Family Mini Marathon/ Mother's Day

Yesterday was the Prague International Marathon (PIM).  We did not run the marathon but we did run in the Family mini marathon (4.2K) which is put on by PIM and it started fifteen minutes after the start of the marathon from Old Town Square.  The kids have been excited to run the race ever since they ran it last year.  I was curiuos to see how they would run it this year since the girls ran it so differently last year.  Their technique stayed the same this year.  Sofia running fast and slowing down and running fast and slowing down etc., and Ali keeping a relatively even pace the entire race.  I stayed with Ali and Jason stayed with Sofia.  Ali was excited to start the race and once we passed the start line she took off going around people to get out of the crowd.  Once we were out of the crowd I had to remind her a couple times to not go too fast but overall she kept her own pace.  She would at times run next to me or in front of me until her friend Cianna caught up to us and then they ran together.  It was nice to see them run together since they laughed the whole way while still running. 

Ali never stopped to walk, except when she was taking a quick drink, and managed to finish the race in 29:42 which is an average pace of 12:24 minutes per mile.  I am absolutely amazed that Ali's little legs can carry her that far at that pace.  She truly enjoyed her time running as well and I have told her that occassionally if she wants to go for a run on the weekend I will go for a short run with her.  Jason and Sofia finished a little bit after us along with her friends Annalee and Oliver and their dad, Radek.  I left Ali with Cianna and her mom, Elizabeth, and ran back down the road to see if I could see Sofia running.  Luckily I did and I managed to get a few pictures of her coming down to the finish.  The kids were all so happy to get their medals at the finish line.  I was happy for them as well since it was quite an accomplishment.  I couldn't have asked for more than two happy healthy kids to run with on Mother's Day!

After the race we headed to our friend's house for lunch.  The kids were very excited to play with their friends, Annalee and Oliver, and we enjoyed time to relax and have lunch with our friends.  After having a lazy afternoon we finally headed home and did some yard work, although nothing to strenuous for me...it was mother's day after all!