My daughter participated in The Kids Marathon last year and it was a real life changer. Last January, she told me that she hated PE and hated running. Saddened by this, I decided to sign her up for the Kids Marathon to try to encourage her physical activity (admittedly, Chick-fil-A being the sponsor was a motivator!). We began logging our miles together and it turned out to be a great way to keep us active, and it gave us a reason to have some quality mother-daughter time. Over the months, my daughter really got excited about running (walking, skipping and dancing) to reach her goals. I would watch her methodically plot how far she would have to go to get her next milestone reward. By April, my daughter had met her 25.2 mile goal and asked if I would run beside her on the final mile. The weather was bad the day of the Kids Marathon Final Mile, so we had to run inside on the Y’s track. In a matter of minutes, my daughter (who hated running) completely dusted me! By the last stretch, she completely lapped me. When I (finally) made it to the finish line, the first thing she asked was if she could sign up again for the 2012 race. So, we’re back at it again this year. In the meantime, the Kids Marathon sparked a new athletic side in my daughter. Not only is she running, she is also on the Y’s swim team.
