My wife and I wanted to do another race before the summer was over. Our town, Issaquah, has a large festival called Salmon Days. It has been around since I was a child and is by far the largest city fair I have ever known.
There is a 5k and 10k run associated with it, and we thought about doing it. I knew my wife would do the 5k...but I wasn't sure if I would do the 5k or the 10k. My first desire was to see how competitive I could be and try the 10k...but then a thought entered my head.
What about the kids? It was important for me to let my wife run. But I still wanted to participate in some way...And then I remembered our double jogging stroller...
After a lot of thought, I decided to run the 5k with the jogging stroller and the kids in it. I would not be able to think about it competitively, but I would still be able to have fun and this way the entire family can be involved.
I took the kids on a training run that was interrupted by potty breaks and big hills...But ultimately, it didn't matter. This was just going to be for fun and give the family something to enjoy.
The Day of the run
There were 2 waves. The first wave was the 10k runners. the 5k runners started 30minutes after. Here is a picture of the 10k racers starting:
After we go loosened up and did the last potty break, I told the kids that they were going to be in a race. My daughters eyes lit up. "Can we go superfast?"..."we are going to go super fast the entire time".
Strollers have to start at the very back. I told my wife good luck, and headed towards the back. The stroller had everything we needed. Water, snacks, kids...we were ready to race.
As I got to my starting position, I chuckled to myself. From where we were at, when the race started, it would take a good 5 minutes just to get across the starting line. I was incredibly grateful for timing chips at this point.
This was our view from when the race started:
...Yes...The actual start line is the red inflatable. There were over 1250 people in this race.
After the start of the race, we slowly started making our way to the start line. Once we got through the Start Gate, we were off...and we had a lot of walkers to get around...
--We dodged people. We rolled through grassy areas. We jumped off curbs. We bobbed, we weaved. We went superfast.
It was insane...and a lot of fun...It was like being allowed to run full speed with a grocery cart through walmart on black friday.
Suddenly, the pack of people started flocking to the right. Almost like there was an ambulance coming through. The road cleared up ahead of us, and I took off. The people all ran to the side to get their water at the first aid station...hundreds (seriously...hundreds) of people stopped for water at 1 mile.
We passed my wife, the kids said Hi...we moved on
I openned up teddy grahams, gave them to the kids, gave them the water bottle...and kept on running.
I started to burn out at about 2.4 miles. My muscles were starting to burn, My breathing was getting labored, and I started to get hot in the face. This meant that I was working too hard...but I knew that I just had to keep on running. Keep running and keep passing people.
We finally crossed the finish line....All 3 of us.
We were able to get the chip off, get out of the way, and find a place beside the course so that we can cheer on mom.
I have a very weak stomach when running, and didn't feel like I could drink or eat anything yet. I just sat down with the kids and waited.
My daughter then said, "Daddy, you are a great racer!" I responded with, "So are you...you finished with me!"
...And then my wife came running by. We all yelled as loud as we could. It was great to see the smile she had.
...There was a kids race that we didn't know about and weren't ready for. Both our kids were really upset when they saw the kids racing and they weren't part of it. I want to make sure that next time they get to race also.
Afterwards, we went to Dennys and got some big breakfasts, and baseball pancakes for the kids.
Looking at the results, We finished in 140th out of 1255 with a time of 24:51. I was blown away. The time was much better than I anticipated, especially since we started at the back. This race was a good indicator that our family was ALL going to have fun at these events.
There is a 5k and 10k run associated with it, and we thought about doing it. I knew my wife would do the 5k...but I wasn't sure if I would do the 5k or the 10k. My first desire was to see how competitive I could be and try the 10k...but then a thought entered my head.
What about the kids? It was important for me to let my wife run. But I still wanted to participate in some way...And then I remembered our double jogging stroller...
After a lot of thought, I decided to run the 5k with the jogging stroller and the kids in it. I would not be able to think about it competitively, but I would still be able to have fun and this way the entire family can be involved.
I took the kids on a training run that was interrupted by potty breaks and big hills...But ultimately, it didn't matter. This was just going to be for fun and give the family something to enjoy.
The Day of the run
There were 2 waves. The first wave was the 10k runners. the 5k runners started 30minutes after. Here is a picture of the 10k racers starting:
After we go loosened up and did the last potty break, I told the kids that they were going to be in a race. My daughters eyes lit up. "Can we go superfast?"..."we are going to go super fast the entire time".
Strollers have to start at the very back. I told my wife good luck, and headed towards the back. The stroller had everything we needed. Water, snacks, kids...we were ready to race.
As I got to my starting position, I chuckled to myself. From where we were at, when the race started, it would take a good 5 minutes just to get across the starting line. I was incredibly grateful for timing chips at this point.
This was our view from when the race started:
After the start of the race, we slowly started making our way to the start line. Once we got through the Start Gate, we were off...and we had a lot of walkers to get around...
--We dodged people. We rolled through grassy areas. We jumped off curbs. We bobbed, we weaved. We went superfast.
It was insane...and a lot of fun...It was like being allowed to run full speed with a grocery cart through walmart on black friday.
Suddenly, the pack of people started flocking to the right. Almost like there was an ambulance coming through. The road cleared up ahead of us, and I took off. The people all ran to the side to get their water at the first aid station...hundreds (seriously...hundreds) of people stopped for water at 1 mile.
We passed my wife, the kids said Hi...we moved on
I openned up teddy grahams, gave them to the kids, gave them the water bottle...and kept on running.
I started to burn out at about 2.4 miles. My muscles were starting to burn, My breathing was getting labored, and I started to get hot in the face. This meant that I was working too hard...but I knew that I just had to keep on running. Keep running and keep passing people.
We finally crossed the finish line....All 3 of us.
We were able to get the chip off, get out of the way, and find a place beside the course so that we can cheer on mom.
I have a very weak stomach when running, and didn't feel like I could drink or eat anything yet. I just sat down with the kids and waited.
My daughter then said, "Daddy, you are a great racer!" I responded with, "So are you...you finished with me!"
...And then my wife came running by. We all yelled as loud as we could. It was great to see the smile she had.
...There was a kids race that we didn't know about and weren't ready for. Both our kids were really upset when they saw the kids racing and they weren't part of it. I want to make sure that next time they get to race also.
Afterwards, we went to Dennys and got some big breakfasts, and baseball pancakes for the kids.
Looking at the results, We finished in 140th out of 1255 with a time of 24:51. I was blown away. The time was much better than I anticipated, especially since we started at the back. This race was a good indicator that our family was ALL going to have fun at these events.
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