Last Saturday the long dreaded awaited day finally arrived. We had signed up at the end of Summer to run in a race for EduDeo Ministries. (and a number of other organizations). So we began collecting sponsors and I began "training". Jonathan and Kevin were slated to run 10km and Kade and I were going to run 5km.
As the day got closer and Kevin and Kade got more nervous, I encouraged them to maybe practice a bit. They did. They would run a km or two and then be tired, so they'd walk. I reminded them over and over that if they had to walk during the race for a bit, that was fine . . just make it short! People asked me if I was going to run with Kade. I stuck to my "No!" but I always assured Kade that he wouldn't get lost and that I would be there at the finish line waiting for him when he got there.
HA! I have to relate these details b/c at the end of the day . . it is those details that made me smile.
We woke up to a cold and dreary day. Drizzles and 3 degrees Celcius. We headed out nice and early to get our race packets and get set. It didn't take as long as we thought to complete registration . . which was a good thing b/c we then went back to the van and Jonathan discovered that he didn't actually take his running shoes along. Details! So off he went to buy and pair and we watched the 1km race. This was good for Kevin and Kade to see to give them an idea of how things went.
Then it was 10AM and off Kade and I went . . . and especially off went Kade! He took off and the only time I saw him again was when we passed by on the loop . . Kade on the homestretch . . . and me . . .not quite! Kade finished the race in 23:37 and came in 89th out of 1019 people! He beat me by almost 3 minutes. I was pretty impressed!!! He asked me that morning if I would be happy if he got in the top 100. I told him I would be happy if he got in the top 500!!! So ya, I was happy!! Jonathan was pretty proud when he saw him coming down the last stretch. He missed Kade pass by where he was watching, so didn't really know how he had been doing.
Then at 11AM it was Kevin and Jonathan's turn. Same deal. I had told Kev to do his own thing and not worry about what his dad was doing. Jonathan raced twice earlier in the year with fantastic results so I didn't want Kevin to feel pressure to be amazing. Off they went. They ran the same route the 5kers ran, but did it twice which was really nice for us spectators. We could see them 4 different times as they ran and could cheer them on and keep track of how they were doing!
They both did GREAT!! Considering they both did virtually zero training . . . other than Kevin's cross country training earlier in the fall which was around 3km and Jonathan's 2 or 3 runs!
Jonathan came in 27th with a time of 42:21 and Kev was not far behind in 33rd place with a time of 43:45 (there were just over 500 runners in the 10km). Wow.!! Kind of a neat story is the guy running with Kevin. We don't really know who he is other than his name, but he ran with Kevin for a lot of the race and kept him going and "coached" him along and then he let Kevin cross the finish line a half step ahead of him. I saw him shorten his stride to let Kevin beat him and he had told Kevin to "Give it!!" so he could beat him. That was a cool part of the day too!
Kevin ended up getting an extra medal for being 3rd in his age group (which is 19 and under!)
All in all, it was a pretty special and fun day!!! Jonathan and I were super proud of the boys and they themselves had a blast! They were pretty proud of themselves too . . and shocked! (which made their pride okay??!!;0)) They of course want to do it again . . .and we probably will next year . . and we'll have to take Kylie along this time to do the 1km. That was a pretty cute race to watch!
EduDeo raised $55,000.00, so the day was a great success for them as well!
We were more than happy to be done and get changed into dry clothes and warm up. It was chilly! I wished I had more pictures afterwards with their medals and stuff but it was cold and we only had Jonathan's phone and we really weren't thinking about it too much, and I am happy for the few we did get!!
Race Pictures Found Here (type in last name)
