Dairy Dash 5K

A story about doubting your kids.

Every once in awhile we’ll be talking about school and The Dude will drop something like, “we did races today in PE and I came in first”.

“Like in your group or class?”

“No, in all of 3rd grade”

Such a claim is not unrealistic. The Dude’s mom was a state high school and college champion hurdler so he inherited some fast genes, but he’s also my kid, and if you’ve ever met The Dude he’s not your classic hyper-competitive athletic type. Last year near the end of soccer season he said to Stacy and me “you know, I don’t think sports are really my thing”

So, while I never thought he was lying about winning those races, I also never fully believed him.

We’re at a family reunion and we held a multi-generation 5K around the dairy this morning. At breakfast before the race The Dude called his shot “I’m gonna win the race”.

To which I offered words of encouragement like, “Just try hard and do your best”.

To which The Dude responded “I will, I’m gonna win the race”.

So everyone lines up for the race and The Dude takes off like a rocket and I think “I bet he’s out of steam before he passes the first barn”.

I rode my bike to the farm from the hotel and I’ve never been a runner so I quickly lost the pace. I decided to take a shortcut and see how The Dude was doing. I caught him as he was emerging from the new part of the dairy. He shouted to me “Dad, I’m still in first place!”

About 20 feet behind him were two first cousins once removed, both grown men one of whom is a law enforcement professional.

As they passed I said “It’s nice of you guys to let him lead for awhile” They assured me they weren’t letting him do anything; he was winning fair and square. Every time they’d get close to him he’d pull away and put 20’-30’ between himself and his closest competition. I decided I’d try to keep up and encourage him for the last mile. He pulled away from me pretty quickly. I thought for sure near the end he’d begin to fade, the adults would catch him, and he’d be left heartbroken having given his all, but having learned a bitter lesson about youth, endurance, and short legs.

It didn’t happen that way. The Dude slapped the starter’s table at 24:30. Ahead of every other adult and child in the family. I’m sure it’s not the fastest 5k recorded by a 9 year-old, but it was fast enough to fulfill The Dude’s prediction.

Lessons learned: The Dude may in fact be the fastest kid in the 3rd grade, and don’t doubt your kids when they call their shot.