A Day of Races

I took a month long break from posting for a variety of reasons--mainly because we've had so many "events" going on while simultaneously doing our best to get things ready for our baby's arrival. I'm 36 weeks today, so we could have a new member in our family in just 4 weeks (maybe sooner if this one decides to arrive as early as his/her brothers)!

I plan to go back and catch up on posting from everything I skipped since Easter, but before I do, I wanted to post about today's adventures.

Tim has run the NC Triangle Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 3 times previously, placing 3rd twice and 5th last year. This year he won! It wasn't a fast time for him since he ran most of it in the lead by himself, but it's always fun to win. The boys and I weren't there to see it because it started early, but of course we were all still very proud of him. Right after his race, Tim came home and took us back to the race so Tyler and Nathan could participate in races of their own.

Recently Tyler has been asking when he would get to run a race, so when Tim asked him last week if he'd like to the mile fun run at the Race for the Cure, of course Tyler said "yes". He was really excited to be able to race this morning, especially because Daddy would be there to run with him.

All smiles before the race

Stretching with DaddyWaiting for Tyler's race to begin

Tim and Tyler started toward the back of the pack, so they had to get past lots of walkers before they could really start running. Once they were out on the big crowd, Tim said Tyler had lots of questions and kept talking the entire way. When Tim pointed out that they'd reached the halfway point, Tyler commented that it didn't seem like they'd run that far. When Nathan and I saw them near the finish at the top of a long hill, Tyler was passing other runners and smiling like he was having so much fun. He didn't seem to really be working very hard at all.

At the top of the hill

Heading toward the finish with Daddy

Tim clocked Tyler at 10:31, which was faster than I thought he would run. It was a hot, sticky morning, so I thought he would need to stop to walk a bit, or at least take a break for water. Nope. Apparently Tyler has already mastered the skill of running and drinking at the same time because Tim said that's what he did.

Afterward, Tyler couldn't stop smiling. He has only just turned 5 a week ago, and he's already experienced a runner's high. He's already talking about doing the same race next year.

Not sure who was more proud--Tyler or his dad

After the mile fun run, we headed to the Kids Zone where there was a kids dash for kids ages 3 to 5 sponsored by the Carolina Hurricanes. There were race numbers for each of the participants (all the same number: 97) and different heats for the different ages.

Ready to race

Nathan wasn't the fastest in his heat, but he certainly was the cutest! He looked adorable barreling down the little slope and waiting patiently for his sticker and a hug from Stormy (the Hurricanes' mascot) at the finish line. Tyler, having just turned 5 a week ago, was toward the back of his heat, but he was still all smiles. As long these two little guys are having fun, that's all that matters to us.

Ready, set, go!