First 5K

Yesterday five of the kids ran in a 5K. For four of them, it was the first. Jessica used to run 5Ks years ago when we lived in GA. The others have ran one-mile fun runs, but nothing longer.

We got there early because I wasn't sure where we were going and wanted to leave extra time for getting lost. But we found it and the kids had a little time to play on the playground.

It was in a park in a small town.

Stretching out.

Prayer before the race. Not a Christian race, but they often pray before the races.

Tyler was the first one of our group in with a time of 33:28 or so. His asperger's  has caused him to have less muscle tone and coordination than normal, so it's much more of a challenge for him than others his age. However he did place 2nd in his age group. Thankfully it was the age group above where many of the runners were. This was a fundraiser for the highschool cross country team (different county than us) so there were a lot of guys in the 15-19 age group.

Jasmine came in just over 38 minutes. That's a little slower than in practice, but it was hot.

Jessica was ten seconds behind Jasmine. I think she let Jasmine go first.

In a surprising turn of events, Kaleb beat Kayla. Usually he's the end of the line in practices because he's not very self motivated. But he beat her by a few minutes. Unfortunately, he's the only one who didn't place in his age group- 14 & under. There were three young teen boys who place ahead of him.

Kayla placed, but only because there were only three in her age group. Jasmine got second in that same age group, and Jessica got second in hers. So three second places and a third place. Since it was a fundraiser, they gave out wooden alligators (Dead Lakes Gator Run) instead of trophies.

There is a free 5K Firecracker Run nearby Tuesday morning. No prizes or T-shirts, just the challenge of doing it. (At least that's how it usually is). I think some of them are running it. I said I'd by breakfast at a nearby Burger King for those who ran. We'll see who takes me up on it!