Family Fun Run -- Sat. Nov. 4

This year a much later date (Nov. 4 instead of Oct. 1) for this nice small local 5K event -- last year I had the pleasure (sort of -- it ended up confirming for her that running was NOT for her, alas) of running it with Nina, and this year it was R's turn. He was pretty gung-ho, but at the last minute (a typically over-scheduled weekend here, after a too busy week--no running at all) we found that his nice running sneakers (Adidas) were too small, so all he had were his really non-athletic everyday ones (NBA brand? and zip ups--only the zips don't hold). Not much we could do. Stretched bit, chatter to a couple of people who like me have been at all three of these runs, and in no time we were off. Like Nina (and me when I was 11~14 or so) he suffered from frustration-induced poor breathing, and we had to keep stopping to do up the zips in his shoes. I towed him up a couple of hills, and though it seemed impossibly slow -- surely everyone had passed us -- we kept moving. He rallied a bit as we passed the BFC for the last loop, but then got upset again. I piggybacked him (risking knees, but it seems to have had no bad effect) a stretch of the last hill, and then he managed a rally at the very end, really running for the line. 34: 47, he managed, coming in 44th of 52. Last year Nina was 39th of 43 in 34:53 (no final sprint, IIRC). I'll put my miles down here too, but it didn't feel like running really:

Time: 34:55
Speed: ??
Distance: 3.1 miles

Comment: still a Fun Run, and I'll do it next year with him. In a half-dozen years or so, he'll be beating me, I hope. It seems like he could actually be a runner and enjoy it, in time. Meanwhile, the other story of the event is Bill Wheeler. More on that in another post.