Andrea and Andrew Macleod have been running the Queen City Marathon for the last 10 years,  bringing their two children along with them, eight year-old daughter Freya, and 12 year-old son Natsu. 

“When we moved back to Regina back in 2015, I think the year after we started doing the 5K. He (Natsu) was just in a stroller, and yeah we just did it as a family and it stuck,” said Andrea.

“Then the little one came along (Freya) and we just kept her in the stroller, and now they’re old enough to run themselves.”

With just under 500 runners for the Campbell & Haliburton Insurance Family 5K this year, it is advertised as non-competitive and fun for families. 

“It’s a great family event I think, it gets the kids going and we do something together, so [we] really enjoy that, and hopefully we’ll improve every year,” said Andrea.

Before the race the Macleod’s had a mixed bag of emotions, Andrea said “It’s exciting, it’s a little bit like ‘Are we going to be okay?’ you know little pre-run jitters, but it’s just a fun thing to do… and it doesn’t really matter how fast we are.”

Natsu said he was not excited about the race, yet ended up finishing two minutes before his dad, Andrew, who was followed shortly by his mom, Andrea, and lastly little sister, Freya.

After the Macleod’s finished, they talked about how encouragement is what pushes them through, and after completing their 10th year they planned to get some local ice cream and relax at home. 

“We’re just going to sit on the couch and be happy that we finished!” said Andrea.

Having fun and spending family time together is also how mother Allison and daughter Danielle Metcalfe choose to take on the QCM. 

Six year-old Danielle ran the 2K in the ISM Mini Marathon and her mother accompanied her. Allison said how it’s “pretty special” to do the race as a family, “I like doing it with my daughter.”

Volunteers also get to see how this weekend brings families together. 

Volunteer Axel Rohrmann said that he sees it as a “nice family outing” and as he was working his shift he saw “everything from infants to toddlers, kids in strollers, and then you had people that were pushing someone in a wheelchair.”

“Some people were taking it quite seriously but most of them were just having a good time,” said Rohrmann who volunteered on Friday at the Night Owl 5K.

“It really does bring the community together.”