The Backs in Motion 5km and 10km race, sponsored by the Canadian Chiropractic College, offers up a decent level of competition to make you work for a podium or age group win (5km winner 16 min, female 18 min). It is held the last weekend in April, just a week before the Mississauga Marathon. You might think that this would be a race to sharpen my speed before my goal race in 2011. But no, this was a race to run like a kid again.
My oldest son, age 8 and all of 45 lbs, had taken up the Mississauga Marafun challenge, whereby he would run a grand total of 40km in the six weeks before race day. On the final day he would run 2km in Mississauga to make the “marathon” distance. For 5 weeks, Owen charted his kms, counting each step closer to the magic number in the same obsessive way as the marathoners of Ajax Running Free. For a few weeks, he was one of THEM. He learned that planning was a challenge, since he needed adult accompaniment and that meant juggling supervision with his little brother. He learned to pace himself, sometimes doing a jog/walk, sometimes running faster on the fields.
The day of the Backs in Motion 5km and 10km came upon us like a golden opportunity. Instead of the standard 2km or 3km a day, he could knock off 5km. What fun! There was no hesitation. He wanted this. Registration was painless and the organizers readily agreed to let Mommy accompany little man through his challenge. We lined up at the back, with people many times his size surrounding us. Mississauga was just one week away, so we made the plan to take the back of the pack and just jog, with the goal to finish comfortably.
Throughout the run he expressed in words what so many of us think while running, yet never dare say. He ran this run with such innocence, yet strength of mind. The first km had two decent enough hills to slow up even the strongest competitor. As we crested the first, Owen noted his fatigue and stated he knew this would be a long run. Yes, it would be for a kid his age. But I told him to take it slowly and he would be fine. At the second hill he declared his knees hurt. Ok, little man, we’re going to take it nice and slowly and stop at that sign up ahead. And so we stopped to walk, but only for 10 seconds. His legs were eager to wind up but we needed to keep control. Throughout the next km he regained his calm –noticing the scenery, chatting non-stop about his school and his friends. I could tell he was not racing to his maximum capacity. But I also knew this meant he would finish the distance.
In the final 2 kms he continued his calm chatter throughout race while reveling in his surprising strength to carry on. At the turn to the forest path, we stopped for water and a pause. Yet again he wanted to rush on; but I made him walk to ensure he could finish strong. He listened. His relaxed attitude began to pay off as we approached the 3km mark. We began to pass people and hear the fellow runners (adults) cheer him on. “Show us how it’s done kid,” they would say. He pumped his arms a bit stronger after that. By 3.5 km the front runners of the 10km race (who had started earlier) were passing us. One had the strength to call to Owen and tell him he was “doing great kid”. Owen’s chest puffed up with pride. Just before 4km he started to feel the fatigue from the race. He hoped the 4km marker would be soon. I congratulated him on using the smart strategy of breaking the race into chunks. He pumped his arms harder. I told him he was doing something few 8 year olds could do. His strength began to return. A photographer saw him and snapped a picture with a big grin. Owen revived a little bit more. “You have the power, dude.” As we approached the 4km mark, my eyes welled up with pride as I watched my little man show strength and determination. He passed a few more adults. He continued to talk. His chest puffed out more. Solid determination kept him in motion — not a watch, not a time goal, nothing but the thought of the finish line.
In the final 100 metres the little kid came out. His legs wound up, his arms pumped, his gasps were now audible. He could see the finish line and he raced for it. He didn’t care about the time. Neither did I. But I did happen to notice it was about 31 minutes.
He didn’t get a medal for this race. He didn’t win a prize. (There aren’t many races that have an under 10 age group!) He did, however, receive a stellar quality Obus Forme backpack as the race kit. Mommy didn’t need to buy a new backpack for school this year. The shirts were only adult size so he can’t even wear that.
But I remember how he ran. He remembers. It wasn’t about time. It wasn’t about gut-wrenching racing. It was about running….like a kid.
Simply awesome post! What a wonderful story.