By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
Traffic was heavy and parking was scarce in the neighborhood all around Grant Bowler Elementary School on Dec. 15 as hundreds of parents showed up on the playground to cheer on their kids in the school’s annual Reindeer Run event.
The Reindeer Run has been going on every year at Christmas-time at Bowler Elementary school for about seven years now. It was first instituted when Ms. Denise Hoy first became the PE teacher at the school.
“It has been a good event for the kids,” Hoy said. “It teaches so many things: good sportsmanship, how to be a good winner and a good loser and everything in between. And it is a lot of fun.”
That sense of fun has really caught on in the community, according to Bowler Principal Shawna Jessen. She was pleased with the parent turnout at the event.
“My goodness, the parents really get into this!” Jessen said. “They show up in huge crowds to cheer everyone on. It makes the kids feel good as they run. I just love all the support that we receive from parents and the community.”
Because of the number of youngsters racing, and the huge crowds that show up to cheer for them, in recent years the event has been held in two sessions. Grades 3-5 have their run in the morning with the younger classes, K-2 competing in the afternoon. The playground was abuzz with activity for both sessions.
The event began on the school blacktop with a celebrity appearance. Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus were both there to get the kids warmed up for their races. As the music started, Santa led the crowd in the traditional reindeer dance.
The big guy was backed up by the MVHS Pirate Motion Dance Team in the afternoon session. All of the dance team was wearing bright Christmas colors.
In the morning, however, Pirate Motion was unavailable as it fell during school hours. So the new Bowler Tumbling team, led by second grade teacher Ms. Olafsen, stepped in this year to team up with Santa in the reindeer dance for the earlier session.
Santa spent some time mingling with the crowd of kids; dancing, shaking hands, giving high-5s, telling funny stories, getting plenty of hugs and even leading the kids in pre-race stretches. Then it was off to the starting line for the students.
Each grade was separated into boys’ and girls’ divisions. In addition, there were 2-3 heats run in each division. Each heat pitted kids together who had similar athletic abilities. That meant that everyone had a fighting chance to win their heat.
Each group took its turn to line up at the starting line and then jump forward into the race. The course was a 200 yard dash, ranging straight down the length of the field, then taking a sharp right turn and ended near the gate at the southwest corner of the schoolyard.
The top five runners in each heat were awarded with a special Reindeer Run medal. Everyone who ran received a candy cane especially awarded by Mrs. Claus.
At the end of the morning races, a special heat was run called the “Challenge Group.” This was for kids, grades 3-5, who had won the Reindeer Run at least two years in a row. There was a separate “Challenge Group” race for the boys and for the girls. Each heat had a total of about 20 kids running in the Challenge round.
“That is really the fastest of the fast,” said Hoy. “That round is always very competitive and the kids are pretty serious about it.”
