Spud and Sweetpea race!

Alright, this race report is long overdue, given it happened 2 weeks ago.  Having said that, temporary laptop trouble left the pictures trapped and inaccessible for part of that time.  Now, it's time to cover Sweeptea's very first race, and Spud's first running only race.  (He actually did a triathlon as his first race. Talk about an overachiever...)

The day dawned bright and early for me, as I was volunteering for this race, the Urban Venus Deliciously Sweet Race.  Truthfully, there's not much to tell about the volunteering.  They had way too many people for an almost non-existent job of setting up food (it was done when I got there, and I was a few minutes early).  It's great that they were able to get lots of volunteers out.  The race was in benefit of the science centre, and I think they have a large volunteer base.  Having said that, I think it's too bad they didn't use me on the course, since it seemed very few of the volunteers were runners or even knew anything about races.  I would have cheered, but that's okay.

The kids' race started an hour and a half after the adult races, so I was done at my post about 15 minutes before.  My husband had arrived separately with Spud and Sweetpea and they'd spent some time playing on the playground and running around.  We got their numbers on to them and tried to get them to smile for the camera.

Looking at the camera seemed to be an added complication that wasn't going to happen...

Then it was time to warm up...

There actually was a warm up run by a local fitness group.  The kids had fun with it.  It was pretty dance-like, and Spud got very into it.  Sweetpea followed along as well.

After the warm up, it was time to line up at the starting line.  I was running with Spud while Beejay ran with Sweetpea.  We didn't line up together as I knew Spud would run pretty quick and Sweetpea goes a bit slower.  I tried to take Spud near the starting line, leaving room for older and faster kids, but in front of the toddlers, and pretty much any kids smaller then him.  Beejay and Sweetpea went further back.

Spud got a little offended when a few 10ish year olds went in front of him and lined up right at the starting line.  I get it.  He was there first and he thinks it's like a regular line up.  I'll have to teach him more about seeding himself in the future...  ;)  I tried to give him a mini pep talk about pacing, since I knew he'd go fast. Having said that, the race was only 1 km (0.62mi), so I wasn't too worried.

Then, the starting gun went and we were off.  And I mean off!  He sprinted right out of there and was keeping up with the older kids.  I was running behind him rather then beside at this point, since there wasn't room to be beside him.  Truthfully, I had to work to keep up.  I was wearing my garmin (out of curiousity) and we reached a speed of 3:58/km in that first section.  I've often thought he'll outrun me by the time he's 12 years old, but I'm now amending that estimate to 8.

Of course, at 4 years old, he doesn't quite get that pacing thing, and he got a stitch in his side.  He slowed down and walked for a bit.  I tried to suggest going slower, but when he felt better, he sprinted off again.  I realized at that point that I should just let him run his own race.  One day he'll learn to go slower to go longer, but for now he's just having fun.  As a mom, I need to let him experience it himself.

The rest of the race alternated between walks and sprints.  When we turned back towards the finish line, he was running and probably was close to needing to walk, but he saw the end and got a new burst of energy. Off he went and he finished strong!

Meanwhile Sweetpea was running with Beejay and I wasn't sure she'd go the full distance.  Having just turned three, she doesn't have as much stamina as her brother and still often ends up on shoulders by the end of family walks.  Having said that, she went the whole way.  At one point, she had a near fall from someone stopping right in front of her.  (There was a lot of that going on.  Kids don't run the steadiest of paces.)  Fortunately, since she was running with Daddy, she got saved, but was a little shaken up.  She recovered by the end of the race and ran across the finish line.

Of course, the best part of the race was the prize received for running it.  As this was the "Deliciously Sweet Race", they were giving out cupcakes, which the kids were happy to collect.

They thoroughly enjoyed the icing!