Make a Run For It

Maddie was in a 5K this weekend.  Not just any old 5K, but one raising scholarship money in memory of my friend Ellie’s daughter, Maggie Rose.  We missed it last year because it was Ben’s First Communion, and I ran (trotted/walked/huffed/puffed) it the other years, but Maddie decided to give it a go this year!

Maddie is a fast sprinter.  I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s the day after Mother’s Day and I can boast a little bit…her relay team made it to the state track meet last year (and came in third)!  That speed gene definitely comes from me, not from her dad, no sir.  She also got my huge blue eyes and big brain and…I guess I should stop while I still have a chance of you believing me.

So Maddie is fast.  Distance is not her thing, though, so I was especially proud that she wanted to try this out.  Her goal was to make it the whole way running, with no walking breaks.

She ran with some track/cross country friends.

And they’re off!

It was a beautiful morning!  We appreciated it even more than we normally would have because this spring has just been rainy and rotten.

Maddie’s friends all eventually pulled ahead of her.  I was starting to get a bit worried when they all passed me by and headed to the finish line.  Not because I was worried she had gotten injured, but because the race actually went through our neighborhood (where Dave and the boys were waiting to cheer her on) and a tiny little piece of me started wondering if she decided to uh, well….end the race a tad early.  But I should have known better.

Here she comes down the final stretch with Coach Keck! 

And of course…she sprinted the last couple of blocks and was so proud that she passed two other people (see, she’s a sprinter at heart).

She ran that whole thing.  She came in 219th out of 400-something and was proud to have been in the top half.  I was proud of her too, because the years I limped my way through I was almost always embarrassingly dead last.

When we made it home she hit the porch swing for a little well earned down time with Harry Potter.

That’s my girl.