Burien Brat Trot 5K - A Highline Foundation Success

The family did the Burien Brat Trot 5K on Sunday! The event is one of two the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence (HSFFE) is heavily invested in during October. The Foundation does amazing work supporting the children of Highline and their teachers. In fact, you should really sign up today for their next event, Oktoberfest at the Cove, this Saturday night (10/15). It will be great fun and raise money to support additional opportunities for students.

I'll get this out of the way first...My family didn't run this as a race. We all did a mix of walking and running. The point was to do something with the whole family, including our two sons, ages 8 and 11. And in that respect, my wife and I were big winners, getting to share this experience with our boys. You can see me cross the finish line with Sam here. Andrew was way ahead of us, finishing in 37 minutes.

Before the race, you really got a sense of the theme. There were people (and animals!) all over with brat-like attire, as well as a German oompah band. This is a relatively new event, and participation doubled this year to nearly 1,000 people.

For me, the race was part social, as I knew lots of fellow runners and race volunteers. Before the race, I ran into Teachers Darin Stoltz, Alana Vinther, Jeb Binns, and SherryMarsh. During the race, I saw HSFFE Executive Director Ashley Fosberg running with her daughter, Principal Rick Wisen running with his kids, and Deputy Superintendent Carla Jackson with her daughter Angie. On the route, we had a nice conversation with Counselor Jeff Ferry from Pacific and his wife, Librarian Jennifer Ferry from Southern Heights. Carlyn Roedell was on the route as a volunteer, directing traffic. At the finish line, I was greeted by Cascade Principal Diana Garcia, and former School Board Member Shay Schual-Berke. I even stopped to say hi to Angus Mairs and his daughter, which would explain my slow time! Well, partly, anyway...

After the race, we got in line for the race's namesake, and the brats really did taste good!



With my sons Sam (left) and Andrew



Lisa Tuman (left) and Ashley Fosberg were among many to pitch in



Chuck Tuman of the Foundation board, a very shy guy!

Now this is how it's done!

Ready...set...(wait for 800 people ahead of you)...go!

We passed the Lake Burien School arch on the 5K route

At long last...the brats!