Sunday, June 29, 2008

Triumph and Tragedy

Yesterday, our family took part in the Hyde Park Blast races here in Cincinnati (Hyde Park is the neighborhood we live in). It is a fantastic event that had over 1500 runners, bicyclists, and kid participants. Tons of free stuff, live music, etc.

Amber and I did the 4 mile course that started at 8am. We weren't planning on going full blast on the run because I was pushing the double stroller and Amber had the other stroller. Our plan was to run a mile, then walk a mile, run a mile, walk mile. But... as soon as I crossed the start line the front wheel of my double stroller fell off bending part of the wheel. I was able to bend it back in place, but could not run with the stroller. The wheel would begin to wobble every time I started to run, so I had to walk the entire course. Good thing I did, because some of those hills were beastly. My butt and shins are killing me.

In the afternoon, were the kids races. Chelsea and Lauren were in the same age group of 4-6yr olds. There were easily 50 kids in the group. Before the race Chelsea said "Dad, it doesn't matter if you finish first, it only matters if you've done your best". Great concept for a girl her age. She did do the best job she could finishing third behind two boys and was very pleased with her outcome. I was very proud of her maturity and approach to competition.

As I was waiting at the finish line to take pictures, I couldn't find Lauren. She did exceptionally well at the Cincinnati Reds 5k, so I thought I may have missed her. I finally found her in the crowd of kids sniffling. When she saw me she burst into tears and gave me a hug. She had a bump on her head and a scrape on her left leg. Someone had apparently pushed her down during the race. Chelsea was very disturbed that someone would hurt her sister to cheat in the race and offered her race medal to Lauren. It was all very touching to see my two oldest girls bond at the race. I am very proud of them. It make you feel good when you see your kids try hard.

So here are some pictures of the race and one of our very cute Sydney.


1 comment:

Jen said...

you guys are super cool with all of your family running events, sounds like you are having lots of fun together...although Larry is having bad luck with actually being able to run in the running events, Go Amber!
Yes we will be in town the first part of Aug. and we would really love to see you all, let us know what you want to do as you get your trip planned.