Big sister Erin, got our 7th grader geeked on running. Last year they ran the Martian Marathon "together". Erin ran the 1/2 marathon and C. ran 1.2 miles.
The 1.2 miles was the culmination of running, up to 2 miles at a time for weeks before hand, to get to the 24 miles needed to round out the 26.2 miles for the marathon.
Last year was a struggle. She was in pretty good shape but there were unexpected hills and she was pretty pooped when she was done.
Nonetheless, she decided to run again this year. She took it up a notch and decided to run the 5K all on race day.
Thankfully she had gym last semester in school and was in much better shape for this race.
The weather (cold and snow) and a 10 day upper respiratory infection that started two weeks before race day kept her from practicing as much as she would have liked.
The weather forecast was daunting: a cold 36 degrees and 100% chance of rain.
I woke up at 4 a.m. to the sound of a steady downpour. I also woke up hoping she would decide not to run.
No such luck. She was pumped! She wanted her t-shirt and her medal!
She had her running clothes on including a raincoat, winter hat and gloves and she was ready.
Erin helped me get her to the starting line as there were road blocks and little parking (runners are diehards who don't let a little rain stop them).
She did it!
She got her t-shirt and her medal and a great run time: 43 minutes and some odd seconds. She was drenched, tired and happy.
Keep it up no-so-little one. Your tenacity will take you places.
