Camille Fallen

大紅狗克里弗最近在一個涼爽的星期六早晨迎接了跑步者?？死锔ズ推渌軞g迎的書中人物，包括沃爾多，在這項籌款活動中展示了他們的精神。

Clifford， the Big Red Dog， recently greeted runners on a cool Saturday morning in Virginia. Clifford and other popular book characters， including Waldo， were showing their spirit during the “Book it for Books” fund?raiser.

Organized by Reading Is Fundamental of Northern Virginia （RIF of NOVA）， the 5K race for beginners and advanced runners is for a good cause. The money raised from “Book it for Books” supports RIFs mission of encouraging childrens enthusiasm for books.

During the event， free books were given away to kids. Several participants brought their entire families. One family included Casey Jonas， her husband， David， five?year?old son， Coplan， and toddler， Janet. “I came out because my mother?in?law is involved in RIF，” Casey said. “We love reading， and we love supporting it.”

Children were encouraged to participate in the one?mile walk， although some wanted to try the 5K race. Julian Gibbs， a 10?year?old who lives in the area， was among those who chose the 5K race. “The only time Id say I slowed down was during the turn，” he said. Julian attended the event with his friend， Uylan Montminy. Like Julian， Uylan ran a successful race. “I walked for a few minutes in the race， but I ran the rest，” Uylan said proudly.

Nate Wheatley， 8， was one of the youngest participants， yet he outperformed everyone. “Im very happy Im doing this，” Nate said. “I was in second place， and at the end I had to sprint （沖刺） as fast as I could.” Biographies are Nates favorite genre. He enjoys reading about a wide range of people， including George Washington and other founding fathers and Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights heroes.

Whats the purpose of RIF？