Santa Barbara Running Association, 12/16/21, Vol. 35

MISSION STATEMENT: Promote lifelong fitness and health among Santa Barbara youth through a community race running program.

JOIN THE

JUNIOR GRAND PRIX

RACE SERIES TODAY! SBRUNNING.ORG Open to all kids Junior High and Younger!

WHO WE ARE: We are a group of community minded runners and volunteers committed to providing youth of all abilities a positive and encouraging atmosphere to experience the physical and mental benefits of running.

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The program is super fun, I like warming up and doing drills with other kids before races.

It’s a great way to build community and meet new people.

- Sophie S. (Age 15)

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HOW IT WORKS: The Santa Barbara Running Association (SBRA) Junior Grand Prix is a series of community races throughout the year promoting health, fitness and fun competition within the youth running community. Youth runners register for the Junior Grand Prix and then sign up for each of the Junior Grand Prix designated community races. Runners earn points for every race run based on their participation and finishing place to win awards at the SBRA end of year banquet. Each runner must run a minimum of 3 races to qualify for an award and each runner’s top 8 race scores count for points.

SBRA JUNIOR GRAND PRIX AND GIRLS, INC. When COVID hit in the beginning of 2020, many important physical activities were cancelled, as well as after school programs that many students relied upon to get outside and exercise.

In order to instill the importance of health and motivate youth to try new things, SBRA partnered with Girls Inc. of Santa Barbara to identify girls who were interested in starting running but needed essential gear. In order to safely start running, it is important to have quality shoes to avoid injury and athletic clothes to be comfortable. SBRA partnered with HOKA One-One to collect new shoes, shirts, and shorts for all girls fitting into HOKA sizes, and then SBRA purchased the items

USE QR CODE TO REGISTER NOW! FREE RACES FOR ALL OF 2022!

WHY START RUNNING?: Running my first 5k when I was 5 years old just felt normal. During elementary school and junior I love the raffle high I focused mainly on soccer, but running was always a part of and getting to race once a month. my life. When I was around 10 years old, I joined the Junior Grand - Maya D. (Age 10) Prix. Once a month, I would go to community races with my family and be surrounded by all types of people. I can remember the feeling of lining up on the start line, with no pressure or expectations, and being so excited to see how much I could improve. Each race I was surrounded by college athletes, dads pushing strollers, mom running groups, grandparents, other kids and every age and type of runner imaginable! I felt this deep sense of community that came through a group of people doing something challenging just for the sake of improving themselves. I met some of my closest friends through running, I learned the importance of pushing myself and working hard, and I also realized the beauty of doing something that can be done at any life stage. Running is unique because it can be done in so many different ways. You can run on your own to clear your head, or with a group of friends to hang out. You can do it competitively, It’s just really to become stronger and faster, or you can do it for fun to get outside and explore nice to have a friendly a new area or trail. Running these community races as a child helped me see all competition and to have so many people running could do for me! - Phoebe Wolfe Lyons, Channel League High School cheering you on!

Champion Cross Country Runner (2019-2021)

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- Luke D. (Age 12 )

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through additional fundraising for the smallest girls. In the end, we were able to present 33 girls with fun-filled swag bags, including HOKA socks, fanny packs, hair ties, and headbands in addition to their shoes and gear!

In order to put our plan for improving health during the COVID lockdown into effect, the Girls Inc. girls had two different chances to pick up their gear bags and join our other Junior Grand Prix runners to run our 1-mile and 2-mile Junior Grand Prix distances. For many girls, this was their first time running outside of school, and most of the girls tied on their new shoes right there at the course starting line! Everyone was smiling even while working hard.

Join the Junior Grand Prix

NOW for ONLY $20 ALL these races are FREE for Members in 2022!

Save Hundreds of Dollars in Race Fees!

JUNIOR GRAND PRIX

TENTATIVE RACE CALENDAR Resolution Run

January 1, 2022

Super Bowl 4 Miler

February 13, 2022

Scholarships for membership and races available on a needs basis!

Coyote 1 Mile

TBD

Gaucho Gallop

April 30, 2022

Miles for Moms 5k

May 7, 2022

State Street Mile

June 4, 2022

Goleta Beach 5k

June 18, 2022

Semana Nautica

July 4, 2022

Nite Moves #1

May 25, 2022

Nite Moves #2

August 10, 2022

Santa Barbara Running Association (Formerly Santa Barbara Athletic Association) provides support and leadership for all types of running. We encourage people of all ages and abilities to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle through running. We provide critical support to the Club West Junior High School Cross Country Program, Special Olympics of Santa Barbara Track and Field athletes, and High School Cross Country and Track Programs. Additionally, we celebrate our community’s runners through the year-long Grand Prix Competition. Both the Junior and Adult Grand Prix include around 10 local races per year with race results matched up against other SBRA members in various age groups.

McConnell’s Ice Cream Endurance Event August 21, 2022 Goleta Education Fund Lemon Run

September 2022

Club West Track Meet

September 2022

Fox Fall XC Race

TBD

Santa Barbara ½ Marathon 5k

November 6, 2022

Thanksgiving 4 Miler

November 24, 2022

Elings Terrain Festival

December 2022

JUNIOR GRAND PRIX BENEFITS Exclusive SBRA Running Shirt FREE Race Entries

Pre-Race Group Warm Ups Raffle Prizes after Races Emailed Race Results

End of Year Awards Banquet

SIGN UP ONLINE AT: SBRUNNING.ORG

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED · Children ages 14 and younger join the Junior Grand Prix · Adults join the Adult Grand Prix · Donate money or raffle prizes to our Youth Program · Sponsor a youth runner, covering membership and race fees Your gift helps fulfill our mission to allow every young runner in Santa Barbara to participate in community races by covering race entry fees, providing essential running gear and training.

Thank you for joining our efforts to inspire the next generation of healthy Santa Barbara kids!

Contact Us:

SBRUNNING.ORG

3463 State Street #431, Santa Barbara, CA 93105