Forever ago I signed our family up for the Thanksgiving Day Marathon...feed the hungry. There was over 500 people who signed up for the run so needless to say there was a lot of people there and it was a VERY cold morning.
Just before the marathon started Stevey had to leave due to Elders Quorum duties and didn't get to run. YES, I was VERY annoyed I mean I signed up months and months ago for this FAMILY activity. When Stevey left he took Dalton with him because Dalton was freezing to death and I was in no mood to plan his funeral and he was no longer in any mood to run so THAT part worked out.
The race was ready to begin. I had the two little ones in the jogger and the big three were ready to go. We were planning on doing the one mile walk even though a 5k and a 10k were offered, just to keep it short and managible for me. The gun goes off and I tell the big three to run and win the race so they take off. I am one of the last of the 500 to get started due to my huge stroller and runner congestion, but probably just 30 seconds behind my older three. I make a quick left turn onto the one mile trail and immediately realize that the bigger three missed this crucial turn off.
I am now totally stressed because I have lost the bigger three kids ages 9, 10, and 12 amoung 500 strangers and I have no way of catching up to them. I RAN the one mile walking course in 12 minutes pushing my one hundredish pound stroller (forty pound stroller, thirty-five pound toddler, and twenty-five pound baby).
Now the reason I was stressing so much was because I knew that the bigger kids were planning on a short race and I knew that if it were me in their situation I would probably be crying and stop to wait for my mom/aunt to come and get me. I finally resolved that they were just going to have to keep running and follow the flow of people. Forty-five minutes later I FINALLY see Braden (10yr old) running. He stopped and turned around and I knew he was passing the word that I was found. They were pooped! I was cheering/screaming for them to keep running because they were almost done. Braden ran by, then Shaylee, and then Zoie they were about twenty seconds apart. I tucked Sunny under my arm and started running to be there for them at the finish line.....I did it!
Braden was coming through first and just started to sprint and finished in 48:34, Shaylee came around the bend and started her sprint and finished in 48:43, then Zoie came and sprinted and finished in 49:00! It was SO AWESOME!!! They were so excited! When all was said and done they had actually ran 4.3 miles (the course was mis marked) and did in with no training or parental supervision. It was so funny to hear what they were thinking during race.
We came home to a wonderful smelling house and reveled in our accomplishments. Stevey and Dalton had a great time at the Turkey Bowl they were conducting. Dinner was delicious and the whole day was beautiful.
Enjoy the pictures!
All of us FREEZING!
Me starting the race...
Looking for the kids...
Me "winning" the marathon.
Braden finishing!
Shaylee finishing
Zoie finished but wasn't captured on film. The four of us relishing (with Sunny in tote).
