Kylie won her very first race! | #run #race #3k #proudmama

Many of you may know my sister, Kara.  Kara was/is the runner in our family.  Growing up, she was fast, and an extremely talented runner.  We have recently learned, though, that Kylie is following in her Aunt Kara’s footsteps – literally.

After trying out for the volleyball team resulted in the realization that having never played before is a surefire way to not make the team, Kylie decided to push herself to the limits during her athletic class and run with all of her might.  We’ve heard several of her friends tell us that Kylie goes all out while running the mile, bleacher, and all the other exercises they do, and one friend even admitted that Kylie runs really hard every time she steps foot onto the track.

I picked Kylie up for an orthodontist appointment a couple of weeks ago, and I noticed the sign up for the Fall Fest Fun Run. It was only 3k (1.86… miles), so I thought it might be something she could try.

We got up early that morning, and headed out to the track.  I wasn’t sure if Kylie had ever run more than a mile, and because she has such high expectations for herself, I wanted to warn her that there would be tons of people who entered this race, and I didn’t want her to be disappointed if she didn’t place during the race.  She was cool with that.

It was the first cold morning, and Kylie had never done any kind of running on a cold day.  I feared that her asthma would flare back up, but her BFF Emilee had so much confidence in her, she just knew that Kylie would do great.  In fact, she thought Kylie would win the entire race.  (What a best friend!!)

After the race started, ran over to the finish line, waiting for the runners to start coming in.  We noticed that a couple of male runners (younger and older) came around through the parking lot behind us, so we headed over that way to wait for Kylie to come around and cheer her on!

We were amazed that she was the first female to make it to the home stretch!  Watching her run the final 300 meters to the finish was the most amazing experience for a mother to watch!

First Place Female Division
Time: 13:09 

She received a trophy and a metal as well as recognition at school, and she’s so excited that she wants to train to run a 5k now!

I have to say, though, that she’s more and more like my sister each day.  I was so proud of my sister back in her day, and I am so excited to see what the future holds for Kylie as I am able to go back to the days of cheering on a talented athlete!