration costs $25. “Day of” registration and packet pick up begin at 7 a.m., on the UACCH campus.

Call (870) 703-5412 or email meganmclemore@yahoo.com for more information.