Three of the Sweeties won medals in a regional cross country competition in a pouring rain Saturday.
Second-grader Mack took second in his age group and third overall. His pre-K brother Aidan took second among boy kindergartners.
And Kiley won first place among kindergarten girls in her first-ever competition.
All three ran one mile; 33 kids competed in the K through 2nd age group.
Jill, official older daughter of NewMexiKen and mother of two of the competitors, reports:
It was so cute. They had flags, like little landscaping flags, laid out to mark the course in places where it was indistinct. I watched Mack finish, then ran back over and cheered Kiley up through this muddy, slippery hill. Aidan was about 30 seconds behind her. He was coming towards me and running kind of weird and I was thinking, “Is he struggling? Is he okay?” Then I realized he was running around each flag, in a little slalom, like you do with cones at soccer practice. He did it all the way up the hill and down past me, as everyone around me chuckled and I yelled, “Honey, run straight! You can run straight!”
Probably cost the little guy first place, but he should prove to be a good skier some day.
And an update. The 39-year-old was disqualified from the K-2 group so Mack won his first-ever 5K last week.
Cross country really is a great sport. Both my kids were on the local recreation center team (a really good one) this fall, and have enjoyed it a lot.