Turkey Trot

Each year, the day before Thanksgiving holiday, our school does a turkey trot for PE. The boys get really excited about it. Matthew has watched Tyler run the past two years and cheered him on, and joined it. Last Year, Tyler got third place in his grade, and his goal was to get second this year. As a 2nd grader, they ran 4 laps around the school property which addedup to 2 miles. This is the farthest he had run at one time (as a PT, Michael doesn't encourage such a long distance for young ones on a regular basis). Here Tyler is starting the race:
Happily smiling, with his jacket on...I had asked if he wanted to take it off and he didn't.
on lap 2 and 3 I decided to run part of the distance with him instead of taking pictures. I had a water bottle that I handed to him to keep up the hydration...we ran while he drank.

This is him coming in to the finish line. Looking good, but tired. I had convinced him at the beginning of lap 3 to give me his jacket. He did a running finish with one other boy, and ended up getting 3rd place again. Now, this is 3rd place out of the entire second grade...100+ kids.

Happy, but tired.
Waiting for the awards....
He was so excited to get a medal for third place, last year, he just got a ribbon.
My cute boy

He factored in that the boy who got first, his friend, Logan, wasn't here at the school last year, thats why he got third again:) Two boys actually tied for 2nd and they could've done a 3rd for that tie, but they didn't and I'm so glad b/c my boy got 3rd). He was happy, and I was so pleased and happy it was over and he was happy. It had caused me some anxiety at their high hopes.
Matthew walking out with his kinder class with his shirt all tucked in, ready to go. He was eyeing the track, ready to go.
But had to wait. Alyssa tried to tell him stories to distract him.
At the start...the taller kids are the 5th grade boys that led the kindergarteners.
And he's off...he was so serious about this. BIG plans to win first place. He already knew that he was one of the fastest kid in 3 kinder classes because he has PE with them and always runs the fastest (he and his friend Nathan, but he was out of town). He was trying to examine what boys could possibly, in the other 3 kinder classes might run faster than him, and he felt he was good. He was pretty confident that he'd win first place. Kinder just ran 2 laps--1 mile total.
Happily starting...
We need to work on his form.

Halfway through the first lap, I told the 5th grade boys that they needed to go faster, or he'd pass them.

Coming in from lap one, with just one lap to go. Looking good, looking strong, still smiling.

He and this girl passed the 5th graders.


I could see when he was coming into the finish that he was hurting. I ran to cheer him onto the finish, then snapped a few shots. I was happy he seemed to respond to the cheers, and kicked it up. But the girl in the pink was already a good distance ahead of him. It broke my heart. I knew he wanted it so bad, and he, nor I, had ever considered a girl taking it all.

You can see the girl up ahead in pink (she was in one of the other kinder classes, he'd never seen her run before). She actually had her shoe fall off just before the finish and she stopped to put it on (I was secretly happy and hoped it would be her downfall, but the 5th grade boys told her to just run without it). I know, I'm bad, but hey--it's my boy.
The boys also cheered Matthew by name, as the 5 of them pretty much ran it all together. (You can see she's putting her shoe back on). I had a bit of a lump in my throat, knowing he'd be disappointed. I could tell he was, but no one else could. He handled 2nd well...outwardly and I was very pleased with him for that. I said ,"you're the first BOY!" And he was acknowledged for that, but he knew he wasn't actually first. He didn't seem bothered that he was "beat by a girl" just that he wasn't first.
Still happy, yet not exuberant.
These next two pictures make my eyes sting. After he crossed, he stood at the finish line for a good 10-15 minutes cheering on his friends as they came in. If he knew their name, he yelled it out and told them "good job" and clapped for them. He truly has such a big heart.



Kinder didn't get much in the way of recognition, they all got a paper certificates. They did announce him as the first boy though, so that was cute.

I love my boys so much and they did such a great job. Though watching this as a mother, it pulls at my heart strings, and reminds me that I'll have many more challenging mother moments in the future.