American Armed Forces Kids Run!

The day dawned dreary and gray. There was an ocean mist hanging in the air. But it did not dampen the kids spirits one bit. They popped out of bed this morning ready to hit the track. It was the day they've been waiting for : the Armed Forces Kids Run!
We got there early (anxious with anticipation) to register each one in their age group. Ben to run the 1/2 mile, katie the mile and Grace the whopping two mile race. No group for twos so Isaac was sidelined with Mom and Digger to do the cheering. (Digger is our dog -he came along as team mascot). Each age group was staggered on the track and then the whistle blew!
Benjamin never stopped. He was a bit surprised after the first lap to find that he still had another one to go, but he just ducked his head and kept going. He finished second to Suzie Speedy in his age group. Yay Ben!
Katie put her new sneakers to the test and burned up the track from the start. But even better than speed was her dogged determination not to quit (greatly admired by Digger and myself). She came in third in her age group. Way to go, Katie!
Finally, Grace set sail. She whizzed thru the first two laps then settled into a nice jog. Though tempted to stop a few times, she never did. Just walked a bit and then kept jogging. She even had enough steam left to finish strong. The competitive edge not as ingrained in her as in her namesake, Stephanie Grace refused to out-run the little girl struggling beside her at the end, but waited patiently for her friend to catch up so they could run across the finish line together!
I thought my heart would burst with pride! Yes, they ran strong, and I was proud of that...my little budding track team...But I was even more proud of their perseverance and determination. And finally, I was humbled by their good-sportsmanship and great attitudes. No one was disappointed not to get an award. They happily left the races to go cheer eachother on the obstacle course and hop in the sack race. Isaac even found his niche crawling under obstacles and joining in the tug of war!
It was such a fun day! My only sadness was that Mark could not be here to share it with us. He would have cheered the loudest of any Dad. But they have made us proud today...and thankful.