The Running Girl, May 2014 Edition

Once again, Sarah's interest in cross-country running has led her to the Girls on the Run program--now known at the middle school as Girls On Track, even though they don't do track events and still train for a 5K.  This morning was the spring 5K, after a season of training, and as you can see she was very excited about the day!

Sarah at Girls on the Run

This year, GOTR came to its senses and split the event across two days in two locations--meaning we no longer had the same huge crowds and parking problems, making it a much more enjoyable event.  Sarah also benefited from the thinner crowds, running her best race ever!

When the results were posted, Sarah completed her 5K in 30:41, her fastest time ever--and slightly annoying to her, as she really expected to be sub-30 this time.  However, her time was good enough for her to finish #138 out of 1,971 runners (top 7% of all runners); among her age group (girls 10-14), she finished #44 out of 493 girls (top 9%).  What an outstanding run!

This year, being all old and stuff, Sarah didn't need her daddy to be a buddy runner anymore; she ran with friends from SCMS.  However, that meant for the first time Eric and Mary had the chance to get a cup of coffee while she ran, and then be there at the finish line to see her cross.  This time we got video of the big finish:

Sarah's already announced that when she gets to the high school, she wants to go out for cross-country.  Maybe that means Daddy will have to start training to be able to keep up with her.  In the meantime, she's a huge winner to us for completing her seventh 5K and doing so well.  Congratulations, Sarah, on a tremendous race and great improvement!