Tim Short ran an amazing 18:34 5K Sunday at the Miles for Kyle race in Swampscott, achieving first place in the race! What a memorable achievement and great honor for the Club. Not far behind in fourth place was Rich Tomlins finishing at a speedy 19:06. Other Wicked members represented were Amber Wollfenden who ran 28:29 and our very own father-daughter team: 
Chip and Julia Bott. Julia, age 11, ran a 29:07 with Dad by her side at 29:09. Julia is completing her first season with Salem’s Middle School cross country team. I have no doubt her performance made her dad quite proud and caused him to muse, “Yeah, she is a ‘chip’ off the old block.”
Fantastic job, you guys and gals.
Great Job Julia and Dad Chip!
Tim You Rule once again!
Sweetness!
Thanks Bill. I have to say it was really cool to run a race with my oldest daughter Julia. I have only done a few training runs with Julia and they have never gone more then 1.5 miles. Her longest run to date had been approx. 1.7 miles, in Gloucester last Thursday at Stage Fort Park. Julia has only run these distances for the past 2 months or so. Perhaps 2 to 3 days a week. She had never run the 5k distance. Before the run Rich Tomlins advised me that this is a “Hilly course” and I started to worry just a little bit. Up to race time Julia never asked if the course was hilly. Once we reached about 1/4 mile in she looked up at me and said “Dad, is this a hilly course”? I looked down at her and said, just keep running. The first mile was clocked in 8:58. Being a new runner she still has a lot to learn, especially her breathing. She was taking in a lot of air and I kept reminding her that the first mile is usually the hardest and if she could get her breathing under control, she’d be ok. Right after mile one, Tim and Rich came buzzing by and of and we offered them encouragement. We hit the only water stop on the course and I figured this would be a good time for a small rest while drinking. Down went the water as we passed a small bend in the road and right in front of us was a decent size hill, especially for an 11 year old. I told her we’d start running at the base of the hill and go right up at a steady pace. She looked at me and said, “But my cup, what do I do with it”? I told her to just throw it on the ground and someone would pick it up, she was hesitant to do it it but she did. We went up the hill fairly easy and she had a little smile on her face but she mentioned that her knee was hurting. I told her we could slow down but we had to keep going. Once up the hill there was another right around the corner. Her pace started to quicken for some reason, perhaps nervous energy. Once again I reminded her to stay steady and take a nice even pace up the hill. Once over the hill we hit a nice little down slope and that made her feel better. At about 12 minutes in she seemed to be breathing easier and hitting a nice even pace. We passed another father and daughter at this turn and exchanged a pleasant hello. I commented how nice the weather was and Julia agreed. Mile 2 was clocked at 18:27. The thought of another mile was getting the best of her and I reminded her of the course that we run together, Greenlawn Cemetery in Salem. It’s exactly 1.1 miles (+188 feet but I have yet to tell her that) I told her that that’s all we’d have left to the finish, and no hills to contend with. About .8 to go and she started to complain about the knee again so we walked for about 30 seconds. I remembered hearing on the news last week at how the price of lobster was dirt cheap….ahhh, some bait for the crustacean lover. I looked down at her and said “30 minute or under finish gets you (and me of course) Lobster for dinner. A small smile crept into her face and the knee pain seemed to go away. We continued down the street and there were a few people yelling that the finish was not far off, I kept reminding her of the time left at our current pace to finish. We passed a few more kids who had gone out a little fast and could not maintain a strong pace, Julia was quick to pick up on that as these kids kept sprinting past us and walking a few hundred feet later. Once we reached the spot where our warm up run before the race took us, she knew the end was near. We could hear Mom yelling “Go Julia” as we neared the finish line. We could see Tim and Rich in their Wicked red shirts as they waited for us to make the finish. Julia’s final time was 29.07 and I finished right behind. I can’t tell you what a proud moment this was for me. For me to be able to run a race with my daughter was one of the greatest feelings and something I will remember forever. I was a little disappointed when I discovered that the Lynn Woods event was on the same day, I missed running with all my friends and fellow Wicked Runners That said, I wouldn’t ever want to miss the chance to run with my children, ever! I can only hope that the other 2 will take up running (and that Julia will continue) so one day we can all run an event together (ugg, another Disney Marathon). Thanks to the club and people I have met, especially people like the Touchette’s who run as a united family, I love that about them and I can only hope for the same in my family. Also people like Bill Morse and Kevin Curry from the woods who run with their children, it’s a wonderful thing for sure and I’m sure they feel the same way that I do. Julia was a little sore today but the taste of victory and last night’s lobster seemed to make the pain not so bad. Congrats to Tim and Rich and Amber who all had great runs as well.
CB