If life is a marathon and you consider yourself IN the race, then who are you running with?

The first time I entered a race with someone as a team, it was with my son Jake when he was only two.  He cried the whole 50 yards of the Diaper Dash.  Years later we called him Crazy Legs for his quick sprint speed, but that first race was not at all what I had planned it would be.

Like life, every race turns out different than we envision from the training perspective.  Regardless of how a race turns out, the best part is who you are in the race with.

In the last couple years, we try to get in annual family race in.   For the first one, a group of friends joined us in the Muddy Buddy.   We slopped thru mud bogs, climbed rope walls and flung ourselves over slippery barrels.

Fortunately the mom who lost her shoes and pants in the mud bog wore a pair of shorts underneath.

These races are really important to me.  They shift my drive from getting my best time “ever” to taking time to be together having fun with people.  In these races it’s not about speed time, it’s about time spent together.   

Last year, my daughters and I ran half mile of the Annual Allen Rudolph Run and walked the remainder as we walked and talked.  We laughed our way to the back of the race and ended better off for slowing down enough to really enjoy time together.

This year my husband and his buddy, James  were the last of our group to start in the  Fort Worth Graffiti Run.  Somehow they managed to find their way to the end of the race finishing well ahead of the rest of us.  They were cutting up the whole time and took pics of everyone in our crew who legitimately crossed the finish line.  They knew the best way to spend their time.

Be sure to take time to get in the race with the ones you love.