Tortoise or Hare?

This is overdue! After running my race...the kids have been racing to the van or anywhere we go to see who can get the most trophies. My intentions were not to get medal hungry children. We were made aware of a fundraiser that a local preschool was doing. I thought it was a great idea! The kids could run a half mile race. All received a medal and treats...and a shirt of course.


I knew Taylin could run for a while, but wasn't sure if she would sprint out at the beginning and die out at the end or what. I had every intention of having her run a half mile distance a few times before the race. Due to weather and whatever other excuses I had, we didn't do any "training" until the day before.


Cohen still wanted to run the race, but we didn't spend the money this time. We were confident he would be very hesitant to start. Knowing Cohen, he would finally decide to start after the rest of the runners were half way through the route. We made this decision based on the shyness and fear he has the first five minutes every week before his Gymnastics class. He ends up enjoying himself and doing really well or else we wouldn't have kept him in the class.


We practiced the route the kids would be running. The road wasn't blocked off, so we had some encounters with angry drivers...one of all two that passed by the entire time. I can't say I was very Christlike :( The weather was nice. The kids were able to wear shorts and their professional "Kid Connection" running shoes. Our friends that got us into it, ran with us. The older two took off strong and kept up a good pace. The two younger ones were determined to finish no matter what. I was so proud of Cohen. He likes me to carry him when we are out and about, so I was a little concerned. I was running at the head of the pack to encourage our lead runners and show them where to turn around. I turned around and Cohen is moving at Tortoise pace, but moving none the less. His age group would have been a shorter race. When we turned around and met up with him, I tried to persuade him to just turn around and race from where we were. He said with all the energy and might, "No, I have to get to where you were and then turn around." I swept him up anyway and tried to run back with him. He was okay with it. My run turned into a trot and then a walk as I cheered on the others from afar.


We saw the kiddos were confident and were ready for the big race day!


Remember we were in shorts on our practice run the day before...cold front moved in over night.
Cheering Sis on regardless of the elements!
I wasn't sure Taylin was going to want to run the race in the high winds and cool weather. We bundled everyone up in layers and went out for our day of adventure. The kids had to wait in the shaded area (didn't warm us up any) until their age group was called.
I had originally asked Taylin if she wanted to run alone or me to run with her. She was going to go solo. As we got to the starting line, she asked me to run with her.



On your mark...get set...GO! Taylin was off and darting ahead with the Hares, I encouraged her to slow a little at the beginning so she wouldn't get tired...I probably should have just let her do her thing. She was racing her shadow more than anyone else. I did have to redirect her focus in front of her instead of behind her where her shadow ran, so she didn't fall. She did well. Some kiddos had stopped and were asking parents to carry them because their legs were hurting...not to mention they were running into the wind the first half. Poor things! She kept on going. She really didn't comment during the race. She stayed very focused. She kept thinking she was at the end, so I did have to direct her a few times to the finish.


We are so proud of her for finishing and weren't looking to see where she finished. She had some friends that raced too. They all did well and were grinning from their accomplishments as well as congratulating each other.
Way to go Carter, Isaac, and Nikki!


We stayed for some treats, but all were too cold to take off gloves to get the food to our mouths. We didn't stay for the family fun walk or awards. We took off on our own race to the cars and to the Chapmans for hot chocolate and wind down.


We received a phone call Monday morning that Taylin had a trophy to pick up since we missed the awards ceremony. Congratulations Taylin: third place in the four year old girls class. She is happy to share her accomplishment. I hope she doesn't have too much of my competitive blood...well at least, I hope she uses it better than I do/did/do. We are proud of her determination and endurance!


Side note: David and I have talked about how we would support our children in events. After watching my niece at a swim meet, I teared up with pride for her. David can't ever watch the original competition, only the replays. So we figured we would be horrible at supporting our kiddos. I will boohoo and David would have his face covered, glancing with one eye occasionally (need to record it somehow, so he can see the replay). We did okay. I was occupied while running with her. So occupied I was the one who almost fell in the race. I was looking at Taylin and not the 3 inch drop of the road. David did well! We were hugging and congratulating Taylin and David got a little teary. I started, but we both did the "I am not crying laugh." Taylin was wondering why Daddy was sad. She has taken on the "I am proud of you cry" as well since then. She is growing up and pushing forward in many ways.


Stay posted for our family attempt in a local Jingle Bun Run in a couple of weeks. We are not sure how it will go down with both David and I (and little fetus bouncing along) running. I don't think anyone will want to babysit the kiddos so early. I know they want to participate too. I might just run the 1K with the kids and Santa. David might not let me get away with that.