Kids Marathon 2014

A couple of weeks ago the duo participated in a Kids Marathon. They qualified for the event by running 25.2 miles in their PE class at school (over the course of several weeks), and then they were qualified to complete the last mile during the marathon event.

They were super excited. Skip planned to run with them, and we even had William George in the jogging stroller to provide some moral support.  I was on standby to capture this beautiful moment for all of prosperity (read: not running), but George was actually not allowed to participate after all so he filled in as my PA. And by that I mean he kept imploring me to let him loose to run around.

The event was held on an absolutely beautiful Saturday morning, and there were hundreds of children participating. The duo and Skip got with their age group (rather, the duo's age group) and got in line for the wave start.

Skip provided some live, action shots from the marathon trail:

While waiting for the duo to take off, I found a perch on top of a statue to try to photograph them as they ran past. William George proceeded to ask if he could "get out" about 200 times per minute. Honestly, I couldn't blame him... why should I have all the fun climbing around on statues?

And... they were off!  Skip and the duo are in the very center of the below pic.

The duo are in the far, far right of the below (wearing white Hello Kitty hats).

After they went by, I scurried down from the statue, and George and I found a spot along the trail where we waited for them to make the final turn. Skip asked why I didn't call out to them. Two reasons: one, I knew it would be ear-splitting on the video and two, (and more compelling), I was so proud of them in that moment that I knew if I ever called out or yelled, I would not be able to stop. I don't know how those Olympic parents can maintain their composure because I would loose it completely.

(The duo are sporting pink pants.)


Kids Marathon 2014 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.


As they were making their way toward the finish line, William George and I took off again to meet them there. Upon hearing their names announced as they finished, tears filled my eyes. They were tired and not as excited about photos. After all, they run a few miles each week so they weren't understanding the big deal over running one mile on a random Saturday.

They are lucky I didn't ask them to sing the National Anthem while I waved a flag.