I run. It’s what I do to relive stress and to make it possible to eat a bowl of ice cream every night. I lace up my shoes and head out three or four days a week for 3 to 5 miles.
My kids hate to run. They play sports, but they loathe the idea of actually running just to run.
So how is it that two of them beat me in the 5K Turkey Trot last week?
Running the Thanksgiving Day event has become a tradition for our family. This is the second year we’ve entered and this year, all four kids ran the 5K — even Jonah. Not one of them did a lick of training. I fully expected them to need to walk a good bit of the race and told them so.
But just over halfway through the grueling cross-country run, I spied Lilly’s neon yellow sweatshirt ahead. After the mass start, I just assumed all the kids were behind me, so I was surprised to see her. It made me wonder who else was up ahead.
Lilly was really moving, so it took longer than I thought to catch her. We were nearing the finish line once I finally did, but she pulled ahead and outsprinted me to the end. I wasn’t about to try and beat her, but even if I’d been that kind of mom, I don’t think I could have.
The next surprise was seeing Adam in the finish area. If I expected anyone to be behind me, it would have been him. He’s a tad lazy. A typical 12-year-old boy, he’s not one to put out extra effort. But apparently he did that day. His finish time was 25:45. He came in 16th out of the 65 boys in the 15 and under age group. And he was only two minutes behind his crazy fast father.
Maggie finished after me, but probably only because she had a nagging cough. And Jonah’s only 8. But if we keep up this tradition, it’s just a matter of time before I come in dead last among the Stein family runners.
The funny thing is, I can’t stop bragging about it.
FranklyStein is a blog by Chesapeake Family Magazine editor Betsy Stein who lives in Catonsville with her husband, Chris, and four children, Maggie, 13, Lilly, 12, Adam, 12, and Jonah, 8.
