Swamp Rat Run - Cameron's First Race

In mid-May, Cameron brought home a paper from school saying that there was going to be a race called the Swamp Rat Run in June.  It was a 5K and 10K, with a mile fun run for kids.  We asked Cam if he wanted to sign up, and after a bit of waffling he decided to give it a try.  First though, he wanted to try to make sure that he could actually run a mile.  Tim and Cameron gave it a try and Cam was able to run the mile in a bit over 11 minutes.  They spent the next few weeks practicing a couple of times in order to get ready for the run.

The Swamp Rat Run was bright and early on the morning of June 15th.  Mimi and Grandpa were here this weekend so they got to come too and watch Cam do his first race.  The race was run at Oneida Shores Park right near our house.

Cameron before the race after he got his racing number

We wanted a picture of Cameron and Leah, but Leah was not having it!

Cam tried to get her to smile.  It didn't really work.

Going for a walk and checking out the beach put a smile on her face though!

We walked along the beach and checked out a playground while we waited for the race to start.  We had to get there an hour ahead of time to make sure that there was enough time for Cameron to get checked in and ready to race.

Leah riding a fish

Cameron in a boat

The runners from Cicero Elementary.  Cameron is sitting in the front row.

First the girl racers ran the mile fun run, then it was the boys' turn.  The kids could run alone or have a parent run with them, so Tim ran with Cameron.  Here they are crossing the finish line.  It is a bit hard to see them, but Tim is in the yellow shirt in the middle of the picture and you can see Cameron just a little to his left, between the men in the red and black shirts.

Daddy and Cameron right after the finish line

A big hug from a proud sister!

Cameron's after the race photo.  His official time was 9:46 for the mile.  He was the second fastest five year old in the race, so he was pretty excited and proud about that!  We were so proud of him, he did a FANTASTIC job in the race and really enjoyed himself.