Let’s face it: Being active and exploring the outdoors really aren’t a natural part of today’s comfort and convenience-driven lifestyle. Instead, we avoid the elements from the careful climate control of our work buildings, cars and homes, and the deep recesses of our recliners. Gardeners and others who work outdoors regularly have more opportunity to be "in tune" with nature; the rest of us need to create our own experiences.

That’s why I’m excited about Anchorage’s Tuesday Night Race Series, held each fall in September/October. Every Tuesday for eight weeks, hundreds of runners, of every age and ability level, meet to get outside, explore trails, have fun and move their bodies.

The race series is now in its 41st year, an incredible track record for a community-driven event. It began as a transition activity for local skiers, and has transformed into a long-standing tradition for many Anchorage families. The Municipality of Anchorage Parks and Recreation Division organizes the Race Series, but without volunteer support, it would not be as successful as it is. Volunteers do everything from registration to setting courses and directing traffic.

Margaret Timmerman, current race coordinator, told me that the average turnout this year is an amazing 700 people, even on days that are rainy, snowy, muddy, and/or cold. The event has grown quickly in the last few years because of its inclusion in “Healthy Futures,” the brainchild of the late Bonny Sosa, who envisioned a program that would encourage families to be more active. As part of Healthy Futures, the race series has become more well-known, and thus more popular. (Sosa’s tragic death of a brain tumor in August 2008 led race organizers to name the series after her in honor of her work.)

I’m no runner, but the Bonny Sosa Tuesday Night Race Series has become part of our own family tradition. There are three leagues of racers participating: The “Munchkins” run between 1 and 3k. (In early September there’s a lot of stopping for wild raspberries, and the week before Halloween, it’s fun to see all the kids dressed in their costumes collecting treats on the way.) The Farm League racers run a non-competitive 5-8k. Lightning League competitive runners complete up to 12k on more technical trails.

The program truly has something for everyone, whether it’s active participation or volunteer work. Since it is set up as a series, it gives participants more motivation to show up regardless of weather, to see familiar faces and to have fun, even if it's a muddy, cold kind of fun! Unique challenges of this program include keeping an eye out for moose and bear, setting different courses so that the younger runners and competitive runners do not trip each other up, and finding trailheads that will accommodate the large number of runners.

The Anchorage program is meeting these challenges nicely through an experienced paid staff and many dedicated volunteers. I think this race series could be a model for other communities to encourage families to make outdoor activity a part of our culture once again. Creating traditions for children, including organized races, hikes, or even volunteering to help clean up the outdoors will lead to a new generation of people who are not only healthier, but who will be vested in caring for the world around them.