MK5K 2014 - His Medal Offer, THE Biggest Prize

I'm a truly believer "Things happen for a reason. We might not understand at the moment but in time it will make sense to us".

Beautiful morning. Team W, Running Mom & Son driving to the Mary Kay 5K race. Nick in silence reading Paladin Prophecy while mom yelling and singing “Can you hear me?” together with Enrique Iglesias on her iPod.

They parked. Several runners warming up around. Nick couldn't resist and joined friend O’Neil already on his 6^th warming up mile. Even mom had already registered, she still needed to pickup bibs. Registration sign. That is where I’m supposed to go, thought mom. Volunteer asked mom to fill a registration form which running mom only filled with her name.

Relaxed warming up, checking running course. 2x (2x (hill down & up)) take it or take it.

Starting line. Mom & Son next to each other. All ready to get set & go. Mom chasing Son. Nick flew away! Mom turned on her “Keep CALM and find YOUR ZONE” button, got the first hill down and up, reached Nick and they ran together the second hill down and up while taking about Ashli & Judah, 11 and 9 years old speedy friends, taking a good lead. After the 2^nd hill up, Mom started catching rhythm and got little bit ahead.

Race course with repeated 180 degree turns was great for faster runners to see how far ahead from competitors they were, as well as for slower runners to enjoy the live show of top runners speeding on the other side of the road.

Running mom got little bit mesmerized watching James Jackson and Vesko Rajovic after their first flat turn. With their very light running form barely touching the ground, they looked like flying! Second flat turn. Mom was wondering about Nick. She wasn't able to spot him after the turns. Was he too far, or too close? I’ll find later, she thought. Still one more 2x (hill down & up) ahead. Hill down, and way up when she got to see Laura Nelson coming down on her way to the finish line. She looked really strong! Turn around and last hill down and that delightful burning experience after that last hill up.

Finish line! Catch your breath mom! And cheer for Nick. He was really close and finished very strong. Go Nick! She screamed leaving everybody around her deaf.

Mom didn't have the slightest idea about results and times. Her Garmin got on strike again during warm up. Race awards was going to be a surprise. Mom’s biggest desire was for Nick to be called, and he was! Mom couldn't stop screaming when she heard his name called for the 3^rd place medal on his age group.

Mom loves races’ hardware and this Mary Kay 5k black & pink medal for the race's 10th year looked really good. So, when they announced her age group winners without calling her, she expressed her sadness to Nick who immediately pulled his own medal and offered it to her. That filled mom's heart.  No need of any black & pink medal. Big prize was just that moment.

Anyways, before heading back home mom checked results and found she had placed and they gave her a black & pink  medal.  Volunteer at the registration table had registered Mom & Son again from paper form rather than pulling their data from the system missing mom’s age.

Problem solved, with 2x (2x (hill down & up)) under the hat, 2 medals one for Mom & one for Son, PLUS the biggest prize ever. Son pulling his own medal and offering it to his mom.