girls on the run 5k.

so this morning, i participated in the girls on the run 5k as a running buddy. sunim told me about it a few months ago and sent me a link to all sorts of information about the organization and whatnot. the goal of the program is to encourage positive emotional, physical, social, and mental development in young girls, striving to build self-esteem through the training for a 3.1 mile run.

the experience itself was incredible. when i showed up this morning, i had to stand around outside for what felt like eternity as it was FREEZING outside; however, i had to keep my complaints to myself once i was assigned a third grader from a downtown manhattan public school.. i wouldn't be able to defend complaining that i'm cold to an 8 year old who was about to run 3.1 miles.

once we started running it didn't feel as chilly. the sun was out and it made for a really nice run along the east river. my third grader wanted to quit about a quarter mile in. she was like "this is so far, i can't do it. can't we take a shortcut?" she reminded me of myself at 8 years old. i remember trying to be absent or fake a sprained ankle on the day we had to run the mile in gym class.

i tried to keep her mind busy so that she'd forget what she was doing. we talked about how cute joe jonas is (i had to google image him when i got home.. i didn't remember which one he was), disney shows like hannah montana, hot chocolate, macaroni and cheese, bubble baths, how awesome it would be if joe jonas was a vampire like edward cullen.

anywho, my distracting worked because pretty soon we were at mile 2! she got so excited that my heart almost burst. with about a half mile remaining, her mom and grandmother were on the side with a big sign for her. they cheered and took pictures as we ran past and i could tell that it was just the pick-me-up she needed for the last short stretch to the finish line.

right as we turned the corner back onto 90th and saw the finish line balloons, i reminded her that not too long ago she told me that she "couldn't do it" but here she was.. her response was to throw her arms up in the air and scream "but i did it! i did it!" she was so proud of herself that i could have cried.

i waited for her mom and grandma to get to the finish line, got my lil running buddy package, and headed back on home to the west side. what an amazing run :-)

"ya know, i dont even like long distance running." -my third grade running partner, mile 1.