Greetings! I am honored to be serving as President of TCTC this year.
My family recently had the opportunity to participate in the June $5K. My husband, Bob, and I have run countless races over the years. However, our daughter, Kara, has not considered herself a “runner.” I am recovering from a calf injury, so I have not been running for three months. I knew there was no way I could try to “race” in the $5K so I asked Kara if she would want to run the June $5K knowing we would probably be taking walk breaks. To my surprise, she agreed to do it and wanted her dad to run also.
The evening of the race, Kara was a little nervous, but we reassured her that speed did not matter. Well, she started running at a controlled pace and just kept going. I wondered, “When are we going to take that walk break?!” That break occurred at Mile 2 and only lasted a couple of minutes before she continued at her steady pace.
We finished the race in ten minutes less time than Kara thought she would run. You could instantly see the pride on Kara’s face of what she accomplished. Then she wanted to stand along the end of the course to cheer for the other finishers.
For me, as someone who usually pushes as hard as she can in a race, it was fun to run and encourage someone else. Although I should not need the reminder, it was helpful for me to see that we all have different goals. I was proud of Kara for finishing her first 5K, I was proud of myself for running 3 miles after not running for three months, I was proud of my husband for wanting to be part of a family event, AND I was proud of our running club for promoting fitness and encouraging anyone to try a race.