For the 4th year straight, we entered the kids in the John's Run 4 Kids to benefit Backpack Beginnings. The difference this year is that we qualified for the "Brady Bunch" discount, so Emma could run for free if she was willing to run. Sadly, Rebecca had class this year so she wasn't able to come, so her Dad came up to help me manage the herd while I ran with each of them.
Olivia was first up.
She ran well to start, but after going up 5 flights and back down, she took to walking here and there.
She did well on the obstacles.
Even the balance beam was no sweat for her.
A running high-five. :)
And she finished in about 12 minutes.
Once she was done, I had less than 2 minutes before the boys were on the go!
Ezra was quick out of the gate.
He was in the lead after the first trip over the parking deck.
Gabe wasn't far behind.
He took the hurdles like a veteran.
and Gabe was no slouch, either.
Ezra took advantage of a helping hand
But Gabe powered through...
By the time they reached the second time over the parking deck, Gabe had passed Ezra.
After all those stairs... whew!
the slide was a relief!
Gabe finished in about the same time as Olivia
and Ezra was only 10-15 seconds behind him. Once again, 2 minutes for me to rest before the next race. I just had to ask Emma if she was going to run it.
And she did!
She was a champ.
She kept running ...
all the way over the parking deck...
through the Cultural Arts Center...
Around the fountains...
over the hurdles...
under the nets...
across the balance beam...
back up the parking deck...
over the top and back down...
past her cheering section...
down the slide...
through the garden...
and across the Line! I could not have been more proud! She never complained, kept a smile the whole time and had so much fun! I can't wait to see if we can convince Irene to do it next year. :)
My racing team!
