Cape Girardeau 5K Training Course Available

The City of Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department will offer its sixth seasonal 5K Training Course beginning on Monday, March 19.

The course provides an opportunity to get in shape, gain cardiovascular endurance and improve running form while training for races. Runners of all skill levels can attend.

"Participating in a class like this one not only increases your speed and stamina it also provides you with better understanding of how to run a 5K race," Heather Davis, Shawnee Park Center Manager said.

Sessions will consist of cardio training information, stretching, strengthening, speed workouts and tempo runs which include fartleks, hills, interval training and striders. Runners will learn how to conserve energy, when to push harder, how to take on hills and more.

The first 5K training course started in summer 2009 while leading up to Parks and Recreation's annual Capaha Classic 5K race.

"We still do a training leading up to the race every year, and the entry fee for that training includes an entry fee into the Capaha Classic," Davis said. The Department still holds a training session each summer before the annual race at Capaha Park.

The 5K training classes are offered Mondays and Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Additional sessions are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.

"If our numbers are too high in one session it is more difficult for our instructors to spend one-on-one time with the participants," Davis said.

Multiple sessions will also attempt to accommodate participants' work or extracurricular activities schedules. Parks and Recreation expects to see 30 to 40 runners during the training course. Past sessions has seen as many as 60 participants and as few as 20.

Davis feels this training program offers people with a set place to go workout at a specific time.

"It is easy to back out when you are doing it on your own time,"Davis said. "We try to advance walkers to joggers, joggers to runners, and runners to even faster runners."

Monday and Tuesday sessions are held at Cape Central Jr. High Track, and on Wednesday and Thursday sessions are held at Arena Park Shelter 1.

Registration is $32. For more information contact Heather Davis at 573-339-6340 or hdavis@cityofcape.org.

Participants may register by calling Parks and Recreation Department or mailing in the registration form. The registration deadline is Friday, March 16.