Run, Ella, Run!
When my then 9-year-old kiddo, Ella Grace Helton, put “run a race” on her 2023 vision board, we athletic-minded parents encouraged her. My husband ran and walked alongside her for her first 5K in January, and like all things in her life, I was there at the start and the finish line to capture the adventure on video for posterity.
And like the other things in her life that she’s passionate about, she got a taste, at that Manatee Hustle 5K in Indialantic, and wanted more. She immediately declared she wanted to do one the next week. And every week.
We joke that Ella is motivated by the finisher medals (which are unique little works of metal art themed to each race), but it clearly runs deeper. We are a “night owl” family and yet now we’re all getting up early on weekends — sometimes pre-dawn — to drive as far as an hour to run 3.2 miles or less.
I joined in for the next race, the Tail of the Lizard 2 Mile in Eau Gallie, in February. Not only was it our first race as a family, but Ella’s twin friends who moved from Brevard to California were in town and they did their first race with us, too. We all five crossed the finish line together — well, I was right behind Ella, filming with cell phone in hand. You know, to capture the moment for posterity.
Participating in that race was eye-opening as we became indoctrinated into the local run culture in record fashion. The 35th Eye of the Dragon 10K & Tail of the Lizard 2 Mile had a record number of registrations, according to race director Brittany Streufert: 555 people finished the 10K while 498 finished the 2 mile. An awesome 282 participants met the Slay the Beast Challenge, meaning they ran both races. And they left weighted down, wearing three finisher medals for their efforts.
"Eye of the Dragon 10K & Tail of the Lizard 2 Mile event is one of the most iconic road races in Brevard County and the 35th running was amazing,” Streufert said. “Runners and walkers of all ages and paces battled the Dragon to the finish line with over 280 of those running both races. It was truly a sight to see as they crossed over the Indian River with such determination.”
Determination is the perfect word as each runner or walker is motivated by their own version of it. Some run for glory and to win. Some run alongside their children or other family members. Some push strollers or double strollers or have leashed dogs. Some have overcome diseases or are battling them now, and others run to have a chance at a healthier life.
As of writing this, Ella is six races into this new endeavor, and I’ve done four. It’s amazing that the Space Coast has a plethora of options — most weekends, we have to choose which of the two or three runs happening in the area we want to enter. Sometimes, we’re lured by theme — who doesn’t love dressing up like it’s the 80s or getting decked out in holiday-themed garb. But in addition to the medals, race shirts and memories, we’ve been drawn in, too, by the fundraising.
Each event benefits a cause — animal shelters; nonprofits that feed, shelter and support in various ways; scholarships; medical research; survivors and families affected by medical battles and their crippling costs; schools; religious organizations; lighthouses; sea turtles; and more. For some organizations, it’s their main fundraising effort of the year.
When Ella was too young to participate in what sounded like a cool race on the former shuttle landing strip at Kennedy Space Center, we didn’t bat eyelashes when we opted to wake up in the dark and drive to a race in Vero Beach. We were surrounded by the same camaraderie and positive vibes in our neighboring county’s run community.
Perhaps Ella’s involvement in the Space Coast run scene was inevitable. I never thought we’d all wind up running back when she sang her first national anthem to kick off the 2022 Run 4 Paws race in Viera benefitting Canine Companions. She went on to sing the anthem at the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K, also in Viera.
And this April 22, Ella will be doing another first — singing the anthem AND running the race right afterward. The Paws For a Cause 5K in Palm Bay, put on by Serene Harbor, raises awareness of the needs survivors of domestic violence have when fleeing abuse with their pets.
Ella made a bracelet that says “FIRST 5K” to wear during that first race back in January. Even though we’re well beyond it now, checking off that first vision board item is always special, and she’s worn it every race since.
“It’s really fun because we get to do it together, but it’s also really tiring. It's good for my health and it’s fun despite the cramps and sweating and getting up early,” said Ella, who turned 10 in March. “My goal is to try and keep doing races and keep earning medals and hopefully one day, I’ll get to the point where I win the overall.”
That’s the spirit! And even if there is no overall win, the whole endeavor is an overall win.
WANT TO RUN?
4th Annual Paws for a Cause 5k Run/Walk
Benefits Serene Harbor
April 22
7 a.m. registration opens, 8 a.m. race start
Fred Poppe Regional Park, 1951 Malabar Road, Palm Bay, FL 32907
View many more local races options at:
Space Coast Running By the Numbers
Running Zone Foundation hosts an annual Run Brevard Race Series, which consists of seven events beginning July 4 with Firecracker 5K and ending the second weekend of May at Run for the Gecko 5K — which celebrates Running Zone’s anniversary.
In total, Running Zone Foundation organizes 16 events throughout Brevard County and Indian River County, where it hosts a four-race Run Vero Race Series. Outside of those events, the nonprofit also help about 70 local organizations host events as fundraisers.
One of those 70 events is the Run for the Kids Series, which includes four events.
Map It
