A Quite Accomplished Six Year Old

Cade and his best bud Cade A. trained their fannies off over the last couple months and ran the Country Music Kids Marathon. It required them to run 25.2 miles leading up to race day and then they completed their 26th mile at LP Field, crossing the same finish line as the rest of Saturday's marathoners.What's a race without a little hula hoop and chalk action beforehand? I think I would have done a lot better on my time when I did the half if I could've enjoyed some cathartic drawing on the pavement before I ran. I may try that next time.Bobby gave Cade some "man encouragement" by making him punch himself in the face while simultaneously roughing him up and making noises that only other men would understand.These two crazy coyotes were tagging along to cheer on their brothers. Rhett was watching too but he had been passed off to Grandma and Granpa. It was obvious that I was not going to be able to keep up with both of them once the race started. I totally became "that" mom.....oh yes I did.

Do you know how impossible it was to get this one really terrible shot of Cade running? I mean, it's one thing if you're there watching your friend, your co-worker, even your mom run the race. But when you have a thousand PARENTS watching their children run it's a whole new ballgame. I had people stepping in front of me. At the finish line parents were stacked on top of one another ten fold. I elbowed one weak looking mom in the gut and then gave her the stink eye........well, not really but it could've easily happened. It's hard to get too many shots in in a one mile run. I would try to run and get ahead of him so I could get a good pic but I was always one step behind. Can you imagine me running in my stack heel flip flops wagging that huge camera and it's case with me all the while screaming "Go Cade!! You can do it!!" Oh me.

He crossed the finish line with a very worn out looking sprint. He later told me he had started out running as fast as he could and then he had no idea where the end was going to be. He "clapped some man's hand" (quote) as he crossed....that man? Jeff Fisher. He had no idea but thought it was cool after the fact.

One pic with the mom.
And one last pic with the running buddy.

I was so proud of him for being so dedicated. He had to get up early before school and meet to run 3 days a week and then run on his own on the weekends. He had a great time doing it and I personally think it was a good character builder. I can't wait to do it again next year. Thanks to all the family who came to support him.....Grandma, Granpa, Nana, Papa, Cooper, Isaac, and Amelia. It made his day to see all of you cheering him on.