Triple Crown

My kids' school always participates in the Triple Crown, a 1-mile race for elementary school students put on by BYU Track & Field.  I've been worried about the crowds at this event, but this year I couldn't find a good excuse to stay away from the race, so I took the younger three (while Ben and Cat were otherwise occupied).  I was relieved that it really wasn't too crowded or difficult to figure out.  It went smoothly, and the kids had a great time seeing friends and finally competing in this race, trying to help their school claim the big, traveling 1st Place trophy.  (They won last year.  This year they came in second.)

It's hard enough to get Jack to look at the camera when I'm taking his picture...

when he isn't surrounded by his friends.

Eliza's race was first.  She was so excited to meet up with some friends at the starting line, though they didn't end up running together.  The race felt very long to Eliza (who insisted when it was over that it was NOT a mile - it was longer) and she did have to do some walking, but she finished running and was really glad that she competed.  I thought at the time that her final time was around 10 minutes, but the time stamp on my picture files and the clock that's showing as she crosses the finish line show two completely different times, so I'm really not sure.  If I find an official time from the race, I'll add it here.

Jack ran second and, as you can see from the first picture below, was super excited about this race.  It was hard for him too, but he ran well and was very proud of himself.  His final time was about 8:24.

 

A day or two before the Triple Crown, Jack started asking me if I was going to make a cake in honor of the race.  I wasn't sure why he thought that two kids running in a race warranted baking an entire cake, but I found it endearing that this race was such a big deal to him and that he thought of me as the kind of mom who would bake a cake for this event.  I debated about it the day of the race, and finally decided that I didn't want to let him down, and since I did have some time to make a quick pan of cupcakes, I did.  He loved the cupcakes.

All in all, we were home about 90 minutes after we left, and the kids were happy to have been able to run (and to receive the Froot By the Foot and homework pass the PE teacher gave out to everyone from the school who competed).  It was a fun night!  I might even let them do it again next year.