WATERMELON CLASSIC 2014

 Jay lucked out with another gorgeous (temps in the low 60s and lower humidity) day for his annual 5K!

Getting his gear together after a quick warmup

Getting their bibs on in anticipation of their 1M Fun Run later in the morning

Like last year, I had to grab a group shot before the start of the race!

Cheering daddy on about a quarter mile from the finish and making all the other racers happy with our peppiness and flag waving and clapping and shouting (not being sarcastic - we had lots of folks thank us for being out there to support them).

Jay finished within 30 seconds of his time from last year, and while I know he's disappointed not to get a PR, he needs to remember that he took over 7 months off total before and after his surgery last summer/fall/winter (the Watermelon Classic last year was actually his last run before scheduling surgery, and he didn't run again until February this year), and he has come back quickly and is doing so well - it only goes up from here (and yes, I am using that as a pun for our upcoming Mt. Ashland Hill Climb run...)

Meeting up with Francine after the race (I missed getting photos of her and Lee during the race because we were so busy watching for Jay's blue singlet, of which there were many, being the 4th of July and all...)

Free bounce house access between race events! (We didn't let them play too long because we didn't want them to wear themselves out before their race.)

Leg drains in the shade...

 Right before the 1 mile fun run - grumpy that daddy drank the last of her Gatorade, then excited to finally get moving (they let the 5K walkers have almost an hour and a half to finish, so we stood around for quite a long time awaiting the start of the kids' event).

 Cora did great during the race. She kept a pretty even pace, and walked a few times (while crying a bit) complaining that her feet hurt. Pretty sure she needs new (bigger) running shoes. Sorry about that Baby Doll! We still think you did awesome and tried hard, and that's what matters most. She found this little guy her age and decided she wanted to run with him (and not hold my hand for a few minutes), then she decided he was going too slow and passed him. I thought her form was pretty good!

This is a rare smile on James' face during this race. He was a whiny crying mess the ENTIRE mile. We're hoping it's just that he got up too early today (we had to leave the house at 5:30am to get to Jackson in time for race prep) because both he and Cora are capable and willing to run a mile around our neighborhood without complaint. He literally stopped in his tracks a few times and refused to finish. Thus, Cora beat him by over a minute and a half...

James coming into the finish (the one other time he ran hard and smiled, due to the cheering crowd)

Big girl loved getting her medal and another cup of Gatorade...

Official finish times of 12:44 and 14:20

Post race splashing after a few errands (since we were in town and all... we rarely go to Jackson)

Some post race Recovery Yoga and stretching while the kids splashed

We eat red meat maybe 3-4 times/year, usually in the form of a good burger. Five Guys called our name today and we are not ashamed.

Isn't he just the cutest?!

Showing off their race shirts - the first time Watermelon Classic has given out tech shirts (in more recent years, anyway), and the first time the kids have EVER received a race shirt that actually fits them. They love them!

The 5:30am wake up, running, bouncing, splashing, and calorie-laden food got to her. She was asleep within 5 minutes of getting on The Trace. Luckily for us, she went back to sleep when we got home and we all got 2+ hours of nap. (We figure since we have to get up early every single day of our 4-day weekend, we're going to nap at least 3 of those days to make up for it!)