4th of july 5k

We tackled the 5k today. Jared & Ryan were on their own while Mark loaded Jacob into the jogging stroller and I took Matthew in the regular stroller. Ryan has been extremely excited about this event for the past month. He took off at breakneck speed and finished 4th in his age division! He conquered it in 25 minutes -- 8 minutes better than last year! Way to go! He was disappointed that he finished in 4th place, one place below being a prize winner (he was after the prizes of course!) Since we started at the back of the pack, we think that if we would have had chip timers or started him at the front he probably would have moved up in the rankings. He seems to have a talent for this sort of thing -- how do we help him develop it? His energy is amazing. Jared improved this year by not having to walk any of the course and shaved about 5 minutes or so off his time. Mark & I and the strollers made it fine but we didn't break any records doing it -- pushing a stroller definitely gives you a double workout! Jacob ran the 1/4 mile race and improved this year by actually getting started at the right time (last year he missed the start signal and got a very late start) and coming into the finish in the middle of the pack. He likes the prizes at the end of the kids races -- free Wendy's Frosty coupon, toothbrush, tatoos, crayons, popsicle and a finisher ribbon. Wahoo -- a successful 4th of July 5k!