My son’s race, my sister’s new baby, race thoughts
Thanks everyone for the flood of comments on the race on Sunday. All the support has been tremendous. Thanks! :)
In all my selfish excitement and whining about the race on Sunday, I didn’t even talk about my son’s race the day before. He ran in the Kid’s Fun Run part of the Dexter Ann Arbor Run. He ran in this last year but then it was only 200 yards. This year it was 400 yards!
The kids had an even hotter day than we did because their race was at 4:00 pm so the heat of the day was well up on us. There were some clouds that broke up alot of it, but it was still a scorcher. I made sure my son had some water while sitting out there waiting so he didn’t fall over.
They put on a good run for the kids. The broke it all up into age groups and different distances. The “diaper dash” was a 50 yard dash for the 2 year olds. Minimal tears and stage fright when the crowds started cheering. Lots of fun to watch and the parents were very excited.
My son did a good job running farther than he ever ran before. He looked tired but had a big smile for the camera everytime he saw me. (Dad was running back and forth from one side of the track to the other, doing his 50 yard sprints before race day. :) ) He finished near the middle of the pack and was pleased with how he did. I’m really proud of him too, especially for such a long distance for him. They each got a medal for finishing.
I had talked to my son earlier about “saving a little” for the end of the race and he responded with “I think its better just to run as fast as you can until you get to the end.” Ah. I meant to tell him “For old people like me, save a little for the end.” :)
My sister had a baby yesterday (its a boy!). She was three weeks early but everyone is doing OK. The baby was in intensive care while fluid cleared from around one of his lungs, but seems to be doing well now. They may be going home on Friday. Ofcourse they named him after me, but since there would be confusion between the two names, they had to spell it like it was another name entirely. I know the truth though.
I was thinking more about Sunday’s race and trying to recall some more of the things I saw. One was the Elvis impersonator at the Mile 1 mark. He was pretty good too. I had a laugh over it although nobody else seemed to think it was funny.
I also saw a young kid kneeling on the ground near the mile 2 aid station looking like he was hurling. Folks coming by were trying to encourage him but I think he had other plans for the moment at least.
I recognized 1 person from last year. It was a woman who had a buddy with her last year and the two of them looked like serious speed runners. They were doing this wierd stretching and someone asked them what it was for. They said it was for something called illiotibial band syndrome. All I could think at the time was, what the heck is that? ;) I think she took 3rd in her age group.
Quote from last year’s race report: “Nice weather for a run. Cloudy and cool. I think I would die if it got sunny.” I’m a psychic.
June 7th, 2005 14:23
Sounds like it was a good weekend for the Chocolate Running family! Congratulations to your sun - 400 yards is no small peanuts.
June 7th, 2005 15:43
Congratulations to your sister! New babies are so exciting.
My children love the kiddies fun runs but my youngest misses out as we don’t have a diaper dash here - what a fantastic idea!
Thanks for your advice on strength training - I am working out a routine today
oh and I almost forgot….I thought of you on the weekend - I made a chocolate cake…..it was a flop, all soggy in the middle and half of it stayed in the tin. I had a little chuckle thinking you would probably be horrified!
June 7th, 2005 16:31
Big congrats to the little one (isn’t it great to watch your children follow in your footsteps??) Best wishes too to your sister. I wonder when *that* one will be out running:)
June 7th, 2005 19:28
Sounds to me like your son might just be Steve Prefontaine reincarnated. That’s how he raced - all out for the whole race. :)
June 7th, 2005 23:20
that was me
June 7th, 2005 23:21
ahhhhh!
June 8th, 2005 07:11
Uncle Chocolate Runner,
Congratulations to your sis (via you) on the baby! Glad your son had fun in the race! That’s great you were both able to share that this weekend.
-Audrey-
June 8th, 2005 07:12
I’m glad someone else finds Elvis impersonator funny cause sometimes I think I’m the only one. They take themselves SO seriously. And well done for the little chocolate runner!
June 8th, 2005 07:15
“Of course they named him after me, but…they had to spell it like it was another name entirely.”
Heehee! I got a good chuckle out of that one! I’m sure he will carry your name with pride!
And congrats to your son and your sister! What and exciting weekend!
June 8th, 2005 09:15
Congrats to the Chocolate Chip Runner and to the Uncle as well.
June 8th, 2005 09:26
Congrats on the nephew and on the next generation of chocolate runner! Kids and sports belong together!
…
“They said it was for something called illiotibial band syndrome. All I could think at the time was, what the heck is that?”
Ah, Irony.
June 8th, 2005 13:08
Congrats on the new Niece. And so cool to see your son race. I love watching the little ones run. I wish we could bottle there energy and share it with us.
PS - I think Mark is having an identity crisis…lol. ;-)
June 8th, 2005 13:18
I like subscribing to your comments. Cause with you being so popular and all I get lots of emails and feel important. :-)
June 9th, 2005 01:22
awww, to cool to hear about your sons race!!! Congrats Uncle Jon too :)
Heather