Company picnic, 2012-style

Yesterday I participated in my first 5K run! Except it was more like a brisk walk -- partly because I haven't actually run since high school (possibly junior high), and partly because I was hemmed in by toddlers, strollers, and many, many, many Microsoft employees and their families. We all showed up on Saturday morning for the first Campus Jam activity of the day, the Family Fun Run! The route took us around and through the Microsoft campus. There was a giant balloon arch and marching band at the end, which was playing Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" as I crossed the finish line. Even though I'm sure I routinely walk that distance around the neighborhood, it felt glorious!

After the run, we ate box lunches outside by one of the fountains, checked out exhibitor booths, and I took an invigorating and challenging zumba class while Chris and Oscar played Frisbee. There were yoga classes too, but I missed out on that. In fact, we really experienced only a tiny fraction of the activities available. There were player appearances from the Seattle Seahawks, Sea Gals, Seattle Storm, Sounders FC, and the Seattle Mariners. There were kids' sports clinics for cheering, football, baseball, soccer, and basketball; cooking demonstrations; crafts; a scavenger hunt; 3-on-3 basketball; a climbing wall; trampoline; Kinect games; and yes, even a competitive 5K race.

Microsoft, obviously, is incredibly huge, and this event was packed with thousands and thousands of people. The number of box lunches they had on hand -- at four distribution stations over the campus -- was staggering. It was crowded! Not horribly so, but they did run out of cups for the water during the race, and certain flavors of the free smoothies they were giving out. Obviously a fitness-centered event like this is designed to encourage employees and their families to be healthy. The cynical part of me thinks MS probably gets a big discount on insurance rates for promoting a healthy lifestyle. It would've been cool to have some old-timey sack races or tug-of-war competitions, but it was a great spring event even so.