The top photo shows Mini-Mattis after exiting the mouth of the Bobcat on his way to the finish line. The bottom photo details his running form as he is about 20 yards from the finish line.

2006.04.26

Last week, I explained how I foresaw the upcoming Gridiron Gallop 5k unfolding. Go read it for yourself. It will take a minute. We will wait... (click here)

Ok. Caught up? Oh, for the love of peeps - the soft yellow marshmallow-y kind. (click here)

Anyway, the race unfolded in a way that I had only feared and dared not to mention. Necessary background information: roughly 180 people participated in the race. I would guess that no more than 3 kids ran. I am defining "kid" as pre-high-school. So, maybe 3 kids under the age of 14 ran the 5k. Mini-Mattis (7) was easily the youngest person in the field. With that in mind - roughly 175 folks running were (mostly college-aged) adults. Additionally, we did ZERO training for the race. We just went -"Hey, that looks fun."

Ok, enough background.

Ohio Bobcats Head Coach Frank Solich said a few words - and we were off! We started in the middle of the pack. People were flying by us left and right. I told Mini-Mattis, "Slow down. Don't worry about them. Let's just keep our own pace."

So... we ran... and ran... and ran.

We were holding a decent pace. I started to get tired as we were approaching the halfway point. It was also at this point that we started to catch up with some folks who were walking - they started out to fast and fell off the pack when they got tired.

Me: "How are you doing? Are you ok?"
Mini: (Loud enough for the walkers to hear) "I am fine. I haven't even broken a sweat."

Around the 2-mile marker, I again asked how he was doing. He again answered - "I am fine. I haven't even broken a sweat."

Fortunately, he is only 7-years-old, the folks we were passing cheered him on and ignored his comments.

Finally, after running for 2.5 miles he conceded that he had broken a sweat. He still claimed it was easy. It was around this point that he upped the pace and took off on his own. I tried to keep up but my legs were fried.

Mini-Mattis beat me. He beat more than 60 other participants as well. His official time was 31:00:00. That comes out to exactly a 10-minute per mile pace. Mini-Mattis was sure to let EVERYONE know that the race was (1) extremely easy and (2) he beat his dad.

I am very proud of the little guy for making the 5k look easy. There is no way I could have run a 5k when I was 7-years-old. Likewise, a few of the adults we passed along the way commented that their 9, 10, and 12 year old children would never even consider attempting a 5k.

There is a part of me that is a bit concerned by the realization, that he has (at age 7) already physically surpassed me in at least one athletic endeavor. I can only imagine what he will be doing by age 10.

kid runs 5k 3.1 miles gridiron gallop bobcat blitz ohio university bobcats football spring game child ran 5k three point one miles pace athens ohio april 22 2006 jog run ran train jogging running form