Run for Rita Just 4 Days Away!

This is really just a practice race for Jake, so we're not blogging heavily about it. The race is on Saturday, and I'm confident he'll do well. It's a flat, fast course in familiar territory. Frankly, I'm trying to make sure that he feels absolutely no pressure leading up to this race. He's just 8, after all. He's competing in the 'elementary school' division, which means he'll be running against his school mates that are up to three years older than him.

Now...if Vegas were laying odds on this race, I do think he would be the favorite, despite his age disadvantage, but I don't want him to feel that anything other than winning is a disappointment, so we're keeping it light and breezy.

Still, we'll let you know the result and how he does compared to PR. I expect he'll probably break it.

On another note, Jake got invited to join a very strong local kids track team, and although at his age, they only run as far as 1500 meters, he's still got a chance to learn technique from them that I can't teach him. We're not 100% sure he's joining, but he went to the practice last night and liked it. The team is associated with legendary High School Track powerhouse, John Muir High School of Pasadena.

More on that later too. Also, we'll be announcing Jake's next sponsorable race next week!

Run for Rita Warmup Race Coming Up

Hi, all

Jake mentioned this before, but he's running on March 18th in an event sponsored by his school called "Run for Rita." They're raising money to help rebuild a middle school in Mississippi that was wiped out by the wicked witch Hurricane Rita last August.

It's not a sanctioned race, so his time isn't going to be an official one. Really, it's just a training race for him, but he wants you to know that he's out to win anyway!

He did strain a thigh muscle this week doing the long jump, but he's icing it and should be ok for the race. Also, please note that after Thursday, he'll officially be 8.