Mother’s Day morning we ran our concluding race for Moms on the Run Bee Cave. After months of hard work and dedication, we celebrated. Saturday night I had whomever could come over for dinner. Pasta, of course, and sides. We chatted and talked about how to run a race. Sunday morning, it was overcast and 70 degrees with a breeze. Perfect.
We ran the Daisy 5K, the longest running 5K in Austin. It was so well organized and fun, but I was surprised it wasn’t as well attended as other races I’ve run. While not necessarily bad, it also meant that there wasn’t a lot of competition. Not that we were going for tops, but it’s nice to be able to set your targets on the person in front of you and then work on passing them. It’s really nice when that targeted person is only a few yards in front of you, not a block. At the end, the moms received a daisy. A nice touch.
My MOTR runners exclaimed that this was “the best Mother’s Day ever!” It was so rewarding to see them reach a goal, to see their families cheering for them, and my absolute favorite part was running them in towards the finish. My heart was bursting!
Our youngest runners and cheer section…when they weren’t poking at bugs with sticks!
There was a ‘mom’ category, one of many you could sign up for. We remembered to sign up for it, which was as formal as having someone write our names and race numbers in a notebook. We and one other women were the only ones to sign up for the category so we dominated the Moms! Whoo!
One of our runners, Diana, used her first 5K accomplishment to announce her pregnancy, which just added to the excitement! Her current youngest ran with us almost every week and was so patient despite some crazy weather. I couldn’t resist buying her a little running shirt (and a onesie for the new baby).
My little cheering squad with their matching shirts.
We celebrated our very last run together with a stop for breakfast afterwards.
I never, in a million years, would have dreamed that I’d not only own an running-related business, but coach running. I’m still in disbelief most of the time and feel odd telling people I’m a running coach when they ask if I work. But, I’ve never loved anything more. Sure, the running part is hard, even for me. But the satisfaction of helping people reach goals, overcome obstacles, do hard things, surprise themselves is amazing. To see confidence grow throughout the season, physical strength and endurance increase was so awesome. But at that race, to see small faces look up to their mom who in their eyes had just won the race. Place didn’t matter to them. Seeing their very own mom, with a race bib, cross that big finish line. To cheer for her, to hear her named announced as she finished, to see her friends flock around her to give her hugs and high fives. That is what made the season.
An awesome Mother’s Day indeed. An awesome first season of Moms on the Run.
I’ve come a long way.
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