It's was definitely a crisp, fall morning on race day. JuJu was NOT excited for me to wake her up and remove her warm blankets. I had to laugh, it was typical 8 year old behavior of wanting to sleep in! I couldn't let her miss out on this race so I was the mean mommy who got her up and dressed. She was going to have a grumpy morning. I on the other hand was excited to run with JuJu but nervous that I wouldn't be able to do my share of pushing her in this race. The original team set ups had me paired with one other runner. So I was mentally preparing to switch off every mile to finish 6.2 miles. Not an easy task. I was very thankful to learn after we arrived that JuJu and I were partnered up with 4 other runners aka "Angels". This was our group photo!
We had a total of five kids that were being pushed in this race. It was great seeing them and how excited they were to get moving! We started the race after the presentation of the Colors. I took the first mile pushing Julianna and tried to get as close to 10 minute mile as I could with our group. The minute we started the race Julianna started to smile! I'm really glad, I wasn't quite sure how she would handle the cold wind in her face. I handed JuJu off to another Angel after the first mile and little did I realize that I would be running faster to keep up-lol! I have been letting myself run around 10-10:20 mile, but now was averaging around 9:36 minute mile. I was so happy to see my husband and kids cheering us on after the 4 mile mark. I was hurting a bit (more mentally) but kept running to try to catch up-lol! JuJu enjoyed every turn, bump, hill of this race! You could see the joy on her face. When she gets excited she does this hair shaking move that just cracks me up. One of the Angels brought along her camera to take action pictures while we were running. It was perfect because we now have a photo of one of the many mud puddles we had to maneuver around. I'm sure it added a challenge pushing JuJu around them but you couldn't tell by looking at them. I think the Angels had more fun during that part of the race-haha!
We started out in the back of the pack so when we crossed the starting line the timer had been running. So personally I'm going off the time my garmin says- 59:33! A new 10k PR for me =) I think we the official time clock said just over one hour.
Here is JuJu getting some after race laughs with one of her Angels!
Ainsley's Angels has grown and I'm so excited to see what the future races hold for us. This is our group photo after the race.
Here a few pictures of Gabriella and one of the many donuts she ate that morning-hahaha! I think I have her sold on coming to more races.
*****I forgot to mention that during the Awards ceremony Ainsley's Angels were recognized and each child was given a medal! So sad we left during the award's ceremony. JuJu is starting her collection of medals!!
My family is looking forward to the next race next month, the Hampstead Turkey Trot! It's a beautiful area and a well organized race. More great news is that Isaiah will be testing for his next stripe in Karate later this month! I'm so proud of him. He has been working hard on learning more advanced kata's, all while helping the newer students learn the first kata. I'll be sure to blog an update!
Have a fitabulous day!
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