Madison Kids Ironman Race

Today Cooper competed in the Madison Kids Ironman Race. It was such a spectacular family event. It is held the day before the Ironman and the athletes were all down there preparing and practicing. It was rainy and dreary but they were all out swimming in the Lake Monona. It was inspiring to watch them. That is 140.6 miles of true athleticism! Amazing. The sponsor tents were out and several sponsors provided goods for the kids race. It felt very official. We registered and got our race shirt and bib. Number 442 today. Athletes from Edgewood college led the kids in some stretching and then we all walked to the capital. I was so terrified about Cooper running on his own. I thought he would get hurt, lose his way or get captured by some random person…a number of terrible things were running through my mind. Parents were allowed to run with the kids but Cooper would not have it. “You will wait at the finish line”, he kept scolding me over and over. The Edgewood college athletes were all running with the kids to watch over them and ensure they stayed on path. A sweet girl could sense my panic and offered to run with Cooper the entire time! Yes, problem solved. Cooper did fantastic. No good pictures because it was hard to find him among the 200 kids running and he was one of the littlest because it was 16 and under. I was able to snap a few of him in action. Here he is crossing the finish line. He was one of the first of his age to finish the 1K crossing the line at 7 minutes and 22 seconds. After the race we all went to the Monona Terrace where there were activities waiting for us. Refreshments. A mini-triathlon. Face painting and other fun things. We are so proud of him and love that he wants to participate in these types of activities. Maybe one day, in 20 years, we will be watching him do the Ironman!