23.50

When Aidan was 4, Kristopher and Tristan (his best buds at Fortress) often challenged him to race. Aidan, with his short little legs, always lost. He cried EVERY SUNDAY because he so hated to lose.

My scrapbook room has windows that look out into the back yard and side yard. One day, I kept hearing the padpadpad of footsteps, so I looked out the window and saw Aidan sprinting up and down the driveway, back and forth, back and forth. When I asked him why he was doing that, he said, "I'm practicing my running so I can win." Before long, he was the fastest runner at church.

In December, he ran the Jingle Bell 1 mile Fun Run. Two weeks ago, Darren signed them both up for the 5k Run at the Cowtown Marathon, and he and Aidan developed a regular training schedule. Aidan runs with Darren and his coworkers on Sunday mornings, and with Darren on Wednesday afternoons. (Darren also runs his normal route on days he's not running with Aidan.) Today, Aidan did 2 miles for the first time. He has to take 3 steps for every 2 of Darren's to keep up. His time was 23 minutes and 50 seconds. He'll be ready for the Cowtown EASILY. I can't believe my 7-year old is a runner! I'm sooooo proud of him. (For the record, I can't believe my 38-year old is a runner, either. He clocked his first 9 minute mile last week. So proud of him, too!)