Spectator in Stride

#sol22: March 6

     

     "Come on guys!  It's time to go watch Dad!"

     "Can we sit in the car?"

     "Only until Dad should be finishing."

     "Ok."

      This is the easiest race our little Curb Crew has each year to support my husband, the marathon runner.   This race is an 8k at the park district down the street.  My husband drives there himself and starts at 8am, and we know to show up by 8:30.  If we get there by 8:15, we can usually get a pretty close parking spot, too.  So, we throw on some Irish gear, and head to the Running O' the Green.  

     "Mom, can I have your shamrock hat?"

     "Here you go."

     "I'm not wearing any green today."

     "Suit yourself."

      We get there and find a nice spot, and wait for about 10 minutes before my daughter sees the time and says that we'd better start making our way over to the finish line.  We get out of the car and walk over to some paving stones that overlook the running path as it winds around the park district.  My son and I stand on the pavers, and my daughter jumped down and walked closer to the path on the grass below.  And we waited...

      "Here he comes!" I shout.

      It looked like my daughter didn't see him at first, even though he was literally the only runner on the path.  But, then I realized she was hatching a plan to run with him.  Before I knew it, the two were running together as he turned that last bend.  She had become a spectator in stride with the competitor.   Of course, to see him finish the race, I needed to run through the parking lot to cut through to the finish.  That sweet family moment was cut short.

      "Mom!  Are you crazy?  You're running through a parking lot!  Cars drive here!" my son yelled as he, too, ran through a parking lot.

      "We'll be fine.  They're all running."

     We got back to the path just in time for my husband to run past us, and my daughter rejoined us.  He passed right in front of us.

      "Go, BOD!"

      "Mom, that's so cringy.  That's so loud."

      So this is spectating the Running O' the Green with a pre-teen and a new teen.