Duncan Runs the Y Kids Marathon (Ottawa Race Weekend 2012)

Duncan insisted on participating in the Ottawa Race Weekend Y Kids Marathon this year.  The promise of a lengthy training program, t-shirt, shoe chip timing, and special finishers medal lured him into the adventure.

First, let me explain the Y Kids Marathon.  Established in 2008, Ottawa Race Weekend designed a race for children in Grades 3-8.  Children are encouraged to perform a half hour of exercise on a regular basis and each half hour of exercise is equivalent to one kilometre.  Children can participate in numerous types of exercise such as running, soccer, cross country skiing, basketball or hockey.  The time spent on these activities is recorded on a tracker sheet.  Parents (or teachers) are responsible for signing off on the activity tracker.  41 kilometres must be completed prior to race day.

Alas, with these guidelines in hand, Duncan became my warm up or cool down partner.  Two to four times a week, Duncan joined me during my daily runs.  We worked on pacing, breathing, and above all, having fun.  Yes, I let my child run backwards on occasion – running is running, afterall.  All told, Duncan had more than 75kms of pure running under his belt before race day.  Not bad for a kid in Senior Kindergarten!

Duncan Bird
Gun Time 6:13.9 ~ Chip Time 5:58.3 ~ Avg Pace 4:59mpk ~ Male Category Age 1-8 ~ Category 105/203
Overall 830/1414