My Little Runner

Yesterday our Fire Department hosted the 3rd annual 5K/1 mile Fun Run for the Newfest celebration that takes place the second weekend in September each year. It was very strange to be on the other side of a race and not be the one who's actually racing. I did not have a hand in organizing the event but I volunteered Mike, Claudia, and myself to help wherever needed. Mike was at a water station, Claudia was at the 1 mile chute writing down finish times, and I was at the 5K chute taking tags from the runners bibs. Veteran NARC runners Kent and Lori put a lot of hard work and effort into organizing a great race. I never realized what all was involved with putting a run like that together. 

 

Last year all but one member of our family ran the 1 mile (our oldest was sick). I tried to get everyone to actually run together but we were too slow for one, too fast for another, and weren't cool enough for Miss Caley. It just didn't happen the way I wanted it to so Mike and I ran/walked with just Olivia. We didn't know how it was going to go, since she was only 3, but we figured we'd give it a shot. If she couldn't do it then we'd just carry her to the finish- no expectations or disappointments.

 

I believe our finish time was somewhere between 20-21 minutes but I never got an official time. We only walked a few times and I picked her up once for a quick break but told her she had to at least walk. She was fine with that and never complained or said she didn't want to do it so we just kept going. Her elbows were swinging high up in the air as she gave it her all. It was a very proud mom moment for me and I must say this picture is one of my favorites.

 

Newfest 2011

I try to encourage my kids to run but I don't push it on them. They run the mile in phys ed at school so I know they can run at least that far, but how much more do I push them? They see me running a lot which I want to believe inspires them but besides Olivia no one ever wants to join me. The younger girls run up and down the street and do laps around the house every once in a while, which is great. Most of the time I go too early in the morning for anyone to be able to go running with me. My oldest daughter joined the track team in eighth grade but doesn't run much outside of the season. She's only run and done Insanity with me a few times but no major races yet.

 

My girls were suppose to run yesterday but two spent the night at their friends house, one didn't get out of bed, and Claudia was volunteering with us. I asked a friend of mine if Olivia could run with her family, since we weren't able to, and she happily agreed to let her join them. She was so excited!

 

We had to be at the fire station by 5:30 a.m. to set up so I told Mike to let Olivia sleep for as long as possible and then come meet us. Well they showed up just before 6 because someone woke up and wanted to go. While we were getting everything set she kept asking me when the race was going to start and when her friend was going to be there. Although she looked pretty tired she couldn't

wait to run.

 

Waiting

 Once Olivia's friend got there she perked right up and was even more eager to start. I had to say, "It'll start soon." many times before it actually started. I wasn't sure how long it would take since there were other kids with her and my friends sister had a stroller to push. I had my camera ready and I was hearing the times being called out for the other runners but wasn't really paying attention because I also had to prepare for the 5K runners to come in. Before I knew it they all had rounded the corner and were headed to the finish.

Here they come
 

For some reason I thought Olivia made it back in less than 10 minutes, but more time had passed than I had thought. She finished with a time of 13:28. She had so much fun running and I am so proud of her. I was bummed I couldn't run with her but I know she loved being with her friend and other kids her age.

Mini me
 

After the race some of the Firefighters decided to run the 5K course with turnout gear and helmets on (running shoes were worn). It was pretty warm wearing that gear but only the last mile felt like a sauna. It was a windy morning with gusts up to 25 mph but unfortunately the gear blocked any airflow. We even had water delivered to us at the halfway mark so that was a nice little break.

 

A few spouses/girlfriend joined us wearing normal running clothes so any passerby hopefully understood what we were doing. We weren't running to or from a fire and no our truck did not break down. You never know, some people come up with crazy stories. Mike was able to join us and has done some complaining today about sore legs but his knee is finally feeling better after the RLF 5K.