Parents, Kids, Teachers Come Together for Arcado Fun Run

Community came together Sunday afternoon at Arcado Elementary School in Lilburn.

Around 200 strong, they came out to participate in the annual Arcado Fun Run and support the school’s Parent Teacher Association.

Parents ran with their kids in the 1K and 5K races. Teachers spent time with their students outside of a classroom setting. And even former Arcado students, like William Freeman, now a Parkview High freshman, came back to check out their old digs.

“It was exciting; a lot of fun. I used to run this every year,” said Freeman, a Parkview lacrosse player who finished second overall in the 5K race to his old Arcado art teacher Mike Hitchcock. “It’s great to come back. I still know a lot of the teachers.”

That includes Hitchcock, who won with a time of 19 minutes, 20 seconds — “Cool weather is good to us old guys,” said Hitchcock, 52.

So, is the “old guy” a better teacher or a runner?

“I don’t know,” Freeman said. “He’s a pretty good teacher … He’s great at running.”

The afternoon’s events, run under a cool overcast sky, included 1K races for kids (and their parents) from pre-K to second grade and third grade through fifth grade, and a 5K for the more serious runners.

Mark and Lisa Alexander took turns in the 1K races with their two children — Mark ran with second-grader Myles and Lisa with fourth-grader Jordan.

“I exercise about five times a week,” Mark Alexander said. “I need to get out a little more often, obviously.”

“It’s great to get them outside and away from the computer,” Lisa Alexander said. “Keeping them moving is a great thing.”

Porter Deal, who is active in many Lilburn community events, ran with his son Trey.

“It’s great to get the kids and the parents out doing something together. Everybody gets a little healthier,” he said. “This is a great example of the community working together. I mean look at this. It’s on a Sunday and it’s a dreary day. And we got 200 people to come out.”

The annual event, which used to be known as the Tie Dye Fun Run for the tie-dyed T-shirts it awarded runners, serves as a fund-raiser for the school’s PTA.