50 Yards and Olympic Glory

At the annual Dadfest 5K in Dallas today, they inaugurated the 50 yard dash, which this Dad was all over! I signed up our 4-yr old, Sydney, and got her all psyched up, carbed up, and well rested last night for a 6:45 am wake-up call. She even caught an extra 15 mins power nap on the drive over to the Pizza Hut Park, home to FC Dallas.

A thunderstorm had blown through overnight and it was unusually cool, overcast, and windy this morning. We got there in plenty of time to get ready before the 7:45 am start.

The race was run in waves of 6-8 runners, which sometimes ballooned to 12-14 runners because, well, 3 and 4-yr old kids don't always follow instructions closely and when the big man with the loud voice yells "GO!", sometimes you just gotta take off and run!

Sydney was in the 3rd or 4th wave, and I stood behind her waiting for the signal. Mom and sis waited at the other end, ready with the camera. At the last minute, she turned and said she wanted me to run with her, and I said I would follow behind her but don't wait for me!

Finally, the big guy says "GO!" and off she went. With blazing speed, she lit up the concrete and coasted to an easy finish, barely breaking a sweat! And the best part ... they all got a medal! What a way to make the little kids happy!

The 5K started a little past 8:00 am. Unbelievably, it was my first race of the year. I usually sign up for several races beginning in March, but with travel and soccer games and gym meets and volleyball tournaments, I just didn't get around to it until now. It felt "good" to run again, but I quickly got that deja vu feeling of eagerly signing up for the race, can't wait for it to start, and then gasping for air mid-race and wondering again why I put myself through this torture?

Oh, and the Olympic part of this story ... guess who started off the 5K? All Around Gold Medalist in the 1984 LA Olympics, Mary Lou Retton!

This made my other daughter and gymnast-in-training, Stephanie's day, and she even passed up a sleepover at a friend's house last night so she could follow her 'ol Pop to a run meet this morning! Now, if only Mary Lou had told her to eat more protein and don't forget her vegetables ...