Burning up the track... almost

"The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running." 
~ Anonymous

When I run, it's for the satisfaction that comes upon reaching the finish line. AJ runs for the pure joy of running.

We took him to the kids race in Esko Saturday morning. I'd figured it'd be comparable to the Whipper Snapper race he ran earlier this summer. Not quite.

The race was a full lap around the track that rings the football field – 440 yards! All the kids ran at once, which means AJ was running with kids 2-3 times as old as him. AJ started falling behind pretty quickly, so Jeff joined him about a quarter of the way into it. Luckily, AJ's too young to realize that the more runners he sees ahead of him, the fewer there are behind him. Ultimately, he came in second to last (third to last if you count that he beat the Dad who was running with the little kid who came in last).

But none of that dampened his enthusiasm. AJ got to run in a race. And he got a number pinned on his shirt while he ran. And when he finished, he got a ribbon and a t-shirt (leftovers from last year's 5-k race). To him, that's what mattered, and he felt victorious.

And I couldn't be more proud.