If you remember last year's friendly frolic, only 4 people participated. This year was a whole lot better, we had 20 runners/walkers.
Ella and Isabel were excited to run for awhile. They had been planning on it for over a month and have run together in the past.
When Jaclyn found out Ella and Isabel were running, she would not be left out. She didn't bring any running shoes, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She said she was running and she wouldn't have it any other way.
My mom and her sister Bev were signed up to walk.
I signed Bianca up for this race and told her about it afterwards. What? I knew she wanted to do it. haha We had all be giving her a hard time all weekend, telling her she had to go fast and setting goals for her. We told her she had to beat my 20 year old, football playing, extreme athlete nephew. So yeah, no pressure. Of course we all know I was walking due to my recent surgery. (P.S. in case anyone wonders.. MOM! the Dr told me it's completely fine for me to walk). I planned to walk with my sister in law Amy and my nephew's girlfriend Belle.
My sister Amy was walk running with my other sister Sara and Abbey was going to run (she said slowly) with Emily, Brianna and Genna (my nieces) . My nephew Adam and my dad were running too. Adam was trying to beat his last year's time and my dad was hoping he'd just be able to run (he was experiencing back pain).
Bianca was so nervous at the beginning of the race because we had put so much pressure on her. I told her to do whatever she wanted to do, but by that time we had already put so much pressure on her she was going for it. She started off right and front with all the crazy fast people.
Nicholas and Adam kept up with the faster people for quite awhile. I was surprised (no offense to either of them) that they were able to keep up. Nicholas has not been running at all so I figured he'd finish this race in around 19 minutes or so.
The little ones did really well. I guess after awhile Jaclyn started to tucker out and Genna (her sister) put her on her shoulders for awhile. I don't know how Genna did that, but more power to the younger generation. Ha!
Amy, Belle and I were joking around the whole time about our walking. Obviously we were in the "blue hair" group. No offense to any blue hairs!
Also in the blue hair group, Auntie Bev, my mom and my nephew's friend Nick.
This race is a 2 mile out and back. At about the half mile mark we started seeing the lead runners. Andrew was in 5th or 6th place at that point looking strong. Bianca was in that group as well, but it was a large pack so I couldn't tell where exactly she was. I figured about 5th overall woman, but those ahead of her were all teenagers.
Andrew wound up coming in at 13:46 which was good for 10th overall. I will tell you too that everyone ahead of him were 110 pound looking cross country people. Andrew is a 200 pound dude full of muscle so for him to run that fast (and he's NOT a runner) is pretty darn amazing. Yep, he rocks!
Bianca finished just behind Andrew in 14:27, which made her the 21st person to cross and the 6th female. Again, all the people who finished ahead of her were probably half her age. I wish they had age groups so we could have known, but they didn't assign age groups at all. The only awarded the top 3 males and females. NOT FAIR! I'm so proud of Bianca for going out there and kicking butt!
My little buddy was the next (in our group) to cross the finish line. I could NOT believe it.
He finished in 16:48 (52nd place) which was a 8:24 pace. I can't even tell you how proud I was of Nicholas. He really gave it his all. I totally underestimated him!
Then came Adam...
... and my dad.
Followed by the girls (Emily, Abbey and Brianna).
And then Genna, who don't forget carried her sister for part of the race.
Ella and Isabel stuck with each other the whole time and finished all smiles.
I was proud of them too and I loved that they were so happy.
Sara, Amy and Jaclyn came in all smiles too. I can't believe Amy was smiling. She never smiles when she runs (at least not when I see her).
I was so proud of Jaclyn for getting out there and doing this race. She has never done a race before (like the other kids) and she didn't even have the right shoes. She was determined and that, well all know, takes you far.
Amy walked with Belle and I (just to be nice, she didn't have the right shoes either), but then started sprinting at the end to make Belle and I look like losers. ha!
Belle and I were the injured crowed, but we had a lot of fun. Well I did anyway.
I know we both would have rather been running, but you gotta deal with the hand you're given. Next year Belle!
I was so proud of my mom for getting out there. She's been having a lot of trouble with her legs lately and I don't think she really wanted to do it, but she did and I think she realized she still had a lot left to give.
She even ran through the finish!
So there you have it. Another Friendly Frolic under the belt. This year HAD to have been the most fun because (just about) everyone came out. We all did our own thing and had our own agenda, but we all had FUN!
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