Every year the Jaguar 5K & Kids Fun Run continues to appeal to a wider variety of students and athletes causing it to become greater as time goes by. “The Jaguar 5K was started in 2006 by Ms. Jeanne Kelly (FCHS alumna and current director of student activities). The initial year saw a great turnout– over 300 participants! Over the years it has grown significantly with the positive involvement of students, community members, and staff of FCHS.  The official website for the event, Jaguar5k.com, says all of the proceeds of the event go to benefit fitness activities (including sports programs, a school weight room, and physical education equipment) that help promote a healthy lifestyle.

The course starts at the school and runs through the surrounding neighborhoods. Awards are given to top finishers overall and in age categories. Random prize drawings happen, too!  T-shirts are presented to all registered runners.  The Jaguar 5K is an excellent opportunity to spend leisure time with your peers and to participate in a spirited school activity.

The Jaguar 5k itself is an expensive event: they use money for the police, race company, electronic start and finish lines, all awards and ribbons, gift cards, and t-shirts. They also use the money for the athletic department, golf carts for the trainers, and equipment in the weight room. It helps improve the school.

To learn more about the Jaguar 5K, we spoke with the founder of the race, Ms. Jeanne Kelly, and Ms. Belinda Kim to get a better insight on this special event.

Q:  What is the purpose of the Jaguar 5k? Why would people go?

A:  Ms. Kim said, “It is an event that would be fun for the school and for families to do together.” Ms Kelly added, “It brings the school, staff and students together at FCHS and have some fun at this event.  Also, it helps to raise some money.  It’s a fun, fitness event and an official event.  It’s a certified course to celebrate FCHS, and I like that the FCHS alumni come back to join the race.”

Q:  What were your favorite memories of the 5K?

A:  Ms. Kim said, “The best memory of the 5K would be when the FCHS graduates came back and participated in the race.”  Ms. Kelly says, “I like it when the weather is warm and nice, and when the students and staff hangout and just talk.”

For a quick recap of last year’s run, there were 808 people who signed up for the 9th Annual Jaguar 5K & Fun Run.  The student runner winners of the 2014 5K were Preethi Chaudhari (now in 12), Katie Valases (now in 11), Praveen Ravi (now in 11), and Doug LeSage (now in 11).

On April 25, 2015, the 10th annual Jaguar 5K & Kids fun Run had begun.  There were so many participants on that day even though the temperature was pretty low causing it to be chilly.  Still, there were 752 people who participated this year, despite the damp conditions.  There were two repeat winners, Doug LeSage (11), Preethi Chaudhari (12), and two first-time winners, Marcus Roussey (9) and Nithya Chaudhari (9).  We congratulate these FCHS students for winning the Jaguar 5k against so many competitors.

But the fact is, everyone who competes, comes away with a winning experience.  As Ms. Sherman said, “The Jaguar 5k is one of my favorite events every year. The shirts were awesome, and the crowd was crazy. There’s also a lot of new faces that I saw and because of that I was encouraged to do it again next year.”

We hope that even more students participate in next year’s Jaguar 5K, and hope to achieve Ms. Kelly’s goal of having 1,000 people enter and finish the race.