Jamba Banana Run Kids' Race!

The past year this van mommy has been doing a lot of running.  Every afternoon I kiss the kids goodbye and tell them I am doing my running.  Night before races I let them know that I won't be around in the morning because I am racing.  Thus, it was pretty natural that they got curious about my racing.  So, I asked them if they wanted to do a race and they said, "Yes!"

I signed the two kids up for the Jamba Banana Man Chase Kids run.  The race is 500 meters around Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park.  I was pretty confident that Danni would be okay with the run.  The shy Noah was a maybe. I was hesitant to sign him up but he ensured me that he would do it so I signed him up even if it meant that he'd miss a soccer game.

To get the kids ready we took them walking and some jogging.  Nothing major.  They're both pretty active and play soccer so I was pretty sure that they would be okay.

But then life happened.  The week before the race Noah caught a terrible stomach virus.  Fever as high as 104 and unable to keep anything in his tummy, he stayed home the whole week of school.  I knew he would be heartbroken if he didn't go to the race so we brought him and told him that he could walk the whole way.  I was soo nervous the day of the race whether he would be okay.

We got to Ala Moana an hour before the race (6:30 am) and was unable to find parking.  We should have known that there would be a huge crowd, but really, with two kids, one super sick could we really have left earlier than 5:45 am?!  Probably not.  So we parked at Ala Moana and walked a little over half a mile to the start.

When we got to the start I was sooo happy to see that ING had brought some iced coffee.  I gladly helped myself to a large cup then we proceeded to the games for the kids.  We got some balloon animals courtesy of uncle Greg and Balloon Monsoons (he did both kids' parties), played games, and did Speed and Quickness activities, then hung out and watched the 5K race. I was pretty inspired waiting at the Finish Line and watching the winner come in at just over 15 minutes. 5 minute miles, amazing!!!!

Finally it was time for the kids to race.  Mike went with Dannika to the 5-6 year olds and I stayed with Noah for the 2-4 year olds.  By this time it was getting hot and Noah wasn't looking the best but he was eager to race. Dannika's group took off and Noah and I waited for his turn.  When his race started he was adamant about walking.  I told him he could walk and he said he was going to walk so walk he did.  500 meters never ever felt so long in my entire life!  After about 100 meters I looked up and realized we were just a handfull of 5 left, most of them 2 year olds.  In my head my mantra was screaming, "Just don't come in last!"  I tried to will Noah to run but he wasn't having it.  Finally I picked him up and began running with him on the course. He's about 36 pounds and it was 80 something degrees.  This was not an easy feat.  As we neared the finish line I set him down so that he could run.  He took a few steps then ran some more.  After crossing the line he received his medal proudly with Dannika and Daddy cheering him on.  It was awesome!

After we were done I learned from Daddy that Dannika took off running so fast that he wasn't able to stay ahead of her to take pictures (not surprising).

All in all it was a great day and I cannot wait until the kids are older and can run 5Ks with the hubby and I.