You Can Do It!

It's Oakley Pioneer Days Celebration again! Well, it was last month. I'm finally posting about it.

From the time I was 9 until 19 years old, I ran the 10k race every year. Thanks, Mom, for training with me! (For proof, see www.goosecreekrunoff.com.) The race starts up at the Oakley Dam and winds nicely down through the mountains, ending at the city park 6.2 miles later. Sounds fun huh! I dropped that tradition when it came time to have children. But Ben and my mom do it every year and I'm sure I will again someday.

Ben beat his time again this year - everybody cheer for Ben! My favorite part of Ben's awesomeness (training for his fourth 26-miler) is that our boys get excited to run from watching their dad. There's also a 1-mile kids' race right after the 10K. Jonathan has run it the past two years, with me right by his side. This time I told him he could run ahead if he wanted to, so I could stay back and help Zach. So at the beginning Jonathan took off (with many of his cousins) and I didn't see him the whole race!

Here he is! Luckily Ben was ready with the camera. He had been watching for US, and then suddenly spotted Jonathan - running happily by himself!Off he goes to the finish line! Jonathan told me later that everyone was cheering for him.

A few minutes later, along comes Mom and Zachary. Jonathan says, "Look Zach! If you finish, you get a granola bar!"I LOVED running with Zachary! He was so excited. Part of the time he had me hold his hand while we jogged slowly. Then out of nowhere he'd drop my hand and take off in a sprint. After every block or so, he'd slow to a walk to get a drink from his sippy cup. Then off we went again. I gave him a pep talk the whole time, but he never showed signs of wanting to quit. It was a LOT of steps for his little legs! Zach said his favorite part was "when the horses were running with us."

We made it! We weren't the first or the last, but Zach proudly told me that he is a winner. He's right! I'm so proud of all my boys and their enthusiasm for life. We'll be back next year for sure!