Here are some photos from the event:
Corynn prior to her race...cheering on the other students who were already running
Corynn and her friends
The girls loving on Evie...and Evie loving the attention
Corynn finishing up her first lap
Evie cheering on her sister
Corynn finishing strong
Proud little runner! Her official time was 7 minutes 42 seconds! Pretty good!
Something super cool happened and I'm so happy I was able to witness it! There was a group of special needs students running with their aides and parents just before Corynn's race started. One little boy with autism was sad and wanted to be done. His mom kept encouraging him and telling him if he wanted to stop he could, but that it would be so great for him to finish. The finish line to the race was along a sidewalk that spanned the whole front lawn of the school. The whole student population was in the grassy area along this sidewalk. They cheered on students, held up signs and gave high fives as runners passed. They had split the kids into a multitude of subgroups, so only about 30 kids ran at any given time. Corynn's was the last of all the groups.
So anyway, the mom and this student were along this part of the route. The kids were cheering him on. Even still it didn't look like he was going to finish. Then a group of boys who had already raced came up to him and asked him if he would like them to run the last part of the race with him. The little boys face lit up. One of the students grabbed his hand and the small group headed towards the finish line. The two were still holding hands when they crossed the finish. It was so sweet and so touching. And the fact that they were 5th grade boys, boys that would be entering their tween years and middle school full of egos and attitudes. It was these sweet, thoughtful, kind hearted and compassionate kids that gave me back a little faith.
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