Running the Bridge with My Son (his first 10K)

I talk about the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle all the time, but getting the chance to run with my son as he finished his first 10K was much more than a benefit it was a gift...


After a long week of traveling, running and whitewater rafting for my son's spring break we finally made it home Friday night.

Me and Peyton standing at the starting line

My whole family was pretty tired, but the next day was going to be a big day. This would be my nine year old son's first big race (and when I say big I mean BIG). This would not only be his first 10K, this was the Cooper River Bridge Run with 40,000 participants!

We woke up early and my wife drove us to the starting area. She gave us both kisses and hugs and wished us luck on the race then headed back through the craziness.

We walked to the starting line and I dropped our bag and then made our way to our starting corral.

Peyton wanted to be up front so we moved as close as we could. As the other corrals started and we began to move up, we somehow ended up at the very front of our corral.

The picture I've posted was taken by the Chart Group and they have been nice enough to let me share it on my site.

It is a truly awesome site to see thousands of runners waiting to start a race, but to have a picture of me and my son standing at the starting line with a sea of humanity behind us is just incredible!

Peyton and I ran the race and finished in Downtown Charleston in a little over an hour.

In true over competitive style, my son was
unhappy with his time, but as we moved around the finish festival and he saw the thousands of other runners still coming in he began to realize what an accomplishment he had achieved. He even started talking about how he was going to train harder next year to get a better time (oh what have I created).

We had a really good time walking around downtown and then took the shuttle back to the start and then walked home.

I am pretty sure he did not stop talking the entire time.

As I stared at him while he talked about school, friends, track and a million other things, I could not help
thinking about the many times we had been on the Bridge together. From the days that I pushed Peyton up the Bridge in his stroller to the first time he ran all the way to the top.


It was so cool to think back and remember how these times had been such a big part of my journey and my story and how lucky I am now that I was getting to be part of Peyton's own journey and his own story....

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