Sundays in My City #22 — My Marathon-er

There is a wonderful program called Marathon Kids. Over a period of four months, elementary kids collect laps that result in a completed marathon. They run 26 miles at school from early October through the last week in February. At the end of that period, the children are invited to a “Final Lap” celebration wherein they run that final .2 mile.

My son has participated all three years but never asked to attend the ceremony. Until this year, that is. At 8:30 on Friday night, he came to me and said he really wanted to attend. Of course, this was twelve hours before the event. I was tired and the thought of getting up early on Saturday was less than appealing. His enthusiasm, however, was inspiring. So yesterday morning, we got up and headed down to the stadium.

We waited through what seemed like hours of sponsor thank yous and promotions. We then waited while each group was brought down from the stadiums to start. We were the 5th group. Then finally, it was our turn. He wanted to hold my hand and run all the way. So in the span of a few minutes, this mom in her low-tops and purse (didn’t realize I was running) and her son wound our way through the slower participants. We simultaneously panted and smiled the whole way.

Here he is, just after finishing (and catching his breath!).

Here he is telling me about his medal. (Still acting pretty cool about it.)

And here he is showing us how he really feels about that medal.

Which is just about how I feel, too. I am really glad that I did not hit that snooze button. That smile paid for all the lost sleep. I’m very proud of that Marathon Kid! Very proud, indeed.

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