Electric Run could be the start of something special

(Electric Run)


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SALT LAKE CITY — I really don’t need to ask my cousin why she is having trouble motivating herself to exercise.

Thanks to some extremely effective rationalizations of my own, I have some idea why and how my very determined, very successful cousin, Stacey Kratz, is avoiding daily exercise.

“I make tons of excuses,” she said without a single smidge of shame. “Greg (her husband) gets up at 5 a.m. so he can go speed walking, and he’s lost all of this weight. Last night I was going to go with him.”

But then one of their three daughters needed help with a school project that may or may not have been procrastinated or forgotten, and Stacey stayed up late to help.

“I was too tired,” she said.

That sentence might be the single biggest reason many of us can’t seem to find consistency in fitness goals. If I only had my own schedule to consider, I might not run into as many roadblocks (notice I said “if” and “might”). But even if I manage to organize my own responsibilities, I find myself acting as a triage nurse for the lives of those closest to me.

Map of the Electric Run route at Thanksgiving Point.
Map of the Electric Run route at Thanksgiving Point. (Photo: Electric Run)

(And, while I’m on the topic of chaos, why does it seem the more gadgets I enlist to make my life more convenient, the more chaos seems to sabotage my good intentions?) Still, over the years, I have made fitness enough of a priority in my life that I find time for it most days. When I first starting running on a regular basis, I did it to prevent my newly adopted dog from chewing everything in my house, including her kennel. The ability to wear shoes that don’t look I waded through piranha-infested waters is a pretty powerful motivator.

But at some point, running with my dog became more than a way to save my furniture and my flip-flops. It became a way to enhance my life. When I am consistently exercising, I feel better in just about every possible way. After a few months or running, I didn’t care about the physical benefits. I craved the emotional lift and the mental clarity even more than the gratitude I now feel for being able to zip my jeans without laying on the bed.

So why would I ever succumb to the excuses?

The short answer — I have no idea. The long answer is that life really is complicated, chaotic and sometimes just downright depressing.

So while I know from experience that you always have time to exercise if you make it a priority, I also understand, a little too well, how difficult it is to maintain that commitment day after day, homework crisis after home-work crisis.

Which is the reason that when I saw the Electric Run was coming to Utah this Friday, I knew exactly who I wanted to share the experience with — Stacey.

To know my cousin is to know the embodiment of joy. Stacey is magnificent. She is one of the most intelligent, well-read people I know. But she is also a party (or a political argument) just waiting to break out.

A lot of mothers celebrate Halloween with as much enthusiasm as their children, but I challenge anyone of them to come close to competing with Stacey. A couple of years ago we participated in her neighborhood’s trunk-or-treat, where families gather in a parking lot and hand out candy from their vehicles rather than sending their children through the neighborhood. The idea is that it’s safer and easier if your children are small. For people like Stacey, it’s just another way to celebrate living.

Electric Run Info:
What: A 5K fun run/walk that is really more a music and light experience than a race. It's untimed and starts in waves with a party at the finish.

Where: Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, Utah

When: Friday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.

Who: Anyone looking for a good time or a night run unlike any other.

Why: Because you can.

How: Check out the website at electricrun.com.

Not only does she decorate the car, she and her kids dress up (in professional-looking, home-made costumes) with a theme! The closest I’ve come to having my family in a coordinated theme is when I ordered three “Powerpuff Girls” costumes online, and my two daughters and I wore them for an outing at the Utah Symphony’s Halloween concert. One year, Stacey and her girls rocked an "Alice in Wonderland" theme, and it was fabulous. Believe me, there is no other word to describe this woman’s creativity than fabulous. (And after that, we took eight children through a section of her neighborhood so they could experience more Halloween happiness than should be legally allowed.)

After a lifetime of being her co-director, co-producer, co-host and co-conspirator, I’m convinced she could make picking up trash enticing.

Not only that, but she’s super mom — cooking restaurant-quality food, holding church duties that requires more than some part-time employment, acting as a PTSA superstar advocating for teachers constantly, and supervising the plethora of activities that her four children are engaged.

Her abilities and energy always make me feel inadequate, but because of her personality and generosity, it’s impossible to feel anything but affection for her. She’s fierce in every positive possible way.

There is only one problem Stacey has, and it is a problem far too many of us share. She doesn’t see her own health as a priority. She doesn’t realize what black hole would be left if she weren’t around to rescue us from an ordinary existence.

So she does what we do. She hits a fast-food window on her way to piano lessons and softball games. She gives up her morning walk so her daughter won’t feel the sting of not being prepared.

And she tells herself, much like millions of other moms, that one of these days, she’s going to find a way to put herself on the list of things that matter most.

“I want to get back in shape,” Stacey said. “I want to not feel old. I don’t have personal body coordination like people who play softball, but I’ve always been able to run.”

She was a swimmer and track athlete in high school. She longs for that runner’s high — that feeling of accomplishment that comes with commitment to exercise.

At 44, she wants to be able to continue living life a 90-mph pace.

Races, she adds, often have a public service aspect, often donating part of race proceeds to charity. They also embrace the idea that life is difficult, but it is in embracing the toughest moments that we discover the strength in ourselves and the generosity in others.

“Runners, in my experience,” she said, “are very nice to each other.

Left to right: Stacey Kratz, Amy Donaldson and another awesome 
cousin, Kristy Ryan-Godinet.
Left to right: Stacey Kratz, Amy Donaldson and another awesome cousin, Kristy Ryan-Godinet. (Photo: Daphne Brass)

So why, then, is it so difficult to put on those newly purchased running shoes just a few days a week?

“I’m really good at self-sabotage,” she said, and then she brings up the idea that having a race to look forward to gives you the kind of incentive that busy, over-worked people just can’t seem to find on their own.

“Races are really rewarding to run,” she said. “You don’t just leave your house, schlep around your neighborhood and come back home. You get to stand at the start line, participate in the race and then cross the finish line. Even if you’re really tired afterward, you feel really fabulous.”

And like I said, if anyone understands what it feels like to be fab, it’s my cousin.

“I think I need to make my fitness goals more of a start and finish line for myself,” she said. “I need to set mileage goals. My mom is in better shape than me. That’s not cool.”

So we decided the Electric Run would be a good way to kick off her fitness goals. I’m not sure there is a better, more fitting way for someone like Stacey to begin the journey to better health. She is a human party and this event — an untimed, 5k dance party, light show and music festival — sort of caters to people like that.

After we discussed how this was her first 5K in more than a year but that we hoped it would lead to many more, she began planning how we might adorn ourselves for this outing. In the last few years there has been a massive increase in the number of running and fitness events, many of them with some kind of party component.

I know for many participants in these types of races the experience may be just what they needed to make permanent changes in their health.

And I also know it could be just another reason to be goofy with people who know about and try to ease the pain of all the dark and difficult stuff in your life.

So whether this becomes the first of many fun-themed 5K events or just another night where I am awed and inspired by the magnificent Stacey Kratz, I will take a moment to be grateful that there are ways to make even the toughest loads lighter with laughter, love — and a lot of disco music. Twitter: adonsports Email: adonaldson@deseretnews.com

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