This race is always the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I love it because it’s in my town with a flat course and great company. A bunch of neighbors and good friends always run this every year. This year was special because I ran it with my 9 year old daughter. She kicked butt! She ran the entire way, all 5 miles and finished in under an hour! There were many times she wanted to stop and walk, but I kept reminding her she really wanted to accomplish the 5 miles, since August she had planned to run this race and she kept going. I think the most important part to keeping a kid motivated for longer distances is not letting them get into their own head. There were many times she would say “oh I might fall” or “I’m tired” or “where’s the finish line” but deep down I knew and she knew, she could do it and had done many 5K’s and runs with me prior to which helped her persevere during the race. Every time those thoughts crept in I’d say, “less than 2 miles to go, you’ve done this, it doesn’t matter where the finish is, just that you are so close and only have xyz left” and count down the miles. That really helped her and she ran across the finish line, hands in the air with the biggest smile ever.
Always Running Mama 