5k With George

I had no intention of running the Katie DeCubellis Memorial Foundation 5k.  Nothing against the race, I have never run it before. I just have a very full plate and I am trying to keep my races under control. Yeah, right, we all know how that is working out.

George approached me a couple days before the race and said he wanted to run with me. This made me so happy that I signed up for the next possible race and that was Katie's race.

He was excited the night before and even laid out his clothes when I did.  The race started at 9:30 so it was nice not to have to get up really early.  We ate a nice breakfast and headed to the race.  We were really early.  There was no pick up the day before so we went into the high school gym and got our shirts and numbers.  George loved the shirt and wanted to wear it to race.  His excitement was so cute. He changed at the car, drank some water and I had a banana.  We walked around a bit and before we knew it, it was time to line up.

My handsome boy!

At the start.

I was excited to finally meet in person, Emily of Runs with Hope.  We chatted a few minutes but I am so bummed we did not get a picture.  I know I will see her at other races, so next time.

George and I found a good spot and I went to turn on my Bia.  No signal and never found one so I ran without it.  Bummed and worried that something was wrong with it.

Now, it was hot. I knew it was going to be tough, but I am pretty sure George didn't realize how hot it was going to be once we started running.

We started out pretty strong and ran the first mile in 10:14. I knew that was too fast and told George that we can run, walk, skip, whatever he wanted to do. He walked just a little after that and at a mile and a half, we hit a water stop. Boy did we need it.  I encouraged him to drink more than one cup, but he said he was fine and started to run.

It didn't take long for him to slow down and start to walk again.  We hit mile two at 22:12. He was hot and I was getting a little worried about him.  Soon after we hit mile two, a friend rode by on her bike. She asked how we were doing and I told her George was hot and very thirsty.  She was kind enough to offer him her water bottle and let us keep if for the rest of the race.  He took it and drank and poured some on his head.  We thanked her and we started to run again.

Even with the water, he was tired and hot and at one point he leaned on and hugged a telephone pole.  I told him the best thing was to keep moving no matter how slow or fast we were going. If you stop, you will be done.  One foot in front of the other and just go at the pace that gets it done.  He ran, he walked I just followed his lead.

We also talked, a lot.  I loved this time with him and will treasure these moments forever.

Once we turned into the high school, we saw the sign that read three miles. George said he wanted to walk. I said fine but maybe we can run into the finish once we pass the sign.  He didn't seem to sure about that. I would of done whatever he wanted.

We hit the sign and, BAM, he took off like a bat out of hell.  People at the finish were cheering him on and then I saw Mr. RWM and Gracie yelling for him to go and taking pictures.  It was a spectacular finish after such a hard race.  I was so proud of him for pushing through and finishing strong.

Flying to the finish line.

However, once we stopped, and walked into the gym, he sat on the floor and didn't move.  He didn't want food and was not drinking his water.  I found a less crowded area and a seat where it was a bit cooler. He finally started to drink and I grabbed him some orange slices.  That seemed to pick him up and he finally headed to the pizza.  I knew he would be fine when he ate three pieces of pizza, a hot dog and two bowls of ice-cream.

While he was eating and Gracie was in the bouncy house, I went over to check our results.  Next to his name read 37:05 and me at 37:06.  And then, I looked at his place.  There was a number one next to his name for the eight and under age group.  Wow, I ran over to tell Mr. RWM and decided to keep it a surprise until his name was announced during the awards.

They started the awards from the oldest to the youngest and he asked if there was going to be kid awards too. I told him yes and he said I bet I got third.  Not sure where he got that from, but I said, sure, maybe.

When they finally got to his AG and announced his name, the look on his face was priceless.  He went up, got his picture taken, and scored a sweet boogie board.  He was so thrilled!

Katie's parents and George

Look at that smile!

For the Love of Running, myself and our boys who both placed in their AG.  Way to go guys!

Watching the raffle.

Once we got in the car, I told him I knew but kept it from him.  He said, "You did, really? Wow, thank you that was awesome!" I may have teared up.

Once home I suggested he take off his wet and stinky clothes and take a shower. He said no way, he wore his shirt with the number still attached to it the rest of the day.  So super cute!  Love that kid.

This mama is super proud of her son and I can't wait to run with him again.  Also, this was a very nice race.  So very kid friendly with a ton of kids actually running it. I was impressed with each and every one of them.  I would do it again for sure.

Gracie, BTW, is mad that she couldn't run with us.  She is just not ready for a 5k and I'm pretty sure she would of given up in those temps. She loves to run though and I know our time will come. I look forward to that.

Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole