Is the Third Time the Charm? (In our annual 2K race, anyway)

It was one of our favourite events of the year: the Greenwich Park 2K Fun Run. This marked our third year of doing it, and I'm thrilled to report some vast improvement on our performances.

In 2007, our first year, Thing One burst off the starting line, but later realized he couldn't sustain the pace. Given that we were in Greenwich Park, were there are numerous benches to be found, he decided to stop and have a quick rest. Thing Two, who was then 3 1/2, put in a valiant effort after doing a face scrape across the pavement at the start, but finished after a promise of a trip to McDonald's. (Yes, I know. It's counterintuitive to promise fast food to finish a healthy activity, but that was the only way he was going to finish.) I was very proud of him, as it was a pretty bad fall. Thing One finished in 12:40 (118th) and Thing Two finished in 18:15 (159th and not last!).

In 2008, our second attempt, it was a beautiful Mothering Sunday and we accomplished much: Thing One didn't stop and rest at any benches, and Thing Two managed to get through the race without tripping and falling. No times are available for that year, but I know they improved.

Finally, this year, it was that time of year again. I emphasized to Thing One the family motto of, "No Sitting on Benches". Thing Two, now nearly six, was pumped and ready to go. He kept wanting to sprint ahead, but I told him to conserve his energy. That was probably good advice, particularly since he was clutching his chest and had a very red face about half-way around. At that point, we stopped for a bit. But then he wanted to race ahead again. Since we were holding hands, and obviously I was holding him back, he kept saying, "Mom, if you hold my hand really tightly, we can go faster!" Sadly, I think this will probably be the last year that Thing Two and I run it together, because I'm quite certain he will sprint ahead with his friends next year, like Thing One.

Both put in superlative performances. Thing One finished in the top 100 (99th, but it still counts) with a time of 10:22 (an improvement of 2:28 from two years ago), and Thing Two finished 206th in 14:14, a vast improvement of 4:01 from his time in 2007. Well done, boys.