The big draw for us in this race was the 600 metre kids fun race at the beginning.  Our 3 year old daughter loves running and watches almost all of our races, so we were excited to find an event that she could try.  We signed up our son as well, but knew that at (almost) 15 months old he might need some outside assistance to get around the course!

Early morning at registration

It was an early start for the races, which turned out to be good because it was very hot (once again). We picked up our race kits (all 4 of them!) and got our numbers pinned on.  The kids got real bib numbers and some cool toys in their bags so they were happy!

My 15 month old warming up for his “run”!

The kids were off around 8 for their loop around the park.  I ran with my daughter and she loved it.  She ran the full distance and smiled for every step.  She was so excited to cross the line and get her medal!  That was definitely a cool experience.  We got to cheer on my son who wasn’t as thrilled at the finish line – the route went right past the playground and he wasn’t happy that they weren’t stopping there!  The kids race was definitely the highlight of the day, and was very well organized and fun.

After that it was time for the parents to run their 5K.  I wasn’t expecting anything super special as this race was sandwiched between two longer run days for me.  I knew there were at least a couple of speedy runners in the group so I was hoping to run a smart race and see where that left me.

Off the start things thinned out relatively quickly.  I was settled into 4th momentarily but the 3rd place runner seemed to be fading a bit so my pace put me into third.  The first and second place (1 male, 1 female) runners were moving at a good pace but not putting too much time into me.  I knew it wasn’t worth pushing my pace any harder to catch them so I kept at around 3:40 min/km.  First and second split up after the 2nd km.  I was maintaining the gap between myself and the girl in second while the first place runner went up the road.  Things stayed like this until the finish, and I was happy with third overall and my time of 18:23.  It wasn’t a personal best, but my focus has been on longer runs and I wasn’t planning to push myself too hard.

My wife also had an awesome race, but I’ll let her explain that on her blog post – click here to read it.

My wife with a great finish

We had to wait around for quite a while they got the results sorted out.  This happens from time to time when there are issues with the timing but eventually I ended up with a trophy for first overall in the 30-39 year old age group.

Age Group Award Trophy from the Race Organizer

We had a great time and were happy to have found this small but well organized race that was such a great event for our kids.  I’m sure we’ll be back next year for the kids to set new PR’s!