Kep's school had a Teeland Titan Trail Run on Saturday. There was a 100ft. toddler run that both of our boys ran in. It was so cute! They all dashed out (except Noah- I had to coax him along) and ran to get a balloon at the other end. Apparently, that was just a warm-up for our #138. (I'll let Kep tell you about his run with #138)...
After sizing up the competion we had a few last words at the starting line before I left him alone with his buddy Layne (blue hat) to start the race alone. I would later meet up with him and keep him company around the 1.2 mile course. All went as planned. After the initial 100m burst from the starting line I began running with him through the forest of turning leaves, autumn air and 3 inch standing water holes. Very nestalgic actually. Our only stop was to lose the pants he had on over his race shorts. After the pit crew was done we were back on our way. We did lose two places in that ordeal but those were quickly gained back with the renewed energy brought on by one less layer.
We had a good time on the trail just the two of us. We passed some of my past and present students. We talked about the animals we resembled (jaguars, snow leopards, horses). At one point, he actually mentioned that "this is fun Dad". I was just glad he was running, let alone talking and "having fun". We did pass a few that weren't having near the fun we were so we gave them a little encouragement and pressed on. He's a fun little race buddy.
As we rounded the corner back toward the field, Parker could hear the people cheering the incoming runners ahead of him. I thought he might speed up at that point but he just waited for his turn to break out of the woods in triumph...and he did. So the youngest runner in the race ran his little legs off the whole way to finish 59th in a pack of about 100. He was a proud 4-year old and had a giant smile pasted across his face for the last 30m. Funny, 'cause that was before he knew they'd throw a medal around his neck at the finish line! Does it get any better than this?!
1 comment:
Way to go Parker! Good job!
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