Runner Receiving a Playing Card During a Poker Run

XC Running: Poker Makes Running Laps Fun

Dick Moss, Editor, Physical Education Update.com

Here's a great idea for a participation run. You can use a Poker Run as part of a field day, with a class or team, or even as a special fundraising event.

Setup
A poker run requires only an area in which students can run laps. A track is ideal, but if one isn't available, a circuit around the park or your school grounds will suffice.

Before beginning, review the rules of poker so there's no dispute about the fact, for example, that a straight flush beats three-of-a-kind.

Execution
The idea is for all participants to walk, jog or run six or more laps. At the completion of every lap, everyone receives a playing card from a shuffled deck.

When the last participant has finished running, the students display their cards to a judge who records their names and respective poker hands. The participant with the best poker hand at the end of the course is the winner of a prize.

Your students will enjoy this noncompetitive event. And it gives anyone who participates an equal chance to win since it is luck, not speed, that determines the champion.

You can also play as teams, with the members of each team combining their cards to make the best hand.

Reference: "Jacks or Better to Jog." Wisconsin Association for HPERD Newsletter, February'98.' http://www.wahperd.org

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