Sunday, August 22, 2010

17 minute mile


sam loves running.
he has wanted to run in a real race for the last 9 months.
we promised we would find a kid race in oregon this summer.
it didn't happen.
his dream came true yesterday.
he got to run a kid race.
it was a little longer than a little kid race.
it was just over 1 mile.
but he did it!
in only 17 minutes.
he is a competitive little thing.
he won 2nd place.
a close 2nd to 10-year-old boy.
i'm glad we came prepared.
i brought one of pete's medals to award him.
he was certain he would win a medal.
there were no official prizes,
but the finish line race worker was kind enough to award him the medal we brought.
he was so happy;
i thought he would cry.
he was proud, too,
and he is still proud.
i think the medal has only been off of him for 6 hours since he "won" it.
if it's not around his neck,
then it's hanging by his bed.
i've caught him laying and staring at it on several occasions.

i'm proud of him, too.
i think it's quite an accomplishment.
i have a feeling running could really be his thing;
mother's bias aside, he has some real natural talent.
i'm grateful he has had this confidence building experience,
but i'm more grateful to hear him talk about how everyone that started the race was a winner.
that's the most important lesson i hope he always carries with him.
i hope he knows he can always be a winner at everything he attempts.
i hope he knows that he is not more of a winner because of someone else's loss.
he will always be a winner for trying.

p.s. sam asked me last night if i would write on the blog about this. he wanted me to write that his dream finally came true.

a few other thoughts...
*he asked me the day before if i would say a prayer to help him with his race. will said the dinner prayer the night before. just as he was finishing up, sam interrupted him in a whisper asking him to say to help in his race at "sugar" park. will didn't understand, so he kept whispering back "at sugar park?" it was so touching! he finally understood the request and sent it in.
*i got him a new pair of "racing" socks with lightening bolts on them. i also got him a racing shirt that said "born to be awesome". after the race he thanked me for the shirt because it helped him run AWESOME.
*he wanted to take some pre-race photos with his race number on his shirt. he immediately posed himself in a running pose and a starting pose. :)




6 comments:

katwalk said...

Tell sam and will Weema very very proud of them I think that very very good Tell that I used to run all the time and I loved to run. think I learned to run really fast because I had to chase cows around

Jessica said...

That's adorable. When talking about our weeks in primary he was so excited and wanted to be first to tell the class "I got a medal in a race, and I'm not even kidding" It was so cute, the other kids were so impressed. Thanks for the whole story that's awesome!

Ganny said...

Way to go Sam. You sure look hot.

Arin and Troy said...

He looks like such a natural and so grown up! Not to mention, he actually looks just like YOU in the picture of him in his runners pose. I have never seen that before! Tell him way to go, we are proud of him!!

katwalk said...

I thoought he looked like Will in that picture and had never seen that either

Jes said...

I am so proud of him. I am not sure if I could do a 17 minute mile. He is wonderful kid that one. I am glad his dream came true!

 
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