The DFW Truck Farm 5k Fun Run will take place on Sunday, April 22, 2012, at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas. 

www.dfwtruckfarm.com

The first annual 5K Fun Run is a non-competitive event (no chip timing) in which participants can run, walk, jog, or skip to the finish line!  This is a family event and strollers are  welcome!  For this year's fun run, we have designed a course full of farming-inspired challenges to complete before you cross the finish line!

We've crafted a little tale to give you a taste of what to expect on Earth Day 2012.

Picture Earth Day 2012, a beautiful Sunday morning (Farmer's are always optimistic about the weather), your running gear is in place and you've lined up with your friends and family to begin your 3.1 mile trek around beautiful Fair Park. Your run begins as you pass by the gold tipped tower at Fair Park, the pitter patter of all the feet might sync you into a new rhythm, perhaps a little chickadee is whistling away in the light blue sky...what an incredible day you've chosen to support your local truck farmer! 

As you are zoned out on all the good things that nature has brought you, you realize you are almost to the first marker, 1/2 mile, as you approach you see the first farm station and a smile reaches your eyes as you see the first farm task in this fun run event is THE WORM FARM CHALLENGE.  These wiggly crawlers who rule underneath the soil are very important to farming, your task might be to help feed the worm or maybe moving a worm to another bin so the farmer at this station will be able to have enriched soil that the creepy crawler adds organic matter to keep the soil alive. 

You finish this task and head down the course wondering, what on Earth Day have I gotten myself into, but it's soon forgotten as nature takes over and you are swiftly moving through the park. Maybe instead of the chickadees whistling you along you might have a John Denver tune on your handy little music box, but soon enought you see another farm station. 

Was that buzzing you heard?  No, it's the BEE FARM CHALLENGE.  Bees are another important part of farming, you must have bees in order to pollinate our fruits and vegetable plants...without the bees our production drops 40%!  This station could be the most tedious of them all, pollinating flowers just like the bees do!  Once you've pollinated your flower, the farmers will shoo you away just like a bee and you'll buzz on down the course wondering what else do farmers do? 

Now, we can't give away all of our farming secrets just before the event...but we will have other farm stations with tasks for you to participate in before you cross over the finish line and enjoy a delicious treat from one of the race sponsors.  Our hope is that this fun run will keep you on your toes as you learn more about what farmers do and when you reach the finish line!  (No worries, these tasks will not be with "real" insects or creepy crawlers, but they will simulate the daily lifestyle of what a farmer has to do.)

The SWAG BAG:  Your packet pick up will be at Luke's Locker off of Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, Texas.  The packet pick up bag is a re-purposed t-shirt (we've turned old (but new) t-shirts into an over the shoulder bag) and your bag will be packed full of goodies from our sponsors.  There is one piece of important info we want you to be aware of in your swag bag, the bib will be seed embedded - you can take it home after the run and plant it in your garden or a container.  If you choose not to keep the bib, you can give it back to us and we will plant it at a school in the upcoming season. 

The first 100 registered participants will receive a picnic blanket for the Picnic for the Planet following the event but all participants are encouraged to picnic with us following the fun run at Earth Day Dallas. (If you choose not to keep your picnic blanket, you can donate it back to the DFW Truck Farm and we will donate these to nursing homes as lap blankets.)

One more tidbit before you register for this fun run!  We think it's important for you to know where your support is going.  The DFW Truck Farm is a vegetable garden planted in the bed of an old pick up truck, it is owned and operated by Garden Inspirations as a non-profit program.  The ladies of Garden Inspirations schedule the truck to go out to schools and community events to teach their audience about gardening.  In 2011-2012 the DFW Truck Farm visited the State Fair of Texas, Company Cafe for Food Day, schools in Waxahachie, Grapevine, Dallas, Murphy, Carrollton, Austin, Frisco, and more...when the DFW Truck Farm goes to the schools the children are taught a "farm lesson" from the bed of the pick up truck.  Your participation in this event will help the DFW Truck Farm mosey on down the Texas Highways to more schools and more events in the 2012-2013 school year.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your time and participation!  Earth Day 2012 will be epic with you as a part of it.