My Little Marathon Runner

The Seattle Marathon was the weekend after Thanksgiving. Along with the full marathon, they offer a 'Kids Marathon.' Kids are supposed to keep track of 25 miles worth of activity before the marathon, then run the final 1.2 miles in Seattle. Kids also keep track of 13 good deeds and 13 books they read before the big day.

The elementary school track club encourages students to run laps during recess and P.E. time, and tracks them on a little punch card. Aubrey has run a little over 13 miles so far this year in school. Add that to the running she did in 12 soccer practices and 6 games, plus walking to piano lessons weekly after school, and family trips to the park behind our house, and I'm pretty sure we hit the 25 miles mark. (At least I wrote it down as such on her mileage tracker.)

Some families actually train with their kids and have a running schedule, but marathoning is in Aubrey's blood, so I figured we were good to go.

Aubrey had kind of a sour attitude heading up there. We'd arrived home late from Great Wolf Lodge the night before, so I had to wake her up to get dressed and drive up to Seattle. I'm sure she was thinking, "Why am I getting out of bed to drive somewhere far away and run?" (Believe me, I've thought the exact same thing a time or two myself.)

We got up there, found parking, and met up with the other runners from Aubrey's school. There was pre-race entertainment sponsored by Radio Disney, so the kids had fun rockin' out to the music. After a brief welcome and instructions, we left for the starting line.

Whatever bad attitude Aubrey had initially was completely gone when the gun went off. She bolted out of there like a mad woman, and hardly stopped. I was not prepared for my little girl to be Speedy Gonzales, but I was sure proud. Her skinny little self weaved in and out of the crowd of over 3000 runners like they were standing still. I was doing my best to keep up, hauling my purse, camera, and her water bottle. (I really didn't anticipate that she would actually run, or I never would have carried so much gear.)

This was my view for most of the race--her back. Notice the person running with a purple top and black pants up ahead . . .

. . . and she's getting ready to pass Ms. Purple shirt. 

It was a blast. Every time I saw her blonde hair swaying and 'Marathoner' on the back of her green T-shirt, I couldn't help but smile. My darling daughter ran 1.2 miles in 13:44, and that time includes a wardrobe change (taking off her sweatshirt and putting back on the T-shirt--she was smokin' hot from running so fast).

This shot was taken after the 'wardrobe change'--no more bulky sweatshirt. I love how blurry it is because it captures the moment. My little runner was moving too fast.

After the race, we went to the 'recovery area' where there were refreshments, goody bags, and more entertainment from Radio Disney. I didn't realize how much in the front of the pack Aubrey had finished until I saw the line that had formed when we were ready to leave. Where we had walked up easily to the large convention room and collected our stuff, there was soon a throng of people with standing room only waiting for their stash.

On our way back to the car, we passed this fun fountain. Remember, we had been at Great Wolf Lodge only the day before. Aubrey and her friend (and many other kids) thought it would be fun to play in the water. She soon realized that an indoor water park heated to a balmy 85 degrees feels much different than Seattle's outdoor fountains in November. 

Brrr, it's cold now.

Aubrey and I stopped for lunch on our way home. The best part of this whole day for me was spending one on one time with my daughter.  I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.

Like Mother, like daughter?