Road Race Day

This morning, the girls and I took part in their elementary school's first road race!  I ran the 5K race, coming in 3rd overall, which garnered approval from Madeleine.  3rd out of 69 runners was clearly a success in her eyes, unlike the 136 out of 1375 that I placed two years ago in the best half marathon time of my life.  (I was in a "really losing place" and "looked so slow," according to Madeleine, at the time.)

Madeleine and Julia geared up to run the 1 Mile Fun Run:

They have competed in one mile runs on several other occasions, and have been pretty lax about it. However, today, their competitive spirit was fierce!

JULIA: I wanna WIN!
ME: Uh...I don't think you're going to win...

I know, I'm such a supportive and motivating mother.

Madeleine even had her hands down at the start line, leg behind her, as if she were on the track about to begin a sprint.  I gently informed her that one does not need to start in that position for a distance race, so she stood up, which reduced the chances of her getting trampled, thank goodness.

Despite my misgivings about the kids winning, they went on to kick some serious butt.  Julia was, indeed, the first female finisher, and was, like her mother, 3rd overall.  Madeleine came in 6th overall.  Julia's time was a 7:22, and Madeleine's an 8:07.  The girls had both asked me to run the mile along with them, even though I'd already done the 5K.  They were both nervous that they wouldn't know which way to go and wanted me there as a guide.  So I ran it as a warm down and was completely unnecessary, as the girls took off way ahead of me and never looked back.  This was serious business and they were not going to let their mom's slow pace hold them up.  Madeleine even had her best friend call out, "Madeleine, wait up!" at one point, to which Madeleine cold-heartedly responded, "I can't!  It's a RACE!"

Madeleine racing to the finish line

Julia's finish

The girls were thrilled after their run, and the whole experience was a positive one all around.  The *only* qualms Madeleine had were about the ending raffle, because, convinced that the randomized number generator was somehow biased, she exclaimed, "It's not fair!  They're picking too many BOYS!"  Seriously, guys, let's make sure the random number generator picks bib numbers for an equal amount of boys AND girls, got it??

Not yet done for the day, the girls have headed off to swim team practice, so here's hoping they'll be nice and tired and fall asleep with no big to-do this evening!