My tough 8 year old 5k runner....

On Saturday, October 10th, Brinton ran his very first 5k (3.1 miles) at the Jared Coone's Memorial Pumpkin Run to raise funds for cancer research. Because Brinton can't play contact sports he has taken up running as his "sport" of choice. His school has a running club for 2nd through 6th grades called Just Run. He has been training with them for a little over a month to prepare for the race.

The morning of the race we had to wake up super early to prepare. It was FREEZING outside (somewhere in the 30's) and Brinton had several layers of clothing on. We got to the race and it was chaotic. Over 3,200 racers and their families all pumped up and ready to run. Brinton was so incredibly excited!

Before the race started a prayer was offered and I must admit that I cried a little. It was so amazing to me that that many people could be gathered in one place with different faiths and different backgrounds but that we all were able to bow our heads and show reverence for the Lord without any protesting. It was AMAZING to say the least....I have forgotten that we still live in an amazing country where, if we choose to, we can all come together as brothers and sisters....okay tangent....I digress....

So after the prayer there was a balloon release and then the start of the race. It was exciting, I couldn't see Brinton in the mob of people but I knew he was safe because he was with one of our good friends and his daughter who were also running the race. Let me tell you IT WAS COLD!!! The first person to finish the race finished in an astounding 16 minutes. We waited at the finish line (freezing our tushies off) and as we waited we saw all sorts of people run by...a woman in hot pink fishnets & boots, a man and his 6 or 7 year old son BAREFOOT, an old man without a shirt.....and then rounding the corner for the last run to the finish line...MY BOY! He finished in roughly 46 minutes, so he averaged about 15 min per mile. Not bad for an 8 year old. We are so, so proud of him and he has been bitten by the running bug because he asked if he could do another 5k next week!!! We will have to see about that. :)