Tot Trot (11.1.15)

Ella ran her first race.  It was Down By The Bay Tot Trot to support her preschool.

pre-race selfie

Hanging out at the start with her friends

Before the start we were lined up. She was hanging out with her friends. She did get a bit excited by the flag banner.

We didn't have that much time to kill. I wished I could have had my good camera but I couldn't swing keeping track of her and the big camera.

All the older kids lined up in the front.   The Tot Trot was for kids ages 12 and under. So there was quite the age range and Ella was on the younger side.

And they're off!

The race started and kids started running.  Ella got excited and started weaving through to do the race.  She ran but then walked a little and ran again.  Then some mom knocked her over. After that she mainly walked instead of ran.

She quickly fell to the back of the pack.  She would not let me help her. She wouldn't let me hold her hand or hold her.  She had to do it herself.     Once there were only a couple people around, she would run in little bursts.

She slowly walked up the first hill. The vidographer got right behind Ella and just followed her up the hill for a good 10 seconds. I can't wait to see the video.

Teacher Mindy

Teacher Mindy showed up on her bicycle so Ella had to stop and talk to her.  Teacher Mindy tried to cheer her on but that just made her stop and want to talk to her.    She slowly walked.

"Moon. Moon."

We got to the halfway point and some volunteers were cheering on the kids. Ella loved that.   After she rounded the bend, the moon was quite visible.  She was always pointing it out to whoever would listen.  I asked her if she wanted to hold my hand. I was going to hurry her along. She crossed her arms and ran 10 feet off course. She really didn't want my help.

With just 20 or so feet to go, she started passing kids. They were having some issues or had had enough.

She got her finisher medal. She loved it. (She STILL loves it.)

I didn't have my garmin so I don't know how long it really took her. It started at 9:40 and I think we were done at 9:55.

The following 3 pictures were taking by a dad of one of Ella's friends. They are amazing. A good camera takes awesome pictures. It made me really wish I wasn't just taking the pictures on my old iphone.

It's been a week and Ella is so proud of her medal. She likes to show it off. She likes to wear it. She likes to hold it. She likes to look at it. I think everyone telling her how amazing she did when she shows it off makes her like it even more.