Second Empire 1 Mi Fun Run and 50 Yd Dash, May 2, 2010

Grace and Mommy in the 50 Yard Dash

Grace getting her medal


Owen "coming in first" ahead of Mommy

Owen and Mommy getting our medals

Although my blogs to date have been about races I have run, I have been wanting to write one about this particular race from back in May, even though I didn't "race" it. It was probably one of the best races I have participated in and the reason is because I got to run with Owen and Grace. Owen decided he really wanted to run a race, probably just for the medal but hey, he was excited so why not! But no 50 or 100 yard dash would do this time. Instead he decided he was ready for the 1 mile because he had been running almost enough laps around the track at his school to equal a mile.

We did one practice run at the track before the race and Owen ran the 8 laps to make one mile, so I knew he was ready. He stopped and walked here and there and had a lot of water breaks, but he was smiling at the end so that was good. Grace also came along but she was easily distracted by the "flowers" in the field nearby (aka weeds) so she decided to stop and pick some.

We registered them both for the Second Empire race, Owen for the 1 mile fun run and Grace for the 50 yard dash. Owen and I went to pick up the race packet a few days before so we'd have our t-shirts for the race. His was a bit big but it was a pretty cool tech shirt that matched mine.

On the day of the race, which was in the afternoon in downtown Raleigh, it was pretty warm out. One benefit to the race location is that it's around the corner from The Flying Saucer, a bar with lots of great beer options and good food. So Keith was convinced to come to spectate. :-) We arrived as the first group of 5K runners were finishing and I saw a few running friends finish the race. Everyone looked very hot and sweaty and I was kind of glad to be running the 1 mile instead.

Grace's race was up first. The year before, in the same race, she turned around and cried at the start so I had to carry her the 50 yards to get her medal. I was hoping this year would be better. We didn't know this in advance, but thank goodness her friend and classmate Elizabeth and her mom were running too. This distracted Grace for a bit and she was all smiles at the start. We held hands as we raced to the finish. Grace was very proud of her medal and happy that she and her friend ran the race together. I was happy she ran with no tears and no carrying!

Next it was Owen's turn. Lots of adults, even those without kids, were lined up at the start. But there were also a lot of kids Owen's age as well. He was very excited but a bit nervous. But once the gun went off, he took off at full speed. He continued that much of the race, running at super sonic speed and then walking in between. A good speed workout I guess but not how I'd usually advise running a mile race. He didn't really seem to want mom's advice so we just kept running along according to his training plan.

I think Owen thought it was pretty cool to be running down the middle of a street all alone and not having to hold anyone's hand. He kept trying to pick off other runners and was not extremely modest about doing it. Of course then he'd stop and walk and they'd usually pass us again. It was really great to reach the half way mark and turn around toward the finish. Owen had a few times that he wanted to give up, but he kept plugging along and we'd agree to run to a particular light post or sign and then walk a bit. Soon he could see the giant inflatable arch finish line. Once he could see it there was no stopping him. He picked up his speed and took fewer breaks and of course passed mom to win the race. He clarified, after bragging about coming in first, that he really just meant he came in first in front of me. :-)

Owen was quite proud of his medal and I even got a medal too. It was a really great first race to run post-Boston Marathon. Afterwards we had some beer (well not Owen and Grace) and snacks at The Flying Saucer. And on the way home, Owen fell fast asleep from his big race.

We haven't signed up for any other races yet, but I hope that Owen and Grace will want to keep running. It was great fun and I was very proud of them!