2 Bs in a pod: first marathon!

26.2 miles. They did it! They ran 26.2 miles! OK, "ran" is a loose term. Carl skipped much of it. And wandered a little. And they held hands some. And they bugged each other a lot. And they teamed up with friends. And as you know, 3 never works. And Carl cried some. And then he ran to catch up. And then he giggled. And I came along for most, but not all of it. And Daddy was in on it, too. And, people cheered when they finished. And they were happy! And they were healthy!

The kids were members in The Marathon Club. They started 25 weeks ago. We were given a log in sheet and kept track for 25 weeks as they ran 1 mile per week. Recently, a Running Cub started at school and we no longer had to do our mile at home in the neighborhood. The kids could stay after school on Wednesdays and run laps to get in their mile. After completing each 5 mile marker, they were given a little shoe charm to wear proudly, which they did until Carl's chain broke and he lost all of his charms. Luckily, Mrs C replaced them for him, but we realized the little chain was delicate and didn't put them back on his rough and tumble shoes. Now that they each have all 5, I will put them on a little ribbon and sew them directly to their backpacks.

Last Saturday was the end of the marathon. 90 kids were signed up in the Marathon Club throughout the year. There were also adult races through local neighborhood streets. Many people came from all over NC to join their local family in the team aspect. Listening to the ribbon winners of the 5K and 10K - some came pretty far to run here at our elementary school. With the Marathon finishers, the 5Kers and the 10Kers there were a total of 500 runners for the event! 25 elementary students ran the 5K!

On our way there, with a forecast of rain and thunderstorms, we saw this beautiful rainbow. The rain held off for the most part. It sprinkled some, but not too bad. It didn't slow anyone up.

There were 5 kids from their homeroom in the marathon club, but only 3 of them were doing Running Club. I took a couple cute pictures of all 5, but won't post them here without permission from their mothers. There were some other kids in Running Club that weren't in their homeroom, but they were playground friends already. Poor E.F. ... Carl kept chasing after her. She was a very good sport. Cute, too.

But.... as far as anonymous kids running alongside mine... they're going to be posted. Here are some photos of the race.

waiting for everyone to arrive....

everyone gathered to warm up together...

Then, they got ready to run! They staggered the start by age group so it wasn't chaos. It wasn't really timed - this was all just a matter of finishing! Everyone received a ribbon as they finished their last lap.

Gretchen gets cheered on from her PE teacher.

After the race, we stayed for the awards ceremony. The kids were good while they listened to a gazillion names awarded prizes for male & females of a bunch of age groups finishing the 5k and 10K. It took a while to award everyone who placed well their ~~ribbons~~ event themed visors.