news-record.com

Eleven special-needs children will ride 3.1 miles and offer lots of smiles during the Cannonball Run’s 5K road race Saturday.

“We’re hoping to treat them like rock stars,” says Greensboro’s Janelle Robinson, who has organized the Miles for Smiles effort. “We’re going to help them have the best treatment all morning. We’re here for them. Runners will be with them from the moment they get out of their vehicles to the awards ceremony.”

Robinson visited the Gateway Education Center’s recent fall festival, hoping to recruit participants.

“Before I knew it, I had 11 kids,” she says.

They’ll range in age from 4 to 14 and in weight from 25 to 80 pounds. The children, riding in jogging strollers, will be captains of three-person teams, which will include two runners assigned to each stroller. Off ‘N Running Sports, the race organizer, has agreed to pick up entry fees and provide T-shirts for all of the teams, Robinson says.

Trish and Shane Naylor’s son, Drake, age 4, will be captain of the team Robinson will help.

“I was just thrilled as a parent to have somebody willing to do something with not just Drake but kids like Drake,” says Trish Naylor, whose family lives in Summerfield. “As long as he’s moving and he’s outside, he’s happy.”

If you’d like to help on Saturday, Robinson needs one more stroller and three more runners. Call her at 312-5170 or email her at janellesiperek@aol.com. The 5K is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m., about a half-hour after the half-marathon runners take off.

“I would love to see people come out to support all that Janelle has done,” Naylor says. “She’s got the heart and the passion for it. I’m just proud to know her.”

If you can’t help with this race, Robinson already has her eye on another one: The Belews Lake Triathlon next spring. She will speak at a Triad Triathlon Team meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at Mi Pueblo, 3911 Tinsley Dr., High Point.

Register for the Cannonball Run.