Last weekend Kenzie ran in her first "real" race. She has run a few Kids' Races through Track Shack when we have run races in the past, but this was her first race that she was actually registered for as a participant. It was also far longer than her prior races and required some training rather than just showing up and taking a leisurely run.
This race is done by Track Shack, as well. They remain our favorite company that puts on races. They are so well run and we would run a Track Shack race before any others. This race was called the Smile Mile and was open to kids from 5-11 years old. Kenzie was right at the bottom of this age bracket which meant that she ran the half mile race. She was set to run with other 5-year-old girls and was really excited about it.
A few months ago we brought up this race as something she may want to do. She wavered a bit at first regarding whether or not she would like to do it. We decided that we would start training with her for the run and ask her again a month or so in. We started taking her out a few times a week to run/walk a half mile at a time. She started out running about a 15:00 min/mile pace. At the beginning, she was running about half the distance and walking the other half in intervals. She seemed to like it though and it wasn't long before she was requesting to go out and "do her run" with us. A month or so into the training we divulged the information we had about the race including the fact that there was a medal. That was really all it took. Combined with her interest in actually running, she was all for running the race. We continued to train over the next couple of months and her pace eventually evened out to about 12:00-12:30 min/mile. She was only running a half mile, but that is where she would be if she kept that pace for a mile.
The day of the race, Nana came into town to be a part of it with her. A major plus to this race was that she didn't run until 11:10am so we didn't have to be at the park early. When we got there, she was so ready to go. She was antsy and we could tell that she was excited to get to her own turn. We weren't sure what she would do going into the corral alone and initially Steven was going to walk in with her and wait until they were off before heading over to the finish line. Turns out, she didn't need any of us. When they opened the corral for her age group, she ran right in and picked out a spot out front. She waited patiently for her race to begin and when the gun (airhorn) sounded, she was off!
Nana sat about half way through the course and waited for her to cheer her on. That was at Kenzie's request. She was excited but a bit nervous. Will and I watched her set off and then went over to the finish line to await her arrival. Steven ended up catching up with her around mid-course and running most of the remaining distance with her encouraging her. We think she ran until the point that he met up with her which I would assume since she was running around a quarter mile without stopping in her training. She took a couple of walking breaks but most were quick and she was off again. When she saw the finish line, she bolted. That is what we talked about. We told her that a race like this is only against yourself and teaching yourself that you can do it. You can make it to the finish line and it doesn't matter to any of us if she is first or last but just that she finished it. We did tell her walking was okay, but once she saw the finish line, run it in if she could. And she did!
Honestly, I was expecting her to come through the finish line at about 6 or more minutes based on our training runs, but I noticed her coming at about 5:30 and barely got my video going in time to catch her crossing her first real finish line. She crossed the line at 5:37. A full minute faster than is typical in her training runs. Adrenaline does a lot for you. She was so proud of herself and we were all so proud of her. She is already talking about doing the Smile Mile next year and knows she is going to run the full mile. She has asked if she can continue training and we told her we will run with her as often as she likes. We will begin upping her to closer to a mile in the next month or two and keep that up until next year. Eventually she may be toeing the line at a 5k with us. I can't wait.
As for Will... he wasn't old enough this year for the Smile Mile but he wanted to do the Kids' Run. Unfortunately, we didn't feed him before his race and he was a bit hangry. He ran a bit of the distance without me right next to him but he turned around and a lady was between us which set him off (it happened once before) so he held my hand for the rest of the run. This was his longest distance run in a race to date and he did really well. He ran the entire way and despite being hungry was pretty proud of himself. He even got to run through the finish line like Sissy did so he was excited about that. He was also excited to collect his ribbon at the end. In a couple of years, he can do the Smile Mile too. Hopefully he finds the same love of running that the rest of us have. We hope to continue to encourage these types of habits in the kiddos for the coming years.
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