I am a strong believer that children will be passionate of many of the same things their parents are passionate about. One of my passions is running. As a result, my kids love for me to run and they love to run.

Well, we crossed into a new realm on Sunday. We “ran” our first 5K race together – the Canine Classic. This is a great race put on by MESA in Boulder where runners can have their four-legged companions run along side them. My husband and I agreed before the race started that we would all walk it together. We didn’t want the kids to feel like they weren’t fast enough to keep up with either of us – plus our dog does not always have a passion for running.

The race directors had the runners start first, followed by the walkers in a second wave. We lined up with hundreds of other walkers and their dogs and waited for the race directors to tell us we could start. Suddenly, it was time to “GO!” – the race had begun. The next thing I knew, my three year old took off in a sprint. Moments later, we are hundreds of yards ahead of the rest of the walkers (including my husband and daughter). My son kept up that pace for nearly 1 ½ miles – we even passed some of the runners.

The second half of the race began with a long trek uphill. I think that’s what ended my son’s sprint. From that point on, we walked. Rather slowly at times, but steady just the same. When we spotted the finish line, he took off at a sprint again – setting his own record!

Crossing the finish line, while racing after my 3 year old!

I am so proud of my entire family for completing this race. It was fun and quite a feat! I can’t wait to do it again next year. I’m sure there will be a PR or two in our group