Our Family's Blessings: Running Races

David has been really into running during his chief year as he had a little bit of extra time. He had some very ambitious goals and participated in three races this summer. Unfortunately he did get a few overuse injuries during training (he keeps tellimg me "Rachel, I am getting older!"). So I don't think he could do quite as much as he had hoped or quite as fast, but he still improved upon his time from previous years.

First, David ran the Memorial Day 5 Miler again. This wasn't his "big" race for the summer plus he had sprained his ankle in April, so he didn't go all out for this race. He ended up running at a 7:41min/mile race which is a little slower than last year, but I think he was pleased overall with his time. This was more of a training run for him for his big 5k later in the summer. Eliana actually had a bib and timer this year. We ran/walked the 1 mile Fun Run together as a family along with my sister Abby and her family, and my parents. I pushed William in the stroller this year. Eliana started out at a pretty good jog, but after a few hundred yards she slowed to a walk. She than ran/walked the rest of the first half of the race. I was really impressed! The rest of us just tagged along at her pace. When we got to the turn around marking the halfway point, Eliana said she was too tired to go any further. So my dad carried William in his arms, and Eliana got in the stroller. We walked back to the finish line together, although Eliana did hope out of the stroller for the last tiny bit of the race to finish with my sister at a "run." The 5 miler started about 10 minutes before the fun run which had the same start and finish lines but different paths. By the time we finished one mile, the top runner for the 5 miler were coming in as well! Eliana ended up finishing around a 21 minute pace, and (of the kids who had racing chips and bibs) came in 239th out of 240. We made sure to stay and cheer for the kid who finished behind her (along with her mom carrying a baby). And very shortly after we finished, David came zooming through the finish as well.

Eliana getting ready to race with baby Hannah

Showing off her medal. Baby Hannah needed some post race hydration.

Although William was not registered for the race and didn't walk or run pretty much any of it, he did receive a medal. And a post race snack.

In June David did a 10K with my brother at Buckeye Lake. He came in 10th place overall and was 3rd or 4th for his age group. That sounds very impressive until you find out there were only 80 or so people in the race total... I had to work that day so I don't have a lot of details or any pictures.

Then David's big race was the Westerville 4th of July 5K. His training through the summer continued to go well with no more injuries. David feels like he could have done better if he had not had the sprained ankle set him back, but I think he bounced back pretty well. He ran an amazing race in 21:49, a pace of exactly 7min/mile. David was slightly disappointed because he was hoping to run in under 21 minutes. This race, however, was his first 5K, so he didn't have a great feel for how to pace himself. He felt really good after the race and thought he could have pushed himself more. Oh well. Next time. Although July 5th he started fellowhship, so running has definitely taken a back seat to working and studying since. Eliana participated in the kids Fun Run (I'm not sure of the distance - 200 yards maybe?) along with her friend Leo. Our friends Deanna and Joe along with their three children came to the race as well so that Joe could run with David. Eliana started out very fast and looked like she would be one of the top finishers (there were probably on 20 or 30 kids participating). But then she looked behind her for Leo and slowed down so he could catch up. She was pretty excited about the whole thing. I think David is trying to make her into a runner.