FREEDOM RUN....POST RUN

Last year around this time, when this whole running thing started I figured it was time to find a race to run. I found this 5K in Clawson called the Freedom Run http://www.freedom-run.com/ . It was close and cheap so away I went. Turned out to be a great little run, about 150 people thru the neighborhood around a small little park, the name of which escapes me right now. So even though my training has been somewhat non-existent when the time came around again this year I figured what the heck.
As I mentioned a few posts back my stepson decided to run with me a few times and I thought this would be a good first race for him. So for the first time, for any race, I packed up the family and away we went. Nate, my stepson, was staying at a friend's house and asked if his buddy could come and I said sure no problem. Once we got our numbers and T-shirts, which I have to say for the low entry fee ($10.00) the shirts are really cool, we had almost a hour to kill so Beth, my wife and the little ones went to the playground and the 2 boys and I went off to the start, after we showed Beth where the finish was so she could see us come in. Thanks again to her for coming. :o)
I told the boys that they were going to want to run fast at the start, but that we would keep it slow. The first 1/2 mile I think I told them to slow down about a half dozen times. After that I didn't need to mention it. This was my first run since before Father's Day when I hurt my back and to be honest it felt really good. Most of the first 2 miles I was directing traffic and telling Nate's buddy Jacob to pick up his feet! After a quick drink of water I picked up the pace just a bit and both boys started to lag a little, to their credit however they didn't lag for long and as we approached the finish they had to make sure to beat the old guy to the line. Which the old guy, me, was more than willing to allow. We finished under 30 minutes which is what I was shooting for considering this was his first race.
All in all I think he enjoyed it. He is starting to appreciate what it takes to run distances and with a little friendly prodding on my part I think he might make a good little running partner for me, until he gets too fast that is!! It was really nice to have Beth and the kids there cheering us on, even without the signs!!

R.P.D.