Prior to this summer neither daughter or my wife had shown any real interest in the activity. The kids had paced me on their bikes a few times and I had run a couple 5k's with my oldest daughter. Both girls have accompanied me to the track a time or two or three and they all had supported me at dozens of races. A couple years ago a Turkey Day 5K or a hike became a holiday highlight the whole family looks forward to. But other than asking "how was your run?" nothing else is discussed of subject.
It came as quite a surprise when my oldest daughter announced she was going to run cross country at the start of 7th grade. We soon discovered a local running club and in short order the entire family was participating in some capacity on Thursday evening runs. My wife would run/walk, my youngest trolling along on her scooter and my oldest and I worked on a run/walk regime to get her started.
Over the course of the summer we met dozens of folks with the running club and spent a lot of time together outdoors and ran. Now in 4th grade my youngest had the quickest mile among the 4th grade girls and second fastest in the 4th grade over all. Pretty good for someone who has never run a mile. She said she had been practicing during recess and planned on keeping a steady pace for the first 3 laps and run the last lap as fast as she could. Wait, WHAT?? Pace? where had she heard that? So all of a sudden everyone in the Wagenseil house is running. Man isn't that AWESOME?!
When I learned that the Bethel Rural 1/2 Marathon also had a 5k I asked the girls if they wanted to run, they both responded with an enthusiastic "YES". It was the best race day ever! So much fun to share running with the family. My youngest has said "I will run my next 5k faster!" Proud DAD!!
