Sven's First Race

Yesterday Sven and Erik ran the Jock n' Jill 4 Mile race. It coincides with the Jock n' Jill 1/2 Marathon that is held each year on Labor Day. Here is Erik's write up of the event.

Sven's official time was 45:25, a 10:47 pace. (The course was a little over 4 miles.) Sven was the fastest 7-year-old. There were only two 7-year olds, and no six-year-olds, so there's a 50% chance he was the youngest finisher at all. Sven finished 298 out of a field of 489. He also finished almost a minute faster than the *average* finish time.

Sven's division is boys age 19 and younger, so he didn't win his division. He placed 28 of 33. Most of the people behind Sven were adults although he was faster than several fit-looking older kids. Not bad! Sven did a 1-mile race last year, but there were no official times. So this was his first regular road race and he did very well!

The other thing was there was a mass start for both the half marathon and the 4 mile, so the three of us got to start the race together, and run together for about half a mile. But it also meant Sven had to contend with a big mass start of adults who were not necessarily looking underfoot for kids. Sven dealt with the challenge well. Best of all, he had a good time.