Today we arrived a little later than I prefer for a 7:30 start, but we made it with about 15 minutes to spare. We got out of the car to a decent rainfall. It felt pretty good considering that it's the 4th of July and usually you come to expect a hotter than hades sort of run.
We headed for the start and took our places. Kenton was even lining up!!! WHOO-HOO!! Now, he wasn't "racing" he had planned to run 4 miles this morning and it just happened that his course was the same as the race course...weird, huh?
He came up to wish me luck and told me to get to the very front. I pointed out that my competition was already up there, so there was really no use. If she signs up, I'm automatically out of the running for an overall finish.
The gun went off and so did we. It's a nice course that weaves through the park, the high school yard, and back through the neighborhood, finishing right where you started from. I could see two girls in front of me and did all I could to keep them in my sights. I finished strong while a pack of boys thundered up on me in the last yards. I kind of hate that. I hold my pace for miles and in the last few feet someone turns it into a sprint race. Oh, well...that's racing, right?
Since this race excludes the over all winner from the age group, my competition took the overall and I took the gold medal in my age division. I'm very proud of that, but I'm more excited about my time. I set a PR for a four mile race. My previous time was just under 28 minutes, today I clocked a 26:34!! I'll take it!
After the 4 mile winded down it was time for the one mile. Judah was signed up to run this race. I was so blessed by the time he and I have spent this week "practicing."
We had really pleasant and fun times running a mile each morning to get ready for today. 
He asked if I'd load Kid's Bop on to the mp3 player for him. So he was ready, with his finger on the play button. Once it was go time, he was off. He ran a nice even pace and avoided being a jackrabbit like most kids are. We chuckled as he started singing along through his pants for air. He's a little stubborn and doesn't like to be told what to do, so he avoided my suggestion to "kick it in" for the finish, but he finished with a nice, smooth 11:30.
I was very very proud of him. I've been telling Kenton all week how excited I am for the possibility of him and I running together one day. He's well on his way. I tell him every time, "Judah this is great! I couldn't do this when I was 24 and your doing it at age 5!!"
We had really pleasant and fun times running a mile each morning to get ready for today. He asked if I'd load Kid's Bop on to the mp3 player for him. So he was ready, with his finger on the play button. Once it was go time, he was off. He ran a nice even pace and avoided being a jackrabbit like most kids are. We chuckled as he started singing along through his pants for air. He's a little stubborn and doesn't like to be told what to do, so he avoided my suggestion to "kick it in" for the finish, but he finished with a nice, smooth 11:30. I was very very proud of him. I've been telling Kenton all week how excited I am for the possibility of him and I running together one day. He's well on his way. I tell him every time, "Judah this is great! I couldn't do this when I was 24 and your doing it at age 5!!"Here's to PR's, health, family, Freedom, and three generations running this race together!
Happy4th Of July!
