Corona Virus 10K

On Friday Mark and Jared ran their 10K.  They both did amazing.  Mark had gotten faster and faster as he trained often running a comfortable 8 minute and 30 second mile.  His fastest mile was 7 minutes and 30 seconds!  I can't imagine running that fast.  It is so impressive that after only training for 6 weeks he could run like that.  And he had a bad injury that took him out of training for a little over a week.  Jared was getting a little burnt out about 5 weeks in so we had him start listening to podcasts as he ran and it turned him into a whole new runner.  He did so well.  He was more around a 10 minute mile which means he and I could run together comfortably.  At least until he grows another foot which seems likely for him.

Jared started around 7:45 Friday morning.  Because Mark runs a much faster mile we had Jared start about 10 minutes before Mark.  Mark planned a route with Jared that would have them pass by each other a few times.  The night before they went on a drive around the route so Jared would know where to go.  He did great navigating it. We picked a spot around 3 miles for a Gatorade break which they both appreciated.

Lydia and I had fun cheering them on.  We would drive ahead to spots, park and ring bells and blow horns as they ran by.  Each time we drove by Jared onto the next spot we would honk the horn multiple times and I will forever remember the smile that lit up his face.

Their finish line was at the bottom of Lewis and Clark at UVA Research Park.  This meant their last mile was all downhill which is always nice.  Races should never end with hills! Lydia and I watched Jared come around the round about onto Dickerson and then raced to beat Mark to the finish line. He had ran by us awhile before so we were nervous about parking and then getting set up before he finished.  We couldn't park that close to the end of the road so we started walking down the path and when I looked back I saw Mark coming so then Lydia and I broke into a run.  We quickly got set up and were in place before he finished.  He actually had to run past us and then loop back to get to the full 6 miles bit it worked out.  He finished in 54 minutes and 30 seconds.  Impressive.
A little bit later we saw Jared coming and got ready to cheer him on.  It all worked out great and while it was not as cool as running in Budapest I know it made Jared really happy.  He loved running at his own pace and being cheered on.  He ran the whole time and looked really comfortable while running. When he finished we asked if he had fun and he said he did and that he could keep running so he did a great job with his training and pacing.  I was really happy to make their race as special as they made mine.  Jared is not a demonstrative kid and the amount of thank you's he said and the smiles he gave us were so rewarding.  I am so proud of him and Mark.

Medal Ceremony 

This finish line is now hanging up in his room. 

He wore this medal all day.  He requested fancy chocolate milk and 

peanut butter blossoms for his post race meal.