Day 272: Missoula Kids Marathon

the finish line!

Azia and Zoran have been keeping track of miles the past few months with the goal of completing an entire marathon. (This seems like a much more sensible way to complete a 26 mile run!) All the kids involved in the program do the last mile together the morning before the actual marathon. Saturday morning was a pretty perfect day for a run.

We almost missed the entire race because I apparently don't know how to use my new phone alarm effectively. Instead of waking up at 6:00am (so Israel could change pipe & I could get all the kids' stuff ready),  I woke up at 9:08.  I almost didn't even attempt to get out of bed at that point since the race (nearly 50 miles away) started at 10:00. But instead I just woke up the kids and told them to put on shorts, grab their shoes, and get in the car. Lex wasn't interested until I told him he could also grab his cape. We were driving away by 9:14. Azia brushed her hair on the way and even fixed Zoran's mohawk for him.  I may not have stopped to brush my hair, but I did at least pull it into a ponytail at a red light before we got there. The kids got shoes on and race numbers attached in the car, and we pulled into the starting point at 9:57. They were pretty excited we made it in time.

The weather was perfect and the run along the river is beautiful. Before they started I had told the kids about how far the run was by comparing it to other distances they run recently. Both thought it must be much shorter. It's always nice when your run is easier than you expect it to be.

At the finish they had medals for all the kids, good bags, fruit, drinks and popsicles. They also had all sorts of games and booths set up so the kids would've been happy to stay all afternoon.