District Science Fair and Alameda

On Saturday, Emma represented the third grade at Woodside Elementary in the District wide Science fair.  So proud of her.  The fair occurred Saturday morning, so Myles, Sophie and I dropped Beth and Emma off.  Emma did real well, and won a dinner for the family where she will have to present her science project to the Fair sponsors.

After,  we went to Alameda for a run / bike ride.  This was Sophie's first bike ride in Alameda and loved every minute of it.  The weather was perfect; however, Beth and I were tired from taking care of the puppy the past week, so we only got 9 miles in.

Myles had great fun, looking at the flowers and the sea life. 

It is just a really nice place to spend as a family.

Melissa, Shannon, Spencer, and Audrey Visit part 2: THE BIG RACE

So this is the day of the big race. Beth and my sister Melissa would be running the See Jane Run Half Marathon in Alameda. Spencer and Emma would run the 5K. Audrey, Sophie, and Myles ran the kids race.

Beth and Melissa would not be running this alone!! There were over 40 sisters from different congregations running this race. Some for the first time.

Why did everyone run? Why does anyone run? I think everyone has their own reasons. But I think the biggest reason anyone runs a half-marathon, 13.1 miles, is the sense of achievement, the overcoming of ones own set personal limitations , whether it is mentally, or physically, and realizing anything is possible and most of the time we limit ourselves.

So most of all it was a family affair. Emma had really looking forward to running with her cousin. I am very proud of him.

Emma did very well. She ran her 5k (3.1 miles) in 36:06. She was 14th for the 18 and under age group and 469 out of 3100 people who ran the 5K.

Spencer did very well himself. He came in at 42:22 minutes. He came in at 812 out of 3100.

At the finish line we ran into Sabrina from our hall.

The rest of the kids did great too. For the kids race, the kids were separated into two groups: Sophie got to run with Claire and Owen Behrens in the 6 to 9 group. Audrey and Myles ran with Sawyer Behrens (like Myles 3.5 years old) in the 0 to 5 group.

While I ran with Sophie and Claire, Uncle Shannon ran with Myles and Audrey. That is with Myles, since Audrey left her dad in the dirt.

The half marathon was brutal. This is a course that we like to do as a family when it is very hot in Walnut Creek. It is normally 75 degrees with a light breeze. It started out promising at race time, and it did get up to 75 degrees; however, it was very humid. The heat index was well into the upper 80's.

This, combined with very little water in the second half of the course made this race unusually hard.

Beth did very well. She ran the race in 2 hours 3 minutes. Her goal was to do it under 2 hours; however, with all of the challenges, she did very awesome and is very happy with the time. I am so proud of her and very jealous. We rarely run races separately.

But really the showcase, and what I am most proud of is that my sister completed a half marathon. She did so awesome. She handled the challenge like a pro.

It is such an accomplishment, not just the running of the race but actually just signing up for the race and then participating. She did it. And it wasn't easy.

But see that smile. It sums it all up!! 13.1 miles and she is smiling. Not grimacing. No doubt. Just a sense of accomplishment.

That is why someone does this. Not to compete, except with ones own challenges.

She ran 13.1 miles at an awesome 3:28:34 and she was in the middle of the pack. I am so very proud of her.

All in all it was a very fun day.

After the race we went back, took a rest then went swimming in the pool at the motel that they were staying at. They treated us to a Mexican dinner and Ice Cream. It was a very great visit, and I am glad we could share the accomplishment with them.

Emma's Favorite Bike Ride Route....

Emma's favorite bike ride, as well as one of our favorite runs, starts in Alameda, down to Bay Farm, just north of the Oakland Airport runways and back.

There are spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay and Bay Bridge.

This is the course the Beth and Melissa will be running for the See Jane Run half-marathon in June.

What makes this such a great run, especially for a taper week, is that it is a very flat run.

Myles loves seeing the the airplanes take off, and Sophie loves the flowers, Pampas Grass, and the sea life.

The biggest hazard is the occasional ground squirrel that always finds its way scurrying in front of Beth.

Typically we start off with a snack on the drive over. It is only a 30 minute drive, so we get something light.

The kids really like there croissants. Here Myles is two fisting it.

Emma loves this trail because there is a lot of opportunity to explore and see so many different things. She especially likes to take the lead, which normally means she sets the pace and we having to keep up.

Emma is excited. The weather is perfect. This is one of our last taper runs before the Napa Valley Marathon next week. No wind, blue sky and mid-60's.

Emma finds that she can ride with the adults and really sees herself as a big kid.

When the adults see Emma riding up the bridge by herself (it is a little bit of an uphill) they are impressed she can do it and keep up with them.

While Emma rides her bike, Sophie and Myles try to see how much pampas grass they can capture.

Myles calls it his kite, and Sophie uses it to try to reach Beth as I run behind her.

At the end of the ride, there are some wonderful trees for the kids to climb.

The day ended in a beautiful sunset over San Francisco Bay. The kids were happy but tired. On the way back the moon was full as we came out of the Caldicot Tunnel. It was the perfect ending to a awesome day.