Jingle Bell Run

Saturday December 10th, Tristan ran the Jingle Bell Run 5K helping to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation.  We arrived already chipped and with bells on!  Lindsay was out working to earn some money, Rick was at work, Haley was in a performance and I was left fighting traffic across the bridge and around town with closed roads and a long line at the parking garage and trying to make my way with my three younger children… we missed the team warm ups, picture and we went straight for the Starting line.  It was cold!  20 degrees and Tristan warned me that when it’s cold he runs faster so this was good.  Meanwhile I came equipped with extra mittens for little hands just in case 20 degrees wasn’t so good for them.

I didn’t get too many pictures of Tristan, actually.  My hands were busy and he turned me down for a picture at the end when I had Nathan seat belted in the car.  Inside a parking garage isn’t such a great place for a picture, I admit.  But here is his bib and his jingle belled running shoe.

One of the first people we met out  in the crowd immediately made 20 degrees for little kids something to forget about.  Santa Claus was out wandering the crowd making sure that all the children were equipped with candy canes.  That was quite exciting.  Nathan keeps asking “When Santa comes to OUR house”?  Kaitlyn informed me just today that all of this waiting is “Sooo Boring”!  So seeing Santa and getting a candy cane right from his hand was a pretty big deal.  They were enjoyed while we waited near the finish line for big brother.

The 5K began near the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington which is where we waited.  The runners then ran through the streets of Covington, across the bridge seen here over the Ohio River and into Cincinnati where they circled back and over that bridge again.

We climbed the hill by the river while we were waiting and found the water to be quite high… apparently we’ve had more rain than Seattle has this year breaking all of our old official AND unofficial records for annual precipitation. 

We headed back toward the finish line just in time to see Tristan break his old record by nearly 2 minutes.  His 5K chip time was 24 minutes 42.00 seconds.  He had pulled his skull cap off and was still dripping with sweat.  To put his run in perspective Tristan’s pace (how fast he runs a mile) is 7:58, he placed 167th overall, 10th place in his age division and 3rd place on his team.  Great run Tristan!

After meeting up with Tristan on the other side of the finish time we went back into the warmth of the convention center.  Tristan picked his way through the lines and crowds to get water, oranges, bananas and a goetta sandwich.  Nathan was entertained out near the entry looking at the cute polar bears and Christmas trees being displayed which was far better than being in a crowd with him.  Tristan found us when he was done and we made our way back to the parking garage. 

I will say that I made a new rule for myself after this; no more taking two year olds out in large public gatherings alone.  This boy is hard to handle… I don’t bother with the stroller any more because he unbuckles himself and hops out of it constantly.  He also turns himself into a “sack of potatoes” and a heavy one at that, all bundled up.  If he’s not trying to escape into the crowds or run into the street he is down rolling on the floor “cleaning” the building.  Frankly, it’s exhausting and I remember my older son acting much the same way, once upon a time. 

Also, I will add that I think a lot of people are on edge these days and have some issues.  Two days in a row I ran into people in the parking lots where I’ve parked who have been… Snotty!  No other word for it and the behaviors haven’t necessarily been directed at me alone.  People need to be a lot nicer to each other… especially at Christmas but why not all year?  Are we forgetting how to politely interact socially because so many of our social interactions now occur without being face to face???  Or could it be related to that sense of what I like to call “entitlement” that our society somehow seems to have fostered in the rising generation?  These are questions to ponder.