it's 6am and we are heading out in the rain to meet up with madelyn's team. what i forgot to mention in yesterday's post is that we (well, really, just matt) is babysitting our friend braxton. so madelyn and i ran around last night while daddy stayed at home with all the boys and got them fed and ready for bed. and now this morning we are counting on baseball being cancelled (the fields have to be flooded at this point) and are taking a chance by leaving all the boys at home while i take madelyn to the race. if baseball wasn't cancelled (which is was at 8am), i will have to run home and pick up braxton and manning so that matt can take mason and maddux to baseball/t-ball. so the rain is good for logistics. not good for racing.
but madelyn is excited anyway.
all of the girls are asked to have a "running buddy." no problem, matt runs. only this race is only for females and i can't run. madelyn decided to ask one of our neighbors to run with her - and she said yes! reporting at 6:30am in the rain didn't even scare her off. i did warn her that madelyn would either run happily (like the practice run) or she would cry and complain the whole time while she walked (like every other race she has participated in).
madelyn was r-e-a-d-y to run and the girls were super pumped to be in the rain.
"war paint" applied (and then they realized that it stains the skin)
running girl with the proud momma
madelyn couldn't turn down star hair stencils.
our sweet neighbor who willingly turned out to run with mads.
pumping the girls up
the team ready to go
as they headed over to the start line, madelyn started to show how late she went to bed and how early she had woken up. i had no idea what to expect for her effort on the run, but at least the rain finally took a break. here is the start of her age section (the girl in front won and was still moving that fast at the end of the 5k):
i completely missed madelyn at the start even though they passed about three feet from me (i saw them when they called out after they had passed) so i hustled over for a prime spot near the finish.
a friend running the race took this shot mid-race
and then this is the only footage i got of madelyn during the race. she is behind the lady in the bright yellow shirt in the middle.
yes. not a great picture. i took a video too, but was not recording when she passed like i thought and ended up with a video of the ground and the shoulder of the lady in front of me. sigh. at least i was there.
everyone was caked in mud from the run. these are the backs of madelyn's legs as we went to get her medal.
i guess madelyn did okay. she talked the whole time and walked a little due to a back cramp (which our neighbor rubbed out for her while they walked). she was a lot slower than i was expecting her to be (almost double the time of her practice 5k), but she did it and wants to do it again next year.
one quick snap with our neighbor before she left to head out of town with her family. yes, she is THAT awesome!
madelyn's teacher was one of the coaches
her awesome coach
our lovely racer
there was a crazy long line for the post-race snacks and by the time we got there they were out of blueberry muffins. apparently that was a make or break item and madelyn burst into tears. so we left and i took her across the street to starbucks. she was willing to settle for a warm chocolate croissant. rough, huh?
she didn't want to participate in girls on the run AT ALL. she didn't even want me to see the flyer they sent home. but she loved it and can't wait to do it next year. so thankful that it was so positive for her. love.
the day's not done yet. madelyn and i went over to pick up her girls on the run (gotr) race day packet at the health fare - along with all 2000 runners and their families! the main problem was that we still had to get her to dress rehearsal for her stage acting class tonight!
just some of the line to pick up packets
the line moved surprisingly fast and we had a little bit of time to have fun too. madelyn is SO excited about the race tomorrow morning. she bought a tutu kit for the race with her own money for me to assemble during her rehearsal. love.
the two girls on the run clubs in the school district arranged to have a practice 5k with all of their girls, with bibs and everything. as we were headed over (a complex process with getting everyone from school and over there in time), it occurred to me that the school hosting the practice is right across the street from maddux' best buddy so we invited his family over to play if they were around.
in order to get to the school where the practice race was on time, i had to pick mason up early from school. as a special surprise, we were able to catch some of his "spring sing" where they were performing for their second grade reading buddies. the "spring sing" for parents had been cancelled so this was a super special treat!
the boys were trilled to play on a never seen before playground and to learn that maddux' friend was coming over too. it was a gorgeous afternoon too.
madelyn was surprisingly excited for the race; especially after her poor showing at the viking victory run. she has enjoyed girls on the run so much. they gave the girls bibs where they could stick a sticker for each lap they completed - 18 total for their 5k. i was surprised to learn that they were just running laps around the playground so that i could watch her the whole time while the boys played.
shockingly, she ran the entire time! with a smile!
running with one of her coaches
for her last lap, her coach told her that she could invite her brothers to run with her - and they did! she held manning's hand the whole time too.
look at her smile crossing the finish line on her last lap (and the flood of little boys crossing behind her).
madelyn's team and coaches
i can't wait to see how she does for the real 5k in a few weeks! love.
although it just snowed last weekend, today is forecast to hit 90+! many of the runners were commenting on how they haven't gotten to run in hot weather yet this year. and there was not a cloud to be seen! we slathered up the sunscreen (and i still got an awkward capri burn on the backs of my calves).
matt was running both races with the kids - mason and maddux for the one mile and then madelyn for the 5k. because he is amazing.
unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for matt, the kids couldn't handle the heat. mason walked a little with a cramp so the mile was a little slow going.
the boys were still trilled with their medals.
once the boys crossed the finish line i gathered them up and hustled over to work traffic control on the 5k route with the elementary school pto.
we were optimistic about madelyn's race. she has been participating in the "girls on the run" after school and running twice a week. she wasn't excited about the 5k at all. i didn't get to see them start or finish, but it sounds like i saw how it went - madelyn cried and walked.
in her defense, it was very hot and she wasn't feeling her best. and she finished. matt didn't mind that she walked too much because it meant he wasn't going to be crippled tomorrow since he hasn't had time to run in a very, very long time.
the race was at an all time high with over 2,000 runners this year! we love that we get to do this race every year and support the local schools. love.
we made a quick lunch and changed into race gear after church to get to the viking victory run on time. this race benefits all of the elementary schools and the middle school and this is the largest year yet with around 1,000 participants.
we live within walking distance, much to madelyn's dismay. on our walk we discovered that their race numbers were sequential (matt, mason, madelyn and maddux were running the 1 mile together).
the school district mascot
our runners pre-race
manning and i waited patiently by the finish line. isn't he cute?
and here they come! it was neat to see elementary schoolers finish as the top 5 spots.
you can see matt in the middle and mason and maddux to the left of the man in the blue shirt.
the boys crossing the finish line
madelyn came up a little behind them running with her friend ella - in the middle of this picture.
they were all so happy to be done. mason and matt were the only ones to run the whole mile. and matt ran the first half with maddux on his shoulders! madelyn said that she and ella walked some of the way.
this is such a super event for the families. i enjoyed getting to catch up with friends too. love.
this morning we got up bright and (very) early this morning to go cheer daddy on in the akron half-marathon. we surprised him with signs when we got to the parking garage. he was nice enough to pose for a picture because we were super late (traffic was crazy! worse than last year according to matt). matt ran the relay last year, but this was his first half-marathon. unfortunately, he was super congested.
wheel chair start
ringing of the starting bell
it is akron after all...
daddy crossing the starting line. he didn't look up to see us though.
this guy was wearing a lebron mask, dribbling a basketball and juggling three balls in the other hand.
matt between 3 and 4 miles - he is towards the back in this picture.
the kids were sports about all of the waiting. we met up with a friend and her kids so there was lots to keep them busy.
manning really liked trying to knock over the barricades.
matt about to cross the finish line in the rubber ducks stadium.
matt didn't have his best run, but he did very well and finished! he finished in 2:21:26 with a 10:48 pace. he didn't get to celebrate though because we had to race over to mason's 10:40am soccer game. we pulled into the parking lot at 10:30am. matt ran over to the field to coach after changing into a dry shirt while i gathered up the kids and got mason into his cleats.
we are so proud of all of his hard work and loved cheering him on! love.
