5K Fun Run

So Caleb has been begging to do a race with me ever since my marathon. I heard about a 5K that was free pretty close by and asked Caleb if he'd like to run it with me. He was very excited about it.

Before the race

I let Caleb start out setting the pace. He tried to start out pretty fast, and I encouraged him to slow down a little bit to save his energy. He was very motivated by the people around him, especially if he saw another kid running. I was very surprised that we finished the first mile in 9:08! After we finished the first loop (it was 2 loops), he seemed a little discouraged that we still had a whole other loop to do. I fully expected that we would have to stop and walk at some point so I kept asking Caleb if he was doing alright and needed to walk. He just kept saying he was okay. Anytime he could hear footsteps coming up behind him, he sped up. He was determined not to let anyone pass him! He was also determined to beat any other kid that was out running the race. If he passed another kid, a little race ensued between the two kids for about a minute, but Caleb always held his ground.

He finished in about 28 min. (I forgot to look at our "official" finishing time and there were no timing chips.) But my Garmin clocked him at averaging 9:13 miles. Not bad for a 6-year-old. He came in first place among the kids, and I'm pretty sure he was the youngest of all the kids in the race! He far exceeded my expectations. (I actually got a decent run in for the morning!)

After he finished and I told him how proud I was of him, he said, "Now do you believe me mom when I say that I want to run a marathon with you?" It was so cute to see him feeling so great after the race. He told me, "Mom, 6 years old is the best time of my life!"

After the race

Grandpa ran the race as well. Caleb's holding 1 finger because he got first place and Grandpa got 2nd place. We beat my dad by less than 2 minutes.