Damian's First 10K

There is nothing greater than spreading the enthusiasm I have for living healthy and running. When I started my journey I had no idea it would bring me where I am at today. I also did not anticipate how much my passion and enthusiasm for running would transfer out to others around me and become contagious. But I LOVE IT!!!!

This is my first official race recap being a spectator, and it was just as fun watching someone work their ass off and complete a race as it was to run and finish! The race was chosen by me for Damian a few months ago. He told me he wanted to attempt a 10K and I of course found one asap and got him to sign up. I find this works best haha don't give them time to back out ;)

It was the Larry Olsen Summer Classic 10K. It was half in trails and up a lot of hills! But the landscape for the race was simply beautiful!

I went with Nicole, another newbie to the healthy living and running scene! We all work together so it is nice to branch out and have fun. We saw Damian off and then did some walking and she even jogged a bit. I am so proud of her she will be jogging her first ever 5K in October along with a few other people I have jumping on our train :) It is getting so exciting!!! I envision great things and I hope this is the beginning of a running club for us. We will see only time will tell :)

I began to notice many runners finishing up around an hour in and I knew Damian's pace would be right around the 14.5 to 15 minute range so we headed over to mile 5. Now mile 5 is emerging from the woods so it was the last of the trails. He looked pretty wiped out but he was in good spirits and I even got a wave out of him!

I jumped in right there and decided I would run the final 1.2 miles in with him. He was the last person to finish the race but that did not stop him! I was so proud of him at that point.

As we entered into the finish line everyone was cheering, I started yelling go Damian go, and let everyone know it was his first 10k ;) I can be a bit loud and excited at races!

It was a nice small town race. You know what everyone was so nice! They were all cheering and as he crossed the finish line it was wonderful to see.

It was inspiring to watch this journey unfold right before me and I felt so proud as Damian ended the race. He has been training and working hard and today was one of the rewards for all that hard work!

They waited to do the awards until he came in and I thought that was nice. They even presented him with the perseverance medal! And as you can see he is proud to be rocking it!

Damian finished his first 10K in 1 hour and 33 minutes!! An amazing time for trails and hills!

When we spoke at the end he said he was cursing me a bit around mile 2 because I did pick a tough one but he was happy to finish and accomplish this amazing race. He did say next time he will pick his own race ;)

Good job Damian! And thank you for letting me share in your journey and be a part of it! I cannot wait until we run his first half marathon together on October 2nd! The Smuttynose Hampton Rockfest looks like a lot of fun!