Run for a good cause...

In May our town suffered a great loss.  One of our local firefighters was killed on the job.  Saturday, his firehouse hosted a 5k walk/run in his honor.  Mariah had a week off from Cross Country, so Gerad thought it would be great to run a 5k with her again, all while supporting a good cause.  

Fun.  To run.  A 5k.  

No, seriously.

Anyway, lo and behold, we find out that as a high school cross country runner, she is not allowed to run in any other races, even non-competitively, for the entire school year.  Running is something that my dynamic daddy/daughter duo love to do together.  It's definitely a bond they share, so they were both quite disappointed.  In the end, I think being able to sleep in, for the first time in a very long time, helped Mariah get over it rather well.  :)

Gerad ran the 5k with some great friends of ours and their sweet, sweet, sweet, (did I mention sweet??) baby.  Owen even participated in the kids fun run, after the race.  After 3 years of watching Mariah run Cross Country, he was PUMPED!  That's all he talked about in the day leading up to the race.  He was determined he was going to WIN it!  He even demonstrated, numerous times, how he was going to wind up and RUN like wild!

Here's coach daddy giving Owen his instructions.  Look at that kid on the right.  Ah man...he's probably the kid that won the race.  Next time coach daddy needs to protect the race strategy a little better...

 Here they are!  The runners of tomorrow.  I'm (stupidly) standing in the middle of the street, trying to capture this first for my baby.  Like *right* in the middle.  The sound the fire truck siren and they're OFF...headed directly at me.  Swarms of them!  I immediately lost sight of Owen.

 They all rush me!  And pass me... leaving me out in the middle spinning like a top!  I'm lucky to have come out unscathed!! Bewildered, I frantically ask, "Where is he?  Where is he?!?"  (I'm MISSING my photo op!!)

Oh!  There he is...

Right there...in the back....

 The VERY back...

 That's my boy!!  :)

 Daddy says, "Come on mom, he got a bad start!  ....And he... kind of ran in a zig-zag pattern."  (?)

The important thing is, he ran (in a zig-zag pattern) with a great big smile on his face...

...and that's what it's all about.  :)

(a great big thanks to m & k for staying to watch owen's first race.  you know he loves an audience) 

:)

~mj~