About a year ago we signed the kids up for their first ever running race, the 8K Turkey Trot.
Adam and I used to do these races before we had kids and it’s great that they are finally at an age where they can join us. Or should I say they didn’t join us but beat us?
We paired off like Noah’s Ark for this race, Jack running with Ben, Sam running with Aaron, and Adam running with me.
Jack and Ben were fairly competitive until one of the last water stops. When Ben finished his drink he looked up to find Jack gone. Or should I say they were not fairly competitive but very competitive?
Turns out the twins did the same thing to each other, Aaron taking longer at another water stop then sneakily running past us when we weren’t looking.
In the end the Jack finished first in 45:52, Aaron finished second in 50:46, Ben finished third with Sam in 52:05, then Nikki in 52:11 and Adam in 53:30. Poor Adam didn’t get to train like the rest of us due to that pesky job he has!
The kids were so excited about this race that we immediately signed up for another one – the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in March of this year.
Jack was hurt for this race so he was not able to participate. The five of us finished as in this order – Ben 44:37, Aaron 46:34, Adam 51:53, Sam 52:51, and Nikki 53:22.
Ben had been running all summer on his own and the effort paid off!
This running trend continued over the summer. I would drag the twins and sometimes Jack but Ben would go out on his own, sometimes running up to 10 miles on his own. He was hooked.
We signed up for another race in August, upping the mileage. The Dim Sum 10K.
This time the kids all smoked us, but Ben’s training showed the most. Remember this is a 10K, not an 8K like the previous two races – results – Ben 53:21, Jack 55:36, Aaron 1:02:02, Sam 1:02:32, Nikki 1:08:30, and Adam 1:10:40.
It was a superhot day and I was so impressed with how well the kids did. It was also a smaller race then the first two. As a result two of our kids metalled in the race! Ben was 3rd in his age group (Jack was 4th) and Aaron was 3rd in his age group (Sam was 4th).
Finally we decided to sign Ben up for a running club. We heard about one from a friend whose daughter is a member. The nice thing about running is that you can compete without a school affiliation at any age. Since Ben’s school is smaller, organized sports is not one of the things they offer.
After three months of training with his new running club, Ben competed in his first race.
It was a tough one. He went out too fast and got a headache, then was confused about the race course. In the end he finished last place. However, since there were only 11 people in the race and the first 15 get to move onto Regionals, he was selected to compete again the following week. The race was a 5K. He finished with a time of 27:18.
I was super worried that he wouldn’t want to run again after this set back, but we did a lot of perspective taking, looking at this race from every angle. He placed 3rd for his age group in the Dim Sum 10K, so clearly he was running among elite athletes for this race. By the end of the talk Ben was joking about looking forward to finishing last again next week.
The next week he ran the same course. He was much less anxious, since now he knew the course he needed to run. He also practiced hard all week. One night it was snowing so he skipped his normal run club practice and Adam took him and Jack to the gym. Adam had Jack pace him so he could understand exactly the level of effort he would need.
At Regionals he ran again with basically the same 11 people as the first race. This time he had a much better race. It was the same 5K course. He finished with a time of 24:46. AND he didn’t finish last!
This small race meant that once again everyone qualified for the next race, which was Nationals. They switch the destination for Nationals every year but luckily this year it was only a 4 hour drive from us, in Shelbyville, IN.
The Nationals race included everyone in the country so the start line was crowded with over 100 runners. We were worried that Ben would once again get confused and lost on the course but with all the runners we were hopeful he would have someone to follow. He did veer off for a few seconds and we managed to right him back on track. Even with this small mess up, he still managed to get a new personal best. He finished the race with a time of 24:15.
It was a really cool experience and I hope Ben continues to enjoy it and decides to sign up again next year.
In the meantime, I have signed the family up for another fun run in January…
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