Glory Run

Well, we did it. All of us.

Not even a tenth of the way through the mile, Mackenzie looked at me with a flushed face and tears in her eyes, "I can't do it mama," she gasped.

"It's alright Mackenzie, we can walk. You can do it. This is supposed to be fun remember?" I told her. I could see it in her eyes though. She was not having fun.

There were people every step of the way cheering her on by name. She persevered. She ran. She walked. She wanted to give up. She didn't.

As we came over the last hill and could see the crowds and balloons at the finish line, I said, "This is it girl! You're almost there. Let's see if we can run the whole rest of the way."

Off we went. Holding hands. No fantastic form. No runner's high. No quitting!


Aiden ran in his first race ever. No practice at all. He ran the Tot Trot and he ran the whole way. I have never seen him run so hard. He was the youngest one out there. He had the littlest legs. He came in dead last. He had the time of his life.

After all that. The holding hands. The boys in the strollers. The walking. Mackenzie managed a third place in her category. Nelson, well, he won a first place medal. And me, I placed third in my age group. I think everyone else in my age group did the 5K. But for my first race ever, I'll take it.

I am still not a runner. I don't see any marathons in my future. But, I can now run over a mile on a treadmill without stopping, which is more than I could do a month ago. And if we raised money for the school and we did it together as a family, it was a morning well spent.