What a race! What a day! I registered myself and my youngest for this race a couple of months ago. I thought it would be a wonderful experience for us and give her a chance to run her first 5K in friendly company close to home.
Then the over scheduling set in...and low and behold her soccer team had a tournament the same day. Well mother nature has a way of simplifying things every now and then. I just had a feeling that the 5K would run and the tournament would be cancelled...but not before I loaded the van full of everything for an entire day of multiple sports and clothing changes. I almost threw in a clothing basket for all the wet clothing we were going to generate. Did I mention it was pouring with a chance of thunder all day?
As soon as we were on the road to the race (cutting it a little close I might add) I got the call that the on-again, off-again tournament was really not happening. Boy was I happy. We just needed to get to the start line of the race and enjoy our soaking run.
Let me back track a bit...Last night we headed to the fabric store because we needed a costume! If we were going to run in the pouring rain we were going to need something to lift our spirits and Duck Costumes seemed just the thing! So at 7:30 last night I started sewing a dress for my daughter, a skirt for me, and a hat for her. That was a far as I got by 9:30 when I decided I needed to stop and go to bed more than I needed a hat for myself. She was really pleased with her costume and that is what matters when you are trying to convince a kid that running 3+ miles in the rain is going to be a fantastic experience.
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| She was happy and positive throughout the whole experience! |
So our game plan was to wear our black garbage bags until we were warm enough that we no longer wanted them and we were going to take this course at a jog, walking whenever she wanted to. We sang nursery rhymes and made up songs as we ran between the lakes that dot Roger Williams Park. The views were spectacular and the company was even better. Of course there was a ton of support for the kids running the race and it was great to here the announcer call out my daughter's name as she crossed the line.
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| We left the bags on through mile 1. It stopped raining so hard at that point. |
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| So we ditched the bags and let our costumes get a little wet. |
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| A self portrait along the race course. |
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| We made it to mile 2! There was a great cheering section at the water stop. |
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| The water was pouring off the topped off lake to the right. |
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| She was happy to see the mile 3 marker. We were almost there! |
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| We made it! They had finishers medals for the girls that had done the 12 week Girls on the Run program. The girl's school is still trying to establish the program at their school. |
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| She is a good photographer as well as runner! |
It was quite the experience all in all. I love running with my girls! We were thinking that it was going to be too much for her to run the 5K and play 2 hour long soccer games. In the end it all worked out. It was cool enough that the running was not difficult and the games were a washout! I am still on the outside of Girls on the Run, but the 2 events that we have run have been wonderful. I am a supporter!
After the race they had a great raffle, but you had to be present to win. (The rain had sent most people packing.) So we bought $10 worth of tickets and tested our luck! We picked up 2 Road ID vouchers, a free race entry for a later race (I already have a half picked out for Sept.) and a free bike tune up. We let them re-raffle the tune up since my husband has been a bike mechanic on the side for about 25 years. I was trilled with our prizes! They had so many wonderful things in the raffle. I am glad that the community is supporting the program!
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