Junior Carlsbad

This morning my monkeys participated in the Junior Carlsbad running races.  The event is extremely well-organized and a world class, family friendly event.  It was honored recently when named the “Youth Event of the Year” at Running USA 2011: The Industry Conference.  It's really that good.  And we're so fortunate to have this awesome event in our hometown.  They truly make it a fun, fun, fun event for everyone!

The kids all run in their own age brackets: my daughter ran in her 4 year old division (1/4 mile) and my son ran in his 6 year old division (1/2 mile).  Each found friends in their respective divisions to run with.  I knew there was no way I'd run alongside my son but I thought I would run just ahead of my daughter outside the race route.  No way.  She wore her game face today and tackled that race like no other 4 year old.  I think we have a natural runner in her -- and she absolutely loved it.  Both kids had fantastic races and really enjoyed the pre-race festivities, the race today and the post-race festivities afterwards.  I love that they've embraced this sport and love it as much as I do. 

What about your kids?  Do they run?  Do you encourage them to enter races?  For my kids, it's all fun.  I didn't see the older kids' divisions but heard the 10 year who finished first finished in 5:14 or something.  Her race was ONE MILE.  And I also heard she threw up at the finish.  Sounds a bit extreme to me and I don't want my kids to run that hard this young.  Your thoughts?